Abbas slams Trump's Mideast peace plan as ‘slap on face’

Abbas told members of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council, who convened in the city of Ramallah for two days, that Trump’s “deal of the century” is “a slap on the face,” adding “we will slap back,” Xinhua reported. The Central Council convened for two days to come up with strategic decisions on the peace process, the relations with Israel and to discuss Trump’s declaration last December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“Jerusalem was removed from the table by a tweet of Trump,” said Abbas, adding that “the status of Jerusalem is like Mecca. Nothing is more important than Jerusalem.” The Palestinians consider East Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel during the Arab-Israeli war in 1967, as the capital of their future independent state, while Israel declared the integral Jerusalem as its eterl capital.

“We say No to what contradicts with our fate, our future or our cause or our people... No and a thousand Nos and now we say to Trump No and No and we tell Trump ‘the deal of the century’ is ‘a slap of the century,” said Abbas. He stressed that “the Palestinians will not leave or make or repeat the mistakes of the past,” adding “this is a fateful moment that calls on every Palestinian to immediately stand up to defend the fate of the eterl capital.”

Meanwhile, Abbas criticized Islamic Hamas movement and the Islamic Jihad for boycotting the meeting of the PLO Central Council. The two groups said they decided not to join the meeting because it was not held in one of the Arab countries. (IANS)