Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March/April 2018, pp. 52
Diplomatic Doings
Ambassador Husam Zomlot, head of the PLO’s General Delegation to the United States, used his Jan. 25 appearance at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC to denounce President Donald Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
In March 2017, the Gaza-born diplomat noted, Trump promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the U.S. was committed to being an unbiased arbiter between Israel and Palestine. As a result, Palestine gave its full commitment to working with the administration, Zomlot said, and began holding meetings with U.S. officials.
Palestine’s confidence in the new U.S. administration was short-lived, however, Zomlot added, as it quickly became clear that U.S. officials were not serious about starting negotiations. “We, since May, have been literally nagging for this [negotiations] to happen with no success,” he said. “So when I hear that the Palestinians walked away from negotiations, I just pause. It was us for all these months, in every meeting, in every encounter, saying that we’re ready, don’t waste another day.”
When Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, Zomlot said Palestine realized why the U.S. refused to initiate negotiations: because they were planning on unilaterally siding with Israel. The ambassador said Trump’s announcement signaled the end of the U.S. commitment to the 26-year-old peace process aimed at achieving a two-state solution and resolving the “final status” issues, prominent among them being Jerusalem.
“President Trump reneged not only on the long-held U.S. and international policy, but reneged on his own promises [not to impose and tell the two sides what to do],” Zomlot stated. “He came all of a sudden and decided to take the heart of the two-state solution out, the core of all issues, the mother of all the issues—Jerusalem—unilaterally.”
Zomlot said the U.S. decision to impose an outcome was the final straw for the long frustrated Palestinians. “We have kept that engagement with the U.S. despite the fact that the performance of the U.S. during these 26 years was dismal, was not honest, could not bring itself to the level of an honest mediator,” he said.
“America was Israel’s lawyer for all these years,” Zomlot continued. “America would always start talking and negotiating with Israel. America would always present Israeli proposals, always. America would always find it easy to blame the victim…Yet, we kept firm in our engagement with America as the mediator. You know why? Because since 1991 [the Madrid peace conference], until the 6th of December 2017, America did not change its policy. That, despite the dishonesty, was enough for us to continue the engagement.”
In Zomlot’s opinion, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s fingerprints are all over Trump’s Jerusalem decision. The Israeli leader and his ruling coalition have publicly stated their opposition to two states, he noted, and knew that Trump’s announcement would “fire that lethal bullet at the very heart of the two-state solution.” Netanyahu “knows that Jerusalem is the heart of the two-state solution,” Zomlot said. “If you want to kill it, aim there.”
Palestinian leadership has decided that it must redefine its relationship with Israel, the ambassador explained. “It’s going to take time, but we can no longer accept the logic that our engagement with the current Israeli government is really leading us into a solution,” he said. “We have to redefine our relationship in every sphere. Not in a reactionary way, but in a way that will take us to a different place.” Specifically, he said that President Abbas has advocated for reaching out to the Israeli people instead of the Israeli government.
Despite the upheaval caused by Trump’s decision, Zomlot said Palestine remains committed to the two-state solution. “We are not going to change course,” he insisted. “Even if we are the last samurai, we believe that international resolutions have not come for no reason, they are the result of many decades of suffering and blood on both sides, and we want to clench onto our vision of a solution based on the 1967 borders and resolving all our legitimate issues, including the issue of refugees, the right of return.”
—Dale Sprusansky
