Leaders welcome Trump, people don’t

Articles from 1) The Atlantic, 2) LA Times, 3) Ma’an News.

Two old guys hand-wrestling in Bethlehem, May 23, 2017. Photo by Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

Could Trump Be Palestinians’ Best Hope?

The search for the “ultimate deal” in the Holy Land

By Dalia Hatuqa, The Atlantic
May 23, 2017

Recent events have left Palestinians in an odd position: The absence of a clear strategy by a U.S. administration to resolve the conflict with Israel may have become the best bet for statehood they’ve had in years. This, at least, seems to be the thinking of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), who met with U.S. President Donald Trump in the West Bank city of Bethlehem today.

Only a few months ago, Palestinians feared being isolated by Trump, who had surrounded himself with pro-Israel advisers closely linked to the settlement enterprise, a movement that aims to block the establishment of a Palestinian state by colonizing land in the West Bank. But today, those concerns have given way to hope that the business tycoon many Palestinians regard as a diplomatic novice will actually deliver where his more experienced predecessors have failed. They are betting that Trump’s ad hoc style and much-touted negotiating skills could pave the way for a final-status deal and eventual statehood.

Palestinian leaders view Trump’s inexperience in foreign affairs and a lack of knowledge in Mideast politics as an asset. In a twist of fate, his seemingly clean slate has breathed new optimism into the Palestinian leadership, which looks to portray itself as a necessary security asset in a lawless region.

“If Hillary Clinton had been elected, the Palestinians would now be meeting with [former Middle East envoy] Dennis Ross to discuss small confidence-building steps in the West Bank,” Nathan Thrall, author of the recently released book, The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine, told me. “It would amount to putting a pretty face on basically the same [Israeli] occupation, slightly adjusted, while putting off any potential resolution of the conflict for at least four years.”

Palestinian optimism has been further fuelled by Trump’s talk of an “ultimate deal” to solve the seemingly intractable conflict. So far, and despite his campaign pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem—a move the Palestinians staunchly oppose—it remains in Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster recently spoke of Palestinian “self-determination,” a euphemism for statehood. And on Tuesday in Bethlehem, Trump said he was “truly hopeful” the United States can mediate an agreement between the Palestinians and Israel. These examples have so far exceeded whatever low expectations the Palestinian leadership had, and dismissed their initial fears that the new administration would effectively ignore them.

“The Palestinian Authority leadership felt terrified that they will be completely marginalized, sidelined and neglected,” Alaa Tartir, program director of Al Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network, told me. “They devoted lots of effort … and sent delegations to urge Trump to meet Abbas,” turning the outreach into something of “a national priority.”

Trump’s opening to Abbas was an accomplishment in itself: He was one of only a handful of leaders invited to the White House in Trump’s first few months in office. On May 3, he stood side-by-side with the new president, beaming with pride, as Trump lauded him for his role in signing the Oslo Accords in 1993. Abbas reciprocated, praising Trump’s “leadership, stewardship, wisdom, and great negotiation ability.”

But apart from the niceties these two exchanged, there was no U.S. plan to speak of. The two-state solution, the hallmark of the American-guided approach to solving the conflict since the early 1990s, was absent from the talks in both Washington and Bethlehem. Like everyone else, the Palestinians were merely told that Trump would “get it done.”

“The leadership did not care enough about the content of the meeting, but rather … about appearing as an indispensable actor in the region,” Tartir said. “Conducting the meeting became an end in itself.” Yet even with the knowledge that Trump does not have a plan, the PA is surprisingly optimistic. “There is no approach, there is no mechanism, there is nothing,” Husam Zomlot, the new Palestinian envoy to Washington, told an audience at the Arab Center in Washington, D.C., on May 15. “We did not discuss or agree on exactly what would be the way forward, but so far the U.S. administration is engaging all sides separately. We believe this might be a good approach.”Abbas himself said his last meeting with Trump left him hopeful, even though he returned to Ramallah without securing so much as a verbal guarantee that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would halt the construction of settlements.

