The latest bargain we have heard of after being published by Israeli media outlets citing U.S. diplomats is that the Trump’s administration is prepared to offer the Palestinian Authority $ 5 billion in exchange for the PA’s return to the negotiation table. Such a move comes after the U.S. have tried all means of intimidation, including sanctions against the Palestinian people, to force the PA to go back to the round table.
Despite the PA’s denial of receiving such an offer, both sides, the PA and U.S. administration, have a strong desire to meet again to find a common ground following the radical stances both of them have adopted, which makes it difficult to backtrack on their positions without making mutual concessions.
Washington, from one hand, has depleted all available cards to pressure the PA, including recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli Occupation’s capital, transferring its embassy to the city, cutting off all UNRWA’s fund, and suspending its aid to the PA and the hospitals in Jerusalem, as well as closing the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s U.S. office and expelling the Palestinian ambassador and his family. Furthermore, all of the aforementioned tries were aimed to liquidate the Palestinian refugee issue.
The PA, on the other hand, has maintained a rigid stance towards ‘the deal of the century’. The decision, for the PA, is irrevocable due to the outright rejection of the Palestinian people to the deal. However, the PA was in a quandary which is stripping the U.S. of its role as a mediator and a broker of the peace process over its absolute bias towards the Israeli Occupation at the expense of the Palestinian people’s legitimate and national rights.
The problem with the Palestinian leadership is that it insists on pursuing the option of negotiation as the sole choice for restoring the Palestine lands and rights. For this purpose, the PA is ready to go around the world to search for a new broker that would supersede the U.S.’ role in the peace process, as it always expresses its willingness to enter into secret or announced negotiations. It is clear that the PA will resort to the Quartet on the Middle East, which comprises the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia, as a new mediator in the peace process. However, such a choice is doomed to failure because the U.S. is the backbone of this group and thus Washington will have the final say on any peace plan.
The Palestinian leadership does not seem to be fed up with its quest for any means to revive the option of negotiation and undermine all the other ones, turning a blind eye to the fact that it no longer has anything to negotiate over, as Palestine is occupied and the Palestinian people are displaced in scattered camps denied of their rights. Nevertheless, for all those calling for negotiation with the Israeli Occupation, the Palestinian people have expressed their rejection to any compromise on their homeland or rights.
Younis el-Sayed / Source: Hamas.ps/en