Abbas speech responding to Trump "deal of the century"
Official PA TV, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ speech on Jan. 28, 2020 on US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan announced earlier the same day
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “Hello to you on behalf of All Merciful Allah. Before I begin my remarks, I want to say to the duo – [US President Donald] Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu – that Jerusalem is not for sale, and all of our rights are not for sale or bargaining. Your deal, the conspiracy (i.e., refers to Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which he presented with Netanyahu on Jan. 28, 2020; see note below), will not happen. On behalf of All Merciful Allah, on my own behalf, and on behalf of the Palestinian leadership that is currently assembled, I send a blessing of praise and glory to our mighty people that is standing firm in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and everywhere it is located, for its great stand against the occupation and its rejection of the so-called ‘the deal of the century,’ which will not pass. And our people will force it into the dustbin of history, just as all of the plans to eliminate [the Palestinian cause] and conspiracies against this cause have gone there. We are all certain that victory is the ally of our heroic people, which has made great sacrifices on the path to freedom and independence for Jerusalem and Palestine.
And I bless our people’s Martyrs, our prisoners, our wounded, and our expellees. I emphasize to you that their rights are being preserved and no one will degrade them.
I also send a blessing and esteem to our Arab and Islamic nations and the free people of the world for their adherence to aiding our legitimate national rights. And in these crucial moments, I call on every Palestinian, in the homeland and in the diaspora, to fill the ranks, unify them, deepen the connections of national unity, prioritize the front with the occupation, and bring down the plan to eliminate the Palestinian national project.
I declare that our strategy is focusing on continuing our unceasing struggle for the end of the occupation and for the independence of the State of Palestine, whose capital is noble Jerusalem. We will immediately begin taking all the steps that require changing the Palestinian National Authority’s functional role, in order to implement the decisions of the [Palestinian] National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO) and the [PLO] Central Council. Our great Palestinian people will not kneel and will not submit. We are the patient ones, those standing firm, those preserving the spark, and those standing proud against the occupation and tyranny – and we are ready for this. The plots and deals of the century and the plans to eliminate the Palestinian cause – they are destined to fail, disappear, and not create [any] truth or produce commitment.
Our unity that is being realized to deal with the plans of elimination – between all of our people wherever they are, and with the aid of the free people of the world – will bring down the exploitation, the exploiter, and the fascist occupation.
To our Martyrs, our prisoners, our wounded, our people’s heroes everywhere, [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat (apparently refers to PA libel that Israel poisoned Arafat; see note below –Ed.), [Muhammad] Al-Dura (Palestinian boy the PA claims was killed by Israeli soldiers; see note below –Ed.), [Ali] Dawabsheh (Palestinian boy killed with his parents in the Duma arson attack, which Jews were accused of committing; see note below –Ed.), [Muhammad] Abu Khdeir (Palestinian teen murdered by Israeli extremists; see note below –Ed.), the Al-Sawarkeh [family] (refers to 8 family members accidentally killed in an Israeli airstrike on what was thought to be an empty house in Gaza on Nov. 15, 2019, in response to Islamic Jihad rockets –Ed.) – our commitment to you is that your sacrifice and blood was not been spilled for naught. Glory and eternity to the Martyrs. Long live Palestine!
Dear brothers, a while ago we listened to President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu discussing 'the slap of the century' (play on words, rhymes with “the deal of the century” in Arabic –Ed.) – this slap we will repay with many slaps in the future, Allah willing. We have found nothing new that has been added to what we heard two years ago, because it is enough that we heard two years ago that united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel (refers to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital –Ed.)! And therefore there is no need for us to wait, as some have said or asked of us, that we wait and wait, and perhaps despite it all. From then and to this day our position has not changed, and currently, after we have heard these empty words from beginning to end, we say a thousand times no, no, no to the deal of the century (Click to view video).
Dear brothers, we consider this deal the culmination of the Balfour Promise (i.e., Declaration). That is to say, it is what they intended to reach, [what stood] behind the Balfour Promise. Because when we read this promise that says a national home for the Jews in Palestine, [and] afterwards regarding the residents who happen to be found in this land – they can enjoy civil and religious rights.