According to Zomlot, the Palestinian leadership has already seen an “affirmation by President Trump that he is absolutely keen and interested to mediate towards finding a final deal to the Israel-Palestine conflict.” The Palestinian envoy said Trump is “personally committed” and “because he’s a non-political person, [he] might actually once and for all disrupt” what he described as a peace industry that perpetuates the status quo.

Other U.S. presidents, Republican and Democrat alike, have let Israeli-Palestinian peace fall prey to their shifting lists of political priorities, kicking the can further and further down the road. Bill Clinton left his more serious peace-building efforts until a scandal-mired second term. George W. Bush saw 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dominate his time in office. And Barack Obama chose to invest much of his political capital on healthcare reform.

Observers agree that Trump’s unpredictability is a primary reason for Palestinian optimism. “For the first time in a long time, they have a U.S. president for whom it is at least possible that he might use U.S. leverage to reach an agreement,” Thrall said. “No one in their right mind would bet on that happening. But under almost any other president, the Palestinians could be certain it wouldn’t happen. Under Trump, there is a chance.”

In February at the White House, while delivering remarks along with Netanyahu, Trump said he can “live with either” a one-state or two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (“I’m very happy with the one that both parties like,” Trump said.)

Though for both Israel and the PA, a one-state solution—in which both peoples with equal civil rights would share the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River—is a non-starter, the Palestinian political class is thrilled he’s taking any interest in talks at all.

The Palestinian leadership “is operating with the same approach and enthusiasm that they had for George W. Bush,” Diana Buttu, a former legal advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team, told me. “They place their faith in a new president and when he can do nothing, they place their faith in a second-term administration, [and then again] in a new administration.”

Engaging in a peace-making process may offer the PA much-needed legitimacy in the region, but it would do very little to garner support at home.

Trump’s trip to Israel and the West Bank comes at a time when the PA finds itself increasingly isolated from its constituents. In a recent poll, two-thirds of Palestinians said they want to see Abbas, whose four-year mandate expired in 2009, step down. While his diplomatic accomplishments in international forums have been viewed favourably, the economic instability, Israel’s ongoing occupation and ever-expanding settlements, and an internal political schism that has pitted the two largest parties (Fatah and Hamas) against one another have left Palestinians reeling.Given the depth of their disillusionment, ordinary Palestinians in the occupied territories are not eyeing Trump’s trip with much enthusiasm.

These days, they are also prioritizing one issue: the plight of thousands of Palestinians languishing in Israeli prisons. Upheaval in the West Bank has been particularly high since 1,000 detainees went on an open-ended hunger strike for better conditions behind bars.

Palestinians in the occupied territories are not eyeing Trump’s trip with much enthusiasm.

From Nablus to Hebron, the largest Palestinian city, prisoner-solidarity protests, road closures, sit-ins and commercial strikes, have become permanent fixtures of everyday life. Since the hunger strike began, at least two young Palestinians have been shot dead—one by Israeli forces and another by a settler—while protesting near checkpoints and by military prisons in a show of support.

After Abbas and Trump’s meeting in Washington, no reports surfaced that the prisoner issue was addressed—something the Palestinian public noted. Even if Trump had planned to discuss the prisoners, his efforts were most likely sabotaged by a group of Republican lawmakers who sent him a letter asking him to pressure Abbas into ceasing payments to the families of prisoners. According to reports, Israel wants Trump to address the issue of the payments, which it deems “blood money.” Palestinians, meanwhile, say the funds are a lifeline to families whose breadwinners are incarcerated.

But on Tuesday in Bethlehem, as families of hunger strikers protested at the nearby Manger Square under the watchful eye of PA security forces, Abbas finally raised the issue. “I’d like to draw attention to our Palestinian hunger-strikers,” he said.

“Their demands are humane and just. I demand from the Israeli government to meet these humane, legitimate demands.”

