Palestinian leader: ‘Our rights are not up for bargaining’
‘Jerusalem is not for sale. The Palestinian people’s rights are not up for bargaining.’
PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas declared Thursday that his people’s rights “are not up for bargaining” and he accused the US of undermining the two-state solution, a day after President Donald Trump suggested for the first time in office that he “liked” the long-discussed idea as the most effective way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Abbas halted ties with Trump’s administration in December after the US contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and Palestinians have said that a pending US peace plan will be dead on arrival because of that and other recent US moves that Palestinians see as favouring Israel.
“Jerusalem is not for sale,” Abbas said to applause as he began his speech at the annual UN General Assembly. “The Palestinian people’s rights are not up for bargaining.”
He said Palestinians would never reject negotiation, but that “it’s really ironic that the American administration still talks about what they call the deal of the century”.
“What is left for this administration to give to the Palestinian people?” he asked. “What is left as a political solution?”
Added Abbas: “We are not redundant. Why are we treated as redundant people who should be got rid of?”
Trump made his comment about the two-state solution while meeting with Netanyahu on Wednesday. The US president told reporters that he believes that two states – Israel and one for the Palestinians – “works best”. He has been vague on the topic, suggesting that he would support whatever the parties might agree to, a message he also recapped Wednesday.
“If the Israelis and Palestinians want one state, that’s OK with me. If they want two states, that’s OK with me. I’m happy if they’re happy,” he said.