Thursday, February 6, 2020

Deal of the Century? Communist and Workers' parties condemn Trump's plan on Palestine

Communist and Workers' Parties from across the world condemn the recently announced U.S. government's "peace plan" for the Middle East which has been described as the "Deal of the Century". 

The plan was presented by U.S. President Donald Trump during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on January 28th. 

Trump's plan has been denounced by Israeli Left political forces (Hadash, CP of Israel, Peace Groups) and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). 

Below you can read statements - or articles - by Communist and Workers' Parties regarding the U.S. plan for the Israeli - Palestinian conflict:

Party of Labour of Austria (PdA)

US president Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a new USplan for Palestine. This plan includes a status for Jerusalem as "undivided capital of Israel" and the incorporationof large parts of the West Bank into the Israeli state. These areas are currently already occupied by Israel in violation of international law and their population structure is being deliberately changed by Israeli settlement policy. 
The new plan of US imperialism for Palestine is a breach of all previous UN resolutions according to which the Palestinians are entitled to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. This plan is an attempt to legalise Israel's policy, which is contrary to international law. It means the consolidation, justification and perpetuation of the annexations and the discrimination regime with which many Palestinians in the occupied territories are already confronted. 
The Party of Labour of Austria rejects the new plan of US imperialism, which tramples on the rights of the Palestinian people and is likely to further increase the tensions in the region. 
We support the struggle of the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation and settlement policy, for an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and for the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their homeland.
Freedom for the Palestinian people!
Against the Israeli occupation and settlement policy!
Against imperialism and war!
Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Austria, 
Vienna, 31 January 2020.

Tudeh Party of Iran
On the Trump plot to trample upon the rights of the Palestinian nation…
The Tudeh Party of Iran resolutely condemns what President Donald Trump, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, unveiled on Tuesday 28 January 2020 as the “Deal of the Century" - supposedly the ultimate resolution of the Palestine issue- and regards it as a dangerous conspiracy to make official the permanent occupation of the lands of the Palestinian people by the racist regime of Israel. This biased "agreement" - which was drawn up over the past two years without the participation of the people and political forces of Palestine and only with the participation of the Israeli side - violates international law and, more importantly, disregards all the international efforts over the past decades to solve the issue of the Palestinian nation and state, including the UN resolutions that recognise the fundamental rights of the Palestine nation. This is in fact an agreement that blatantlytramplesupon the rights of the oppressed people of Palestine who have been living for more than 70 years under the harshest conditions in refugee camps in various countries, and in their own [dwindling]territory under the burden of the most inhumane sanctions as well as the surveillance of the Israeli police-military forces.
The Trump administration's efforts to obliterate the rights of the Palestinians and to side with the right-wing and racist government of Netanyahu began with the unilateral actions he took contrary to international law and the resolutions of the UN and its Security Council, including: the announcement of Jerusalem as the sole capital of Israel and the transfer of the US Embassy there; the acceptance of the "legality" of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories;the cutting of US funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA); and the recognition of Israel’s annexation of the occupied Golan Heights from Syria.
In this new plan of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu- one of whom is being impeached by the US Congress for his abuse of powerwhile the other has a hefty file of corruption and embezzlement [pending against him]in his country- additionalareas of the West Bank of the River Jordan are given to Israel, and there is no word about the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. This reactionary plot is another leap towards the outright dismissalof the right of the Palestinians to have their own sovereign country and state. The implementation of this plan - which has been rightfully opposed by the Palestinians and other nations of the region - not only does not resolve the Palestine issue, but will preserve the core of tensions in the Middle East. This plan has been opposed even in Israel itself by a significant portion of the population who showed their opposition through street protests and the slogan of "Don’t Make Apartheid Great Again."
The Tudeh Party of Iran once again resolutely condemns this deliberate and inhumane transgression of the Trump administration and the racist government of Israel against the rights of the Palestinians to have theirown sovereign and independent state, and urges allpeace-loving forces in the region and the world as well as the defenders of the rights of the Palestinian people to raise their voicesin sync withthat of the oppressed people of Palestine against this ploy. It is prudent and imperative that all the governments and forces that advocate for peace, and that defend the rights of the Palestinian nation based on the resolutions and agreements made so far, express their solidarity in this critical moment with the struggle of the people of Palestine to achieve their rights and to enjoy a decent life in their homeland and country; make every effort to reveal the Trump-Netanyahu "Deal of the Century" [for what it is]; and to assist with the successful progressing of the Palestine cause.
The Tudeh Party of Iran
3 February 2020.

