MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2019) Palestine will reject any proposal for the Israeli-Palestinian settlement that fails to recognize Palestine as independent state, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki told Sputnik in an interview.
On Sunday, The Washington Post reported that US President Donald Trump administration's "deal of the century" would include "practical proposals" for improving the lives of Palestinians, but it would stop short of the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.
"No Palestinian will accept such a plan. There will be no Arab anywhere that will accept such a plan ... This is a stupid idea � let's really improve the living conditions of the Palestinians, let's really give them a little bit of money and take from them their dignity and their right, their right � this is very stupid. It tells you that they lack intelligence, they lack wisdom and they lack knowledge. How are we going to respond to this stupid plan? By saying that we should not even look at it," Maliki said, when asked to comment on the media reports.
The minister stressed that Palestine would never accept a plan that recognized Jerusalem as capital of Israel, comparing Palestine without Jerusalem to a "body without a heart." He noted, however, that there was no information about the content of the deal apart from media leaks suggesting that it was prompted by the understanding that the international community would reject a deal.
"It is very clear that the administration in Washington realized that this plan will be rejected not only by the Palestinians, not only by the Arabs, not only by the Muslims, not only by the Europeans, not only by the Russians, not only by the Chinese, but by everybody else. So they are afraid of presenting such a plan publicly. That is why they have been delaying the announcement of the plan for last two and a half years," Maliki said.
The foreign minister pointed out that deal of the century had already been implemented on the ground, naming the recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington, and the suspension of contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as other instances of the implementation of the deal on the ground.
"The Americans felt that they cannot rely on the support of the Arab countries to sell the deal of the century, so they decided to move gradually by starting to implement these elements of the deal of the century on the ground," Maliki noted.
According to the minister, Palestine suspended all contacts with the United States after its decision to close the PLO office in Washington.
"They have tried to meet with us at all levels. Trump tried to meet with my president in New York during the [UN General] Assembly's meeting. We refused ... We have decided to cut all types of political and diplomatic relationship with the United States of America since they have taken until this decision until now. If they decide to go back from such decisions - closing our office, moving the embassy, recognizing Jerusalem as capital � we will reconsider," Maliki said.
The relations between Israel and Palestine have been shattered for decades. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity, and builds settlements in the occupied areas, despite objections from the United Nations.
Trump has stated on numerous occasions that his administration has been preparing a so-called deal of the century for Israeli-Palestinian settlement. However, the details of the plan remained unclear.
