Trump and Netanyahu’s ‘Steal of the Century’ means action is urgently needed to secure Palestinian rights
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity (IPSC) campaign stands with the millions of Palestinians all over the world who have condemned and rejected the Trump Administration’s so-called ‘Deal of the Century’, which yesterday was unveiled in full.
Friday – Belfast, 2pm, US Consulate General’s Residence, Shaw’s Bridge
Saturday – Dublin, 2pm, The GPO, O’Connell St, D1
Saturday – Ennis, 1.30pm, The Height, O’Connell Square
Saturday – Limerick, 3pm, Bottom of Thomas Street
IPSC Chairperson Fatin Al Tamimi, herself a Palestinian, said: “This is not a deal, this is a re-partitioning of Palestine accompanied by a list of unacceptable demands placed upon the Palestinian people insisting upon our total surrender; namely the renunciation of our human, national, democratic, territorial and economic rights – not least the right of return for millions of refugees, the right to self-determination in our homeland, the right of armed resistance and self-defence, and the right to freedom of movement. The plan substitutes the might of raw power for the rule of International Law and human rights, an approach that rewards colonial oppression and land theft and threatens the rights and liberties of all peoples, not just Palestinians, in its flagrant and reckless abandonment of international law and morality.
“While conceding to virtually every Israeli demand and committing to the re-partitioning Palestine and the permanent subjugation and oppression of the Palestinian people in our homeland, what is offered to Palestinians are merely bombastic promises of economic prosperity in return for capitulation and abandonment of our decades of struggle for genuine freedom and peace. Palestinians say to Mr. Trump and his cohorts that we are not for sale, we will never surrender our land or renounce our inalienable rights and we will under no circumstances accept this outrageous plan, which would be more accurately called the ‘Steal of the Century’.”
“This plan is so biased and brimming with so many anti-Palestinian racist tropes – including repeatedly blaming Palestinians for decades of Israeli oppression – that it may as well have been written by members of the far-right regime in Israel. It is no wonder that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has welcomed the plan with open arms and declared Mr. Trump ‘the greatest friend that Israel has had in the White House’.”
“Indeed, this plan offers absolutely nothing new. Rather it merely openly commits to paper for the first time the legal codification of Israel’s already long existent apartheid regime, the formal annexation of Jerusalem and the illegal settlements, a concrete plan to wall-in Palestinians in South African-style banustans and further restrict their freedom of movement, while stripping many Palestinians within the State of Israel of their citizenship. We hope that no actor in the international arena will take this plan in any way seriously – it deserves only to be derided and discarded.”
“It is clear that the Trump-Netanyahu axis of racism offers nothing to the Palestinian people. It is time for the international community to realise this, and take action that aims not to bring Palestinians and Israeli officials together around a fictive negotiation table, but to concretely sanction Israel for its repeated and ongoing human rights violations and breaches of International Law. Ireland can be to the fore in this if the new government that takes power after the general election commits to ensuring the passage of the Occupied Territories Bill into law.”
“However, where governments fail to act, it is up to the people to take action. We call on the people of Ireland to intensify support for the Palestinian civil society-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement that aims to win Freedom, Justice and Equality for the Palestinian people.”