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Trump Won't
Wont Accept Calls Or Meet With Palestinian Leaders
"We have sent them letters, written messages; they don't
even bother to respond to us." In contrast, Trump spoke
twice with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by
phone, on Nov. 9 and Jan. 22, and will receive him at
the White House on Feb. 15.
By KARIN LAUB and MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
February 10/11, 2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- "AP"
-
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian leader Mahmoud
Abbas, who spent hundreds of hours on the phone and in
meetings with U.S. presidents and secretaries of state
in the past 12 years, has tried unsuccessfully to reach
out to President Donald Trump.
RAMALLAH, West
Bank (AP) — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who spent
hundreds of hours on the phone and in meetings with U.S.
presidents and secretaries of state in the past 12
years, has tried unsuccessfully to reach out to
President Donald Trump. Abbas and his aides are alarmed
by the possibility of being sidelined at a time when the
administration is embracing Israel's prime minister who
heads to the White House next week. Here's a look at
what's at stake for Abbas and Palestinian hopes for
statehood.
ARE THE
PALESTINIANS REALLY BEING IGNORED?
In December, the
Trump transition team refused to meet with Palestinian
officials visiting Washington, putting them off until
after the Jan. 20 inauguration, according to senior
Abbas aide Saeb Erekat, the main point man for official
contacts with the United States. Other advisers say
Abbas tried to arrange a phone call with Trump after the
November election and again after the inauguration, but
received no response to his requests. The White House
did not respond to a January letter in which Abbas
expressed concerns about possibly moving the U.S.
Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem.
Erekat, whose
contacts are now limited to the U.S. Consulate in
Jerusalem, has been quoted as saying that "we have sent
them letters, written messages; they don't even bother
to respond to us." In contrast, Trump spoke twice with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone, on
Nov. 9 and Jan. 22, and will receive him at the White
House on Feb. 15.
WHAT HAS THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION SAID?
The White House
earlier this week denied an Israeli newspaper report,
based on a secondhand quote from a Trump aide, that the
administration does not intend to have a relationship
with the Palestinian Authority, Abbas' self-rule
government, at this point. However, the statement did
not say what kind of relationship the White House
envisions with the Palestinians.
A U.S. official
said he was given the impression that everything is on
hold because Trump hasn't decided how to deal with the
Palestinians. The official spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the
issue with reporters.
WHY DOES IT
MATTER?
A strong
relationship with the U.S. has been the centerpiece of
the Palestinian strategy for winning statehood. The U.S.
served as sole broker in two decades of intermittent
negotiations on how to set up a Palestinian state on
lands captured by Israel in 1967.
Many Palestinians
are disillusioned with a process they say effectively
provided diplomatic cover for Israeli settlement
expansion and distanced statehood prospects. However,
Abbas has not come up with a strategy that could
circumvent Washington.
The Palestinian
leadership is in uncharted waters with the Trump
administration and "not having a relationship with
Washington is cutting off their air supply,
essentially," said Khaled Elgindy, an analyst at the
Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
HOW HAS THE
PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP RESPONDED?
Abbas and his
advisers have been careful not to antagonize Trump with
public statements, other than urging him to rein in
Israel's latest settlement escalation. They hope he'll
eventually get in touch, arguing that Trump needs to
involve them if he's serious about negotiating a Middle
East peace deal.
"The foreign
policy of the U.S. administration is not clear yet,
aside from its clear support of Israel, but the
administration knows nothing can be done without the
Palestinians," said Abbas adviser Mohammed Ishtayeh.
Despite alarm over
Israel's recent measures, including legislation
retroactively legalizing settler homes built on private
Palestinian land, Palestinian officials have drawn some
hope from recent U.S. policy tweaks.
The White House
has shifted to a mildly critical position on
settlements, saying they "may not be helpful" to peace.
There also are signs Trump will not rush to relocate the
U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, a move that could inflame the
Muslim and Arab worlds.
"We do not know
what is going on between Netanyahu and President Trump's
administration, but at the end of the day we say that
whoever wants to achieve a just and historical peace in
the region between the Israelis and the Palestinians
cannot be silent on settlement activity," Erekat told
Palestinian radio on Wednesday. "It's time for President
Trump to tell Netanyahu, 'enough' if we really want to
achieve peace and to maintain the two-state option."
ARE THE
PALESTINIANS LOSING ACCESS TEMPORARILY OR BEING
SIDELINED FOR GOOD?
It's not clear
if the Trump administration wants to coordinate with
Netanyahu next week before approaching Abbas or
sideline him for good.
Jordan and
Egypt could mediate between the Palestinians and
Washington. Jordan's King Abdullah II rushed to the
U.S. capital last week to present his views to
administration officials before Netanyahu's arrival
and appears to have had an impact on issues of
concern to the Palestinians, such as settlements and
the embassy move. On Tuesday, Jordan condemned
Israel's latest settlement legislation.
Interests
don't always converge, however, and Abbas has
clashed with Arab states in the past.
WHAT IS
EUROPE'S VIEW?
The EU has
reiterated its support for a two-state solution — of
Palestine arising alongside Israel, with the
pre-1967 frontier as a baseline for border talks. EU
foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on
Monday that Europe will keep promoting this message,
including in talks with Vice President Mike Pence,
who will attend an international security conference
in Munich later this month, followed by a visit to
EU headquarters in Brussels. Last month,
representatives from 70 countries and organizations
said at a one-day conference in Paris that a
two-state deal is the only way to achieve enduring
peace.
But Europe was
never a key player, with Washington protecting its
role as sole mediator. If the situation
deteriorates, the Palestinian leadership hopes more
countries in Western Europe will follow Sweden's
lead and recognize a state of Palestine; the U.N.
General Assembly accepted Palestine in the pre-1967
lines as a non-member observer state in 2012.
ARE THERE OTHER
OPTIONS FOR THE PALESTINIANS?
Abbas
could take a more confrontational approach toward
Israel, something he has been reluctant to do, in part
because it could also undermine his hold over autonomous
enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Such steps
could include cutting security ties with Israel, a
mutually beneficial arrangement because their shared foe
is the Islamic militant group Hamas, Abbas' main
Palestinian rival.
Abbas
could also seek further international recognition for a
state of Palestine. Or he could submit more material to
the International Criminal Court, where a preliminary
investigation is underway concerning possible war crimes
committed by Israel and Hamas.
The Trump
administration says it strongly opposes any actions
against Israel at the ICC as counterproductive to the
cause of peace.
The views
expressed in this article are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
Information Clearing House. |