The issue of security coordination also came up at the meeting in Bethlehem, where Trump praised Abbas’s commitment “to taking firm but necessary steps to fight terrorism and confront its hateful ideology.” While the PA prides itself on its ability to liaise with its Israeli counterparts on security issues, average Palestinians view this relationship as tantamount to policing the West Bank on behalf of the Israeli army. A 2015 poll found that 64 percent of Palestinians in the occupied territories want this coordination to end.But it is through this security lens that Abbas is positioning himself as a strategic partner with the United States—not only in the fight against Hamas, but also in the international campaign to dismantle the Islamic State. The Palestinian leadership is hoping that on this trip, the Trump administration will recognize its value to regional stability: as a moderate force and a security asset.

While much of the Palestinians’ hope for Trump comes from his unpredictability, they have yet to grapple with another facet of his personality: the ability to change course on stated policy at whim. His mercurial temperament could be a serious liability as well if he decides to embrace Israel’s right-wing or lose interest in a peace deal a year or two down the road.“

Because Trump has emphasized the fight against ISIS, the PA underlines the importance of its own limited actions against Salafi-jihadists,” Thrall said. “But that is an old story. Trump’s inexperience and unfamiliarity … allows for the chance that he will be uniquely impressed by arguments that the Palestinians have been making for some time.”

And again

Palestinians underwhelmed by Trump’s West Bank visit

By Joshua Mitnick, LA Times
May 23, 2017

Many Palestinians seemed less than impressed by President Trump’s brief foray into the West Bank on Tuesday for talks in the town of Bethlehem with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Though Trump stood before a backdrop of Palestinian flags and listened to the playing of the Palestinian national anthem, the U.S. president’s remarks did not include any reference to a “two-state solution,” with Israel and a Palestinian state existing side by side.

“There’s not much detail there, as usual. It’s still in the realm of generalizations rather than a specific strategy or approach,’’ said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Speaking by phone from Ramallah, the Palestinians’ de facto administration capital, Ashrawi said of Trump: “He’s still on a learning curve, and peacemaking is not a business deal.”

In Bethlehem, some Palestinians joked that the visit’s main achievement was that the municipality had cleaned the streets beforehand, said Akram Al Ayassa, an official with a Palestinian government commission.

Many Palestinians were already irked that Trump spent only about an hour with their leader over the course of his two-day trip to Israel and the West Bank. Locals in Bethlehem had also hoped Trump would visit the town’s most famous attraction, the Church of the Nativity, revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus.

The Arabic-language hashtag #45minutes was trending in social-media posts on the visit, said Bethlehem-based blogger and journalist Fadi Abu Sada, who called the Trump-Abbas meeting “public relations and nothing more.”

He said Trump’s White House meeting with Abbas earlier this month had briefly raised Palestinian expectations but wondered how long that initial optimism would last.

“For us, nothing has changed yet,” Abu Sada said. “Things on the ground are still the same.”

Hamas riflemen strut their stuff with an effigy of Trump. Photo Maan Images.

‘Resistance is not terrorism’: Palestinians burn effigies of Trump in Gaza

By Ma’an news
May 23/24, 2017

GAZA CITY — Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continued to express outrage over US President Donald Trump calling out the Hamas movement — Gaza’s de facto leading party — in a list of terrorist organizations during a speech in Riyadh on Saturday before 50 leaders of Arab and Muslim-majority countries.

Palestinians in Gaza from across the political spectrum united in denouncing the remarks, which have been interpreted as a blanket condemnation of all forms of Palestinian resistance.

“No description of the suffering and depravity can begin to capture its full measure. The true toll of ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so many others, must be counted not only in the number of dead. It must also be counted in generations of vanished dreams,” Trump said, in his first speech delivered abroad since taking office.

Shortly after the speech was broadcast, Hamas reacted by accusing Trump of “complete bias” toward the policies of the Israeli occupation by designating the movement as a terrorist organization.

The designation “denies the Palestinian people’s legitimate right to resistance to liberate their land and holy places,” Hamas, which identifies as a Islamist national resistance movement, said.

Hamas denounced Trump’s message at the summit in Saudi Arabia — which focused heavily on what he called “the crisis of Islamist extremism” — for attempting to divide the Muslim world, as Trump meanwhile “ignores the Zionist crimes of killing children and women and demolishing the roofs over their heads.”

Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza Strip, burn an effigy of Pres. Trump, May 22, 2017. Photo by AFP.

