On January 28, Pres. Trump rolled out his long-threatened “Deal of the Century” on the Palestine Question– in a White House event alongside Israeli POM Netanyahu and before a glittering audience in whose front row sat pro-Israeli mega-donors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson. The “Deal” offered Palestinians even less than the Apartheid government in South Africa once offered its local clients in their ill-fated “Bantustans” plan, and had not been pre-negotiated at all with any Palestinian interlocutors.
JWE President Helena Cobban was quick off the mark with this tweet:
All you need to know about the #TrumpNetanyahu #DealOfTheCentury is that each man is under indictment in his own country– & each is ways more popular in the other guy’s country than his own. Today’s lovefest was just a way for each to help prop up the other. > pic.twitter.com/57EwZNw9mZ
— Helena Cobban (@helenacobban) January 28, 2020
For his part, the day before the release of the “Deal”, JWE board member Richard Falk previewed its likely impact in an interview with Correio Brazilense‘s Rodrigo Craveiro. He described the plan as “substantially an imposed Israeli victory, not in any reasonable way the basis for reaching a political compromise.” He noted that, “It is unfair to the Palestinian people and completely ignores their fundamental rights,” and said it “seems designed to declare a victory disguised as a diplomatic accommodation, trading Palestinian political defeat for some promised promise of improved living standards.”
The following day, after the release of the plan, Falk described it “the Farce of the century”, and added:
What seems clear from the timing and mode of release is that the Trump/Kushner plan is intended to help Netanyahu prevail in the upcoming Israeli elections, and will also be useful to Trump with respect to Evangelical and hard-core Jewish support in the presidential election in November. There is some reason to believe, whether knowingly or not, the plan, and the pre-release one sidedness was designed to ensure a Palestinian rejection, allowing Israel to embrace the plan and claim to seek peace, as well as go forward with unilateral moves such as annexing the Jordan Valley.
On January 29, Cobban noted on her personal “Just World News” blog that a substantial group of Democratic members of the U.S. Senate had been swift to issue a public criticism of the plan– and that this group included all three of the Senators who are possible (and credible) Democratic candidates in this year’s presidential race.
In her blog post, Cobban provided some background to the historical shift this represents, away from the era when leading Democrats would line up behind any pro-Israeli position without thinking twice about it. Read all about that shift by following the links in her JWN piece.
The next day, she was pleased to note this tweet from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s account, which indicated that Warren was still eager to publicize her criticisms of the Trump “Deal:
The “peace plan” endorses annexation, offers no chance for a viable Palestinian state & didn’t involve Palestinians. It’s a distraction from Trump’s impeachment & Netanyahu’s indictment. I joined @ChrisVanHollen’s letter opposing this sham & supporting a 2-state solution. pic.twitter.com/tjWfXq7rML
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 29, 2020