These very words. Now has begun - they searched for their truth, and returned to the beginning, to 1917, in order to implement everything that they wanted in 2020.
That being the case, this is the deal of the century that relies on the Balfour Promise, which the US and Britain created.
Some are surprised – the US? Yes, the US and Britain, because the US is the one that formulated [the Balfour Promise] in agreement with Britain (sic., while the US consented to the Balfour Declaration, PMW found no evidence that it was involved in drafting it), and it is the one that placed it in the Covenant of the League of Nations while it was not a member of the League of Nations, and it put it into the Mandate for Palestine while it was not responsible for the Mandate. Afterwards it said: ‘This is what will be done.’ Who was that? America. Are we surprised by this? In the past we heard that the Americans enjoy democracy and values. This is the American policy that we are currently seeing implemented on our land. Accordingly, we must understand the facts as they are: This is the Balfour Promise that America established, and the US has also begun to implement it now (Click to view video). There are a number of people who [accept] the game of the Zionist lobby, or AIPAC as they called it, controlling the US and that the American administration acts according to the Zionist lobby’s policy – this is nonsense, this is nonsense. The American policy is the one that hires all of the lobbies in order to act according to its plans and interests; I ask that we understand this.
The deal that they presented – I do not want to elaborate on it. It is enough that I will say that united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel [according to the US]. And aside from this everything [in the plan may be] new and important, but as long as they began thus, the start of it all is heresy.
This is the start of it all, and therefore what will be its content and end? All they have said about the implementation: the settlement – it’s all Israel, Israel's policy; the borders are under Israeli control; they may take – and it’s noble of them – 30-40% of Palestine (sic., of the West Bank) and annex it to Israel. Just imagine. This is not nobility, do not understand it thus. And this is what is coming in the deal of the century, and therefore we have rejected this deal from the beginning – and our position was correct when we refused to wait.
Even two days ago they said: ‘Wait for us to hear’ – to hear what? Why should I wait if Jerusalem is going, so that we will receive a state without Jerusalem? It is impossible that any Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, or Christian child would accept this, and therefore we told them no from the beginning.
There are people in this world who have a conscience or a little of one. There are those who read reality as it is, there are those who know the truth to an extent- who distinguish between truth and falsehood.
There are people, many people, and we must rely on this. There is the European Union (EU) which, until now, until this moment, is saying: ‘the two-state solution on the basis of the international resolutions.’ These are their words. I consider these good things. We also find [such people] in the American Congress as well – and you must understand that some of the people have begun, even the American people- the American people is being misled, the American people is being directed by the Zionist plans there, while the American people is good, just like the rest of the peoples, believing in truth and falsehood.
I saw many demonstrations in America, if only you had seen them, an hour ago today. A while ago the American Congress made a decision against settlement and in favor of the Palestinian people’s aspirations, in a decisive majority against the Republicans.
Therefore, there are people who distinguish to a certain extent between truth and lie and say the truth, even if it is difficult for them, and even if they would be punished for it, they will say it.
In America there are people like this. There are Jews in America, Jewish organizations in America that have a conscience, that have said: No, [the deal of the century] is a mistake and it does not give Palestinians their right. There is J Street, if you have heard of it; it is an entirely Jewish organization that rejects this deal from beginning to end. Therefore, there are a number of people. There is the European Court [of Justice] that issued a ruling on [labeling] the settlement products [on Nov. 12, 2019]. And indeed, Europe has begun to internalize that it has discriminated against us greatly in the past, and that it must repair some of the mistakes that it has committed over 100 years. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is also before us – when we became an observer state in the UN, this title enabled us to join 520 organizations including the ICC. But we suffered greatly until about a month ago in a strong struggle against America, which blocked us from implementing this connection between us and the ICC. What is the ICC?
