“There is no way that there can be talks with the Americans. The peace process is finished. They have already pre-empted the outcome,” said Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi. “They cannot take us for granted.”
What brazen hypocrisy. Of course, the “Palestinians” have always been masters at that. When was the “peace process” ever anything but a means by which the “Palestinians” won concessions from the Israelis and Americans? When did they ever stop taking the Americans for granted? For years, they figured they could commit any jihad atrocity, and celebrate it by passing out candy on the streets, and knew that the Americans would not hold them accountable.
Now that may be ending, and not a moment too soon.
“Warnings intensify as Trump readies Jerusalem declaration,” Associated Press, December 6, 2017:
JERUSALEM (AP) — America’s friends and foes unleashed fierce criticism on Wednesday ahead of President Donald Trump’s announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
While Israel welcomed the news, Palestinian officials declared the Mideast peace process “finished” and Turkey announced it would host a meeting of Islamic nations next week to give Muslim countries’ leaders an opportunity to coordinate a response. The Arab League scheduled an emergency meeting on Saturday.
The harsh global reaction cast questions about the feasibility of a brewing U.S. peace plan that is expected to be presented by the White House in the near future.
The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state and fear that Trump’s declaration essentially imposes on them a disastrous solution for one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“There is no way that there can be talks with the Americans. The peace process is finished. They have already pre-empted the outcome,” said Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi. “They cannot take us for granted.”
The U.S. decision “destroys the peace process,” added Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Top Palestinian officials were meeting Wednesday to plot their course forward….
Pope Francis said he was “profoundly concerned” and appealed that “everyone respects the status quo of the city.” China, which has good ties with Israel and the Palestinians, expressed concerns over “possible aggravation of regional tensions.” Russia, a key Mideast player, expressed its concern about a “possible deterioration.” Two leading Lebanese newspapers published front-page rebukes of Trump.
Britain’s Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson, who had already expressed concern about the U.S. decision, on Wednesday said it was now time for the Americans to present their peace plan for the region.
Trump’s Mideast team, led by his adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have spent months meeting with Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders. Details of their long awaited plan remain a mystery.
“Clearly this is a decision that makes it more important than ever that the long-awaited American proposals on the Middle East peace process are now brought forward,” Johnson told reporters in Brussels….
Elsewhere, however, reactions were skeptical, especially across the Muslim world. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the “whole world is against” Trump’s move, and the supreme leader of Iran, Israel’s staunchest enemy, condemned Trump.
The state TV’s website quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying that “the victory will ultimately be for the Islamic nation and Palestine.”
Iran does not recognize Israel, and supports anti-Israeli militant groups like Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas.