Trump Mideast Ploy Endangers International Peace, Security

EghtesadOnline: US President Donald Trump’s so-called “deal of the century” on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a unilateral proposal that is detrimental to global peace and security and sets a dangerous precedent in international relations, Iran’s former envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation said.

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04 February 2020

“The measure gives a third country, namely the United States, the right to grant land that is not owned by it to an undeserving entity, which endangers international peace and security by displacing large numbers of human population in various parts of the region,” Sabah Zanganeh added in an interview with IRNA.

Trump released his long-awaited peace plan last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alone standing next to him in the absence of a single Palestinian leader, according to Financial Tribune.

The ploy denounced as “dead on arrival” has been vehemently rejected by Palestinians and the Arab League, as it undermined United Nations resolutions and sought to legitimize Israel’s illegal settlements in the Occupied West Bank.

Zanganeh noted that the plan is a “radical, unilateral proposal without any international, regional or even domestic support”.

The former diplomat stressed that in addition to large-scale population dislocations, the measure supposedly aiming to bring “prosperity” to the region will in fact weaken the regional economy.

Zanganeh said the Trump concept of Israeli-Palestinian peace aims to deflect attention from the US president’s impeachment trial currently underway in the US Senate and do the same for Netanyahu’s criminal charges and Israel’s third election in less than a year, which has halted the passage of a new 2020 government budget.

Those in Harm’s Way

The former envoy to OIC said that by giving Israel full sovereignty over Beit-ul-Moqaddas, a city equally esteemed by followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, the peace plan is actually challenging Muslims and Christians.

The proposal envisions a Palestinian capital on the outskirts of East Beit-ul-Moqaddas.

“The first victims of the proposal are the Palestinians residing in the occupied lands and Palestinian refugees who will face an uncertain destiny [due to the rejection of their right of return],” he said.

Zanganeh said that large swathes of the Jordan Valley would be annexed to Israel under the terms of the initiative, which can disrupt the political and economic geography of the region.

Moreover, the proposal undercuts Jordan's custodianship of Christian and Muslim holy sites in the occupied East Beit-ul-Moqaddas.

“Iraq, Saudi Arabia and even Turkey would be impacted by the ramifications of the unilateral plan. The proposal can trigger mass migration from Palestine to Jordan and Lebanon," he said.

On the presence of ambassadors from Bahrain, the UAE and Oman during the unveiling of Trump's plan, Zanganeh said that the envoys served to appease Trump and Netanyahu, and their attendance should not be interpreted as the Arab world's endorsement for the plan.

The Arab League made a statement on Saturday, fully rejecting the initiative and calling it a "disgrace", Aljazeera reported.

Zanganeh concluded that the "US-Israeli deal of the century" will never materialize.