The ICC deals with the issues of individuals, and we have thousands of individuals who have been harmed, destroyed, and murdered, and their property has been damaged, their fields have been damaged, and their animals have been murdered at the hands of the settlers. These people, it is their right to go to this court now to submit complaints against these people who harmed them. That being the case, this was one of the achievements in addition to 120 international organizations of which we have become members…
These are indications that the world has begun to understand us, has begun to understand our cause, to feel our pain and cry our tears, and say: ‘Yes, you are right.’
It has begun, and from here on we need to continue our policy, which the world recognizes.
At the least, the world knows that we are a people like all peoples. We do not have tails like they say. A people that wants to live, a people 13 million strong – half in the Interior (refers to Israel and the PA areas –Ed.) and half outside of it. How long will they continue not to recognize this people’s existence? There are states – and with all due lack of respect for them – whose number of residents is in the tens of thousands. States that are members of the [UN] General Assembly, and how nice. Okay, [so] why [aren’t we]? Because the US does not want it. We went to the [UN] Security Council and the US stood up to say ‘no.’ Allah willing, the time will come when it will say ‘yes’ against its will, and we will achieve our rights.
Therefore, all of these bodies stand at our side, and now we have heard many responses to Mr. Trump’s speech – promising responses that we are counting on, and we are continuing our work, our efforts, and our struggle in order to reach an independent Palestinian state now whose capital is East Jerusalem within the June 4 [1967] borders.
We agreed to controversy, but that also was not given to us… In other words, [we agreed] to 22% of historical Palestine (refers to land allocated for an Arab state in the 1947 UN partition plan that the Arabs rejected, which the PLO recognized as a basis for negotiations in the 1988 Palestinian declaration of independence –Ed.), and still Mr. Trump wants to take 40% [of the West Bank] as opposed to 22% (while Trump’s plan would allow Israel to annex around 40% of the West Bank, it allocates a similar land mass in the Israeli Negev to Palestinians –Ed.)… Therefore, I say to the international community and the world: We adhere to the international resolutions, because they are the authority. We have 86 Security Council resolutions and 125 General Assembly resolutions. [Take] one resolution from here or there, put it on the table, and I can hold negotiations on it – one resolution. Even the resolution that the US put on the table of the Security Council, [resolution] 2334 (sic., the Obama administration did not submit the resolution condemning “Israeli settlements” but rather allowed it to pass in a break with longstanding US policy; see note below), Mr. Trump denies it and claims that it has no legitimacy, because he is the one with the power and he is the one who gives orders to the whole world. No, we at least are not listening to his instructions, not listening and not agreeing. We are also adhering to the national principles that the Palestinian National Council published in 1988. This council that convened in Algeria, and there are a few old people among you, like me, who were present at it; we are adhering to these principles, and we will not relinquish [even] one of them, which among other things speak about the refugees’ rights and our borders, and 1967, and all of these matters, our right to a state and the like – we are adhering to all of these issues, from small to large.
We are also telling the world: We are not a terrorist people and we have never been a terrorist people. we are committed to the war on terror. But the world must understand that this people deserves to live. We also are adhering to negotiations on the basis of international legitimacy. And I said in the Security Council that we want an international convention, and we want negotiations that will be managed by the Quartet (i.e., US, EU, Russia, and UN). We do not accept the US alone, we do not accept it. I know and am certain that I cannot ignore the US, but it itself is not the whole world. No, there is the international Quartet, which I accept, and another five states with them that I accept that will have the honor of managing negotiations and will put every one of the Security Council resolutions on the table, and we are prepared to hold negotiations on this basis. However, on the basis of Trump's deal or that of someone else – tomorrow someone else will come, who knows. If Mr. Trump- if what will happen happens and he does not complete [his term, then] someone else will come and say the same things.