AKEL (Cyprus)
The "Deal of the Century" legalises a crimethrough a new crime
The US, through Donald Trump, has announced the much-publicized "Deal of the Century" for the Middle East. They even presented it as a supposedly "win-win" situation for Israel and the Palestinians, while at the same time threatening that it is their last chance. In reality, this is an agreement that was "written" behind the backs of the Palestinian people, outside the framework of the United Nations and in violation of the relevant Resolutions and Decisions of the UN and international law. This is an "agreement" that serves the imperialist plans of the US for a "Greater Middle East". Trump refers to the Palestinian people as terrorists and beggars, thinking that their land is for sale.
The "Deal" fulfills the demands of the most extreme circles of the settlers and reactionary forces around Netanyahu. After the recognition of Jerusalem as the "indivisible" capital of Israel, the recognition of the "sovereignty" of Israel over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, the recognition of the "legality" of Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, the US gives away to Israel the Jordan Valley and 30% of occupied Palestine, as if they belonged to them! They are legalisingthe illegal settlements and annexing them. All the same as they speak about a two-state solution, they essentially want Palestine to consist of scattered parts of territoryenclavedwithin a greater Israel. Instead of the capital of the Palestinian state being East Jerusalem, it will in essence be a few small cities and villages outside the “Wall of Shame”, leaving out the old city. They make reference to population exchanges and prohibiting the return of Palestinian refugees.
AKEL denounces the new crime being committed against the Palestinian people and international law. At this historic turning point, the role of the international community and those who believe in peace is critical. The international community must not accept the legalization of a crime that has been continuing for 53 years with a new crime committed. Now is the time to strengthen international solidarity towards the Palestinian people. A 53-year-old crime must not be legalized with a new crime committed. The Israeli occupation must be terminated immediately. For the recognition of an independent and viable Palestinian State on the 1967 borderswith East Jerusalem as its capital, as set out in the relevant UN Resolutions. For the dismantling of the illegal settlements and the safeguarding of the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.
AKEL calls on the DISY-Anastasiades government to take a position against this new crime that is underwayright next to us.
Will it keep silent in the face of such flagrant disregard of international law, of the Resolutions of the UN, of the rights of a people under occupation and colonization?
With what credibility will it be talking tomorrow about the just cause and rights of Cyprus andabout Turkey’s violations of international law, if today the DISY-Anastasiades government yet again remains silent for the sake of Trump and Netanyahu?
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 29 January 2020, Nicosia.

Communist Party, USA (CPUSA)