Israeli officials have routinely claimed that Palestinian armed resistance is part of an international rise in Islamist extremism, while many Palestinians have instead pointed chiefly to the frustration and despair brought on by Israel’s decades-long military occupation of the Palestinian territory and the absence of a political horizon.

The Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees organized a rally in Rafah city in the southern besieged coastal enclave Monday evening protesting Trump’s remarks.

Dozens of supporters crowded at Shuhada Square in the centre of the city and torched US flags, as well as photos and an effigy of Donald Trump.

“Palestinian resistance is a source of pride for the nation fighting its enemy and occupier and trying to liberate its country,” leader of the Popular Resistance Committees Abu Fares al-Shamali said.

Trump’s remarks, al-Shamali added, were blindly throwing US support behind the interests of Israeli occupation, “which is the true source of terrorism and violence in the region and in the world,” he said.

On Tuesday, anti-Trump protests raged on in the small Palestinian territory.

PFLP march in Gaza declares: Donald Trump, US imperialism not welcome in Palestine! and calls for support for the hunger-striking prisoners.

Hundreds of supporters of the leftist and secular Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) rallied in Gaza City to protest against Trump’s remarks made in Riyadh, demonstrating that the comments were being interpreted as offensive to Palestinian resistance movements at large, irrespective of political or religious affiliation.

Demonstrators waving Palestinian flags, PFLP flags, as well as Hezbollah and Iranian flags rallied from Palestine Square to the prisoners’ solidarity sit-in tent at Saraya Square, chanting against US policies in the region.

Two masked PFLP gunmen aimed their guns at an effigy of Trump tied up in ropes in Saraya Square, behind a banner that simply stated: “Resistance is not terrorism.”

Member of the PFLP’s politburo Kayid al-Ghoul told Ma’an that the rally reflected the group’s support for the demands of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners and firm solidarity with their plight, as well as opposition to Trump’s policies, which he said were “predictably in support of Israel’s conditions for the so-called peace process.”

Al-Ghoul said that, “today, we are sending a message that the Palestinian people refuse to give up any of our rights, and refuse to go back to US-sponsored negotiations.”

The Islamic Jihad movement also organized a rally in central Gaza City condemning “Trump’s statements against resistance factions,” with the group stressing that they completely rejected the US president’s characterization of Hamas as a terrorist organization, raising a banner that said: “Our dignity is our most valuable possession. Trump, resistance is not terrorism — we will triumph and you will leave.”

Member of the Islamic Jihad’s politburo Muhammad al-Hindi said that “Palestinian resistance factions are holding on to Palestinian rights stronger than ever, despite all the conspiracies being planned against the Palestinian cause.”Al-Hindi said that “Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia and his description of the resistance as terrorism, in front of all of the Arab and Islamic world leaders, is a reflection of the ongoing deterioration in the region,” referring to a growing alliance between heads of state in the region, the United States, and Israel at the expense of the Palestinian cause.

Al-Hindi denounced the leaders — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas among them — for their silence to Trump’s message, particularly as the US president famously hinged his presidential campaign on inflammatory, anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Ahead of Trump’s visit to Riyadh — which was marked by the US signing a $110 billion weapons deal with the Saudi regime — Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International Philip Luther said that the “potential for President Trump to build toxic alliances with leaders who share his disdain for human rights during his first foray into foreign diplomacy is deeply worrying.” Touching on Trump’s ambitions to secure “the ultimate deal” for Middle East peace, Amnesty International’s statement also deplored successive Israeli governments for large-scale violations throughout the 50-year-long occupation of the Palestinian territory, which “have inflicted mass suffering on Palestinians”. The international rights group highlighted how the state of Israel has been “emboldened” by the new Trump administration to accelerate the expansion of illegal settlements in violation of international law as well as step up Palestinian home demolitions.

Trump’s visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory was also met with a widely observed general strike and protests in the occupied West Bank, with a combined message of support for a mass hunger strike under way in Israeli prisons, and also to voice opposition to the resumption of peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel under US sponsorship.

Protests on Monday erupted into violent clashes, as a “Day of Rage” has also been called for on Tuesday.