This policy is in the ‘deep state,’ and it is not coincidental and transient – it is since 1917, not since today. We will not agree. We will fight with all our capabilities, and the peaceful popular movement is our first weapon. And I think that outside now- we did not see what is happening outside, but the Palestinians are spread throughout the streets, in every town, here, in Jerusalem, in the West Bank, and in the world. Currently we have not told them ‘go out,’ but they have begun to see and hear what Mr. Netanyahu and the other mister, Trump, have said, and have gone out on their own. This is a method that we need to implement and execute. Look at our brothers in Lebanon, the young men and women of Lebanon have been in the streets for more than 100 days requesting their rights – a financial right, a right to employment, things about their fate, their future. They are sitting in the streets for 100 days, 200 days, and 300 days. And we need to continue with this, Allah willing; my words are directed to all of the Palestinian factions. We have announced elections for the [PA] Parliament (Legislative Council) and the [PA] presidency, and we are adhering to them. But where are these elections? In the West Bank, in Gaza, and inside Jerusalem – the citizen of Jerusalem will vote in Jerusalem, not outside of it. He will go out, to vote in Abu Dis? No! He will vote in the heart of Jerusalem, and Allah willing this will happen and we will thus complete the legal institutions that currently need this work.
Elections for the [PA] Parliament and the presidency. We are a democratic people that believes in democracy and pluralism, and believes in turnover – in other words, that someone will not sit for 100 years… no. He sits for a limited time, and afterwards he finishes and someone else comes in his place and so on. This is the democracy that we believe in. But until now Israel is not approving voting in Jerusalem. It must agree, and if not – there is no power and no might other than in Allah.
We must do all we can to bring about the end of the occupation and achieve independence, and this by changing the PA’s functional role. We must place this before our eyes in order to realize it. We have made achievements. We will base ourselves on them. We have made achievements at the UN – we will rely on this. We have made achievements in the world – we will rely on this. Everywhere that we have made achievements, we must base ourselves on them. All of the Palestinian factions were present at the leadership meeting today [Jan. 28, 2020], all of them, if you want I can list them for you here so you will know. The Hamas Movement, the Islamic Jihad Movement, the Palestinian National Initiative (i.e., a political party in the PA Parliament) – they sensed danger and forgot the arguments between them. I spoke with [Hamas Political Bureau Chairman] Mr. Ismail Haniyeh and I told him- he told me first that we need to meet immediately. After half an hour I said to him: How about we meet immediately in Gaza? Allah willing, we are beginning a new stage of Palestinian dialogue and joint Palestinian work, and we will overcome the trivial things in order to stand together, and if we stand together then the whole world will certainly stand up and salute us.
We are a people that deserves to live, we are a people that wants its right.
Finally, I say to our Martyrs, our prisoners, and our wounded: Israel and the US have attempted to withhold our money that they collect for us for payment – nothing is free with them, everything is for money – so that we would stop paying the prisoners, the wounded, and the Martyrs’ [families] (refers to Israel’s Anti “Pay-for-Slay” law and US Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act of 2018; see notes below –Ed.). The prisoners, wounded, and Martyrs are the most sacred thing for us. By Allah that if one penny is left in our hands it will only be spent on the Martyrs, prisoners, and wounded (Click to view video).
Thank you.”
Yasser Arafat However, following his death, the PA created the libel that Israel murdered Arafat, and it has been spreading it since. In 2012, samples were taken from Arafat’s remains and tested for poisoning by Swiss, Russian, and French teams of scientists. The Swiss team concluded that the tests were "coherent with a hypothesis of poisoning" - but a member of the team also stated that "our study did not permit us to demonstrate categorically the hypothesis of poisoning by polonium." The Russian scientists concluded that "there was insufficient evidence to support the theory that Yasser Arafat died in 2004 by polonium poisoning." [Reuters, Nov. 8, 2013] In March 2015, three French judges ruled that "it has not been demonstrated that Mr. Yasser Arafat was murdered by polonium-210 poisoning." The French prosecutor stated that there was "not sufficient evidence of an intervention by a third party who could have attempted to take his life." [France 24, Sept. 2, 2015] The French prosecutor also explained that the polonium and lead found in Arafat’s grave were “of an environmental nature.” [Jerusalem Post, March 17, 2015].
Despite these results, the PA continues to blame Israel for Arafat’s death without any proof or backing for this claim.
Muhammad Al-Dura
Islamic Jihad rockets, November 2019
US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel
Palestinian declaration of independence