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February 13, 2019 Special Dispatch No. 7890

Palestinian Authority Boycotts Warsaw Summit: The Trump Administration Wants To Transform Warsaw Into A Place Of Holocaust And Elimination Of The Palestinian Cause

February 13, 2019
Palestinians | Special Dispatch No. 7890

The U.S.- and Poland-sponsored Warsaw summit, taking place in Poland February 13-14, 2019, was originally planned for discussing the issue of Iran, but was later defined as the "Ministerial to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East."[1] U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo are participating in the summit, along with foreign ministers and representatives of European countries, Arab countries, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) was invited to the summit,[2] but announced that it would boycott it and ignore its outcomes. It claimed that the summit was intended to advance the Trump administration's peace plan, dubbed the Deal of the Century, which in its opinion was devised to wipe out the national rights of the Palestinian people and impose a political solution on the conflict with Israel by bypassing the PA.[3] Senior PA and Fatah officials called the summit a comedy and a conspiracy to eliminate the Palestinian issue, and warned its participants not to make decisions in the name of the Palestinian people. Particularly harsh criticism was leveled by the editorial page of the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida; it accused the U.S. of striving to advance its Deal of the Century in Warsaw and called it nothing less than a blueprint for a holocaust and the eradication of the Palestinian issue.

This report reviews the PA opposition to the Warsaw summit.

Palestinian Foreign Ministry and Senior Officials: We Will Boycott The Summit That Aims To Eliminate The Palestinian Issue

In an announcement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry stated that the summit is "clearly an American summit, intended to lead the participating countries to adopt the positions of the American administration, especially with respect to the Palestinian issue." It stressed: "The state of Palestine will ignore the outcomes of the summit and continue to adhere to its firm principles and to take action worldwide [in its own interests] as if this summit had never been held." It went on to say: "This is the Palestinian position with respect to this summit and to other summits planned by the pro-Zionist American government, which supports the occupation state and defends its crimes and its violations of international law."[4]

Criticism of the summit was also voiced by senior Palestinian officials. PLO Executive Committee secretary Saeb Erekat said: "We are not going to attend this conference, and we reiterate that we have not mandated anyone to talk on behalf of Palestine."[5] PLO Executive Committee member Ahmad Majdalani argued that the summit was "discussing the security problems of the Middle East in the absence of the relevant elements, at a time when the security of the state of Palestine is harmed on a daily basis by the violations of the occupation and its organized terror." He urged the Arab countries participating in the summit "to raise the issue of the two-state solution, [to demand of the U.S. that it] cancel all the steps taken by the Trump administration against the Palestinian people,[6] to commit to carrying out the UN decisions [about Palestine], to cease its support for and adoption of the Israeli position and work toward an end to the occupation, and to fulfil the commitments of previous American administrations concerning the settlements. This is because the path to peace and security is clear, and it is adherence to the two-state solution and the Arab peace initiative."[7]

Fatah too the summit. Fatah Central Committee secretary-general Jibril Rajoub said: "The Warsaw summit was stillborn and is a comedy whose purpose is deflecting attention from the central enemy [i.e. Israel] and rallying the regional powers around the conflict with Iran."[8] Fatah spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi said: "The purpose of the Warsaw conspiracy is to eliminate the Palestinian issue," adding that "an American-Israeli attempt to implement the Deal of Shame and advance ideas that would only be agreed to by those who have betrayed Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa [mosque] and the [Church of the] Holy Sepulcher."[9]

PA Daily: In Warsaw, The U.S. Wants To Advance A Blueprint For A  "Holocaust Against The Palestinian Cause" And Palestinian Rights

In its February 10, 2019, editorial, titled "The American Comedy," Al-Hayat Al-Jadida harshly criticized the Warsaw Summit, stating that it was aimed at drawing up an outline for implementing the Deal of the Century that was nothing but "a blueprint for a holocaust against the Palestinian cause." It should be noted that this argument is in line with the blatantly anti-U.S. stance of PA newspapers, which regularly compare the Trump administration to Nazi Germany.[10]

The editorial stated: "The American administration will not manage to turn Warsaw, the Polish capital, into Oslo, the Norwegian capital, on the Palestinian issue... This is because the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of our Palestinian people, will not be present...

"At this conference, this administration seeks to form new alliances with those it calls its allies and friends in order [to advance] imaginary wars [against Iran] and to plan an arrangement for the Palestinian cause. [It strives to do so] based on the Zionist Trump's deal that is nothing but a blueprint for a holocaust against the Palestinian cause – the most just cause of this century.

"None of the conferees at Warsaw have the authority or the right to speak in the name of the Palestinian people. We trust our [Arab] brothers attending this meeting not to do so, since they are more aware [than others] of the determined position of the legitimate Palestinian [leadership] in all things concerning independence of national decision[-making], because they understand more [than anyone else] that a just solution to the Palestinian issue will always be the one that will lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and to a just solution to the problem of the refugees. [This is] according to the UN decisions and the Arab Peace Initiative...

"Perhaps it is no coincidence that Warsaw is the venue of the conference [that will discuss] the immoral deal of the American administration. [The conference's taking place in Warsaw] is a trick of historic justice aimed at reminding humanity that Nazi Germany's racist extermination crematoria in Poland could return today, as a result of this American policy that seeks, like the Nazis did, to turn Warsaw into a place of holocaust of extermination against a simple, oppressed, and tormented people – our Palestinian people.

"The Trump administration seeks to fan the flames [of the Holocaust] with the logs of its Zionist Deal [of the Century], so that this holocaust will consume all the rights of our people, turning them to ash, together with its just and legitimate aspirations. But Warsaw of today is not the Warsaw of yesterday... and Palestine, [with] free will and national independent decision[-making], Palestine of rights and justice, with its legitimate, bold, and wise leadership, and its steadfast, resisting, and brave people – is not the Palestine of the Nakba, of the losing of its way, and of dependence. Thus, the American administration will leave the Warsaw conference with disappointment and failure, and will return [home] emptyhanded..."[11]

 

[1] State.gov, January 25, 2019; February 11, 2019.

[2] Twitter.com/ErakatSaeb, February 8, 2019.

[4] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Palestinian Authority), February 8, 2019.

[5] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Palestinian Authority), February 9, 2019.

[6] The reference is to the Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to cancel American aid to UNWRA and the PA.

[7] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Palestinian Authority), February 10, 2019.

[8] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Palestinian Authority), February 10, 2019.

[9] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Palestinian Authority), February 10, 2019.

[11] Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (Palestinian Authority), February 10, 2019.

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