Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan Disrespects Palestinian Rights

By FANILA MUKHTAR 

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have announced a proposal, which Trump referred to as the “Deal of the Century,” intended to resolve the ongoing schism between Palestine and Israel.

The plan grants Israel all of the Jordan Valley, which means Palestine will be surrounded by Israel on all sides. Palestine has claimed East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, but the proposal allows Israel to have claim over all of Jerusalem, inluding both Muslim and Jewish holy sites. It also rejects the long-standing Palestinian claim to control over the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, which will remain under Jordanian custodianship. Also under the plan, Palestine would give up a significant portion of the West Bank to Israel, and become permanently demilitarized.

This plan comes with many flaws. First, it is condescending to Palestinians. Instead of coming to a compromise, the “Peace Plan” favors Israel. At the meeting where the plan was announced, there was no sight of any representation from Palestine. They had no part in the construction of this plan, which means that their interests were largely ignored.

President Trump and Minister Netanyahu couldn’t have picked a better time to make this announcement, with Trump facing (at the time) an impeachment trial and Netanyahu facing trial on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

William F. Wechsler, the director of Middle East program at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based research organization, said, “The announcement’s chosen timing, specific staging, limited participants, and indeed its substance make clear that it has less to do with a good faith effort to reach peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and more to do with the immediate legal and electoral challenges that confront both leaders.” In short, both leaders need political support for their upcoming elections. Trump is in need of votes from evangelical Christians, many of whom are in support of an expanded Israeli state.

The West Bank lies between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea. In the last 52 years, hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews have moved to the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Many live in settlements outside the internationally recognized borders of Israel. To resolve the conflict about illegal settlements in Palestinian lands, the plan would just recognize the settlements as a part of Israel.

In the end, the “Deal of the Century” unfairly accepts all Israeli claims, leaving Palestine with only land that has little value to the Israelis. The Palestinian government was right to reject it.

Editor’s note: As a reminder, all editorials are expressions of student opinion. The Argus welcomes letters to the editor in response to this article and all others as well.

President Trump’s proposal would give Israel significant portions of the West Bank. Photo Credit: www.whitehouse.gov