The Communist Party USA expresses its firm rejection of the so-called deal of the century announced by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week. Far from being, as Trump says, a “win-win” situation for all sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict, it is deeply unjust to the Palestinian people and a formula for continued violent strife in the Middle East.
The political context is that there are elections approaching in both the United States and Israel this year. Trump has been impeached, and Netanyahu has been indicted for corruption. This has caused many observers to suspect that electoral demagoguery is part of the motive of both these leaders; that is, they are proposing an extreme and unworkable solution to the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict so as to stir up their extremist electoral bases and bolster their chances for re-election.
Be that as it may, the proposed plan, cooked up between the U.S. and Israeli governments without any Palestinian participation, is a big step backward:
*It would not do anything meaningful about the completely illegal proliferation of Jewish settlements on land needed for the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state. Instead, the existing settlements would come under Israeli sovereignty, as would the West Bank of the Jordan River.
*The so-called Palestinian state envisioned in the plan resembles nothing so much as the ill-famed system of “homelands” or “Bantustans” that the racist apartheid regime set up in South Africa. It would consist of noncontiguous bits and pieces of territory which would not be economically viable. It would not control many functions that are an inherent feature of all genuine sovereign states, such as foreign and security policy.
*Israel would take over complete, not joint, control of sites sacred to Muslim people, namely, the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque atop the Haram esh-Sharif (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem, though Muslims would be allowed to pray there with Israeli permission. We should not forget that there are extremist elements in Israel who have created provocations at those places and have even called for the demolition of those two edifices.
*The long-standing Palestinian demand that East Jerusalem be the capital of the new Palestinian state is fobbed off with the idea of giving the Palestinians a piece of land outside the city instead.
*The plan requires that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, with the implication that Muslims, Christians, and others living there are somehow not first-class citizens. Given existing discrimination against Arabs in Israel, this is not just a matter of words.
*The issue of the right to return of Palestinian families who have been exiled since Israel’s independence in 1948, some of whom still live in squalid refugee camps, is dropped completely.
*The $50 billion in investment offered to Palestine would not be given directly to the Palestinian government or even to private-sector firms. Instead, it would be placed in a fund at a financial institution charged with generating returns for investors. Disbursements would be conditional upon the Palestinian state’s adoption of the classic neoliberal framework of enhanced private property rights, low taxes, deregulation, and a judiciary friendly to foreign investors.
No wonder that all sectors of Palestinian leadership have indignantly rejected this destructive plan. It is gratifying that so many world leaders and organizations have denounced it already. We note that, in the United States, Jewish organizations such as J Street, civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, and numerous political leaders including several presidential candidates have been emphatic and forthright in denouncing this “deal.”
The Communist Party USA calls on all our members and allies to actively work to block the Trump-Netanyahu plan by speaking out against it in public meetings, on social media, or in letters to the editor; by contacting elected representatives to demand that they oppose it; and by making sure that Trump and his extremist allies are defeated in our November elections.

Portuguese Communist Party (PCP)

PCP strongly condemns the so-called “Agreement of the Century”, presented yesterday by the US Administration, and denounces the blackmail campaign to impose its unacceptable conditions, an open affront to the national rights of the Palestinian people, international law and the many decades of United Nations Resolutions that recognize and consecrate them.
The plan now announced is inseparable from the warmongering escalation of US imperialism and Israel's Zionist regime in the Middle East, including US decisions in blatant disregard for international law, such as "recognising" Jerusalem as Israel's capital; accepting the “legality” of settlements built in the territories occupied in 1967; or the "recognition" of the annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, illegally occupied by Israel - in addition to the cuts in US funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
The Trump Administration's Plan represents a very serious abandonment of any prospect for a just, negotiated and lasting solution to the Palestinian question, which is part of the imperialist and Zionist strategy of destabilization, provocation and domination, and which could have serious consequences for the peoples of the Middle East and around the world.
The Trump Administration's plan foresees, among other unacceptable measures, Israel's effective occupation and annexation of Jerusalem and about half of the West Bank of the Jordan River, as well as the legalization and territorial continuity of Israeli settlements built on Palestinian territory, thereby furthering the main objective of escalating the occupation and annexation by Israel of Palestinian territories.
The “promise” to establish, in the long term, in the small remaining territory, a Palestinian entity without territorial continuity or economic viability, without effective status as a sovereign and independent state, demilitarized and where border control, security and sovereignty over the sea and airspace would remain under the control of Israel, together with the denial of the right of return for Palestinian refugees, aims to make the creation of the State of Palestine unfeasible, thus signifying the abandonment of the two-state solution to the Palestinian issue , a perspective that should deserve the prompt and unequivocal rejection by all those who are committed to safeguarding and complying with the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people and international law, starting with the United Nations.
The PCP demands that the Portuguese Government issue an unequivocal condemnation of the plan now disclosed, as well as a clear response in support of international law and the rights of the Palestinian people, namely through compliance with the Parliament's recommendation for the recognition of the State of Palestine, along the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as the capital and the concomitant dismantling of Israeli settlements and recognition of the right of Palestinian refugees to return under the terms of UN General Assembly resolution 194.
The seriousness of this plan – contrived in collusion with the Zionist forces and representing a clear support of the incumbent Prime Minister of Israel, grappling with a judicial process in his country for fraud and corruption – requires a firm and determined response from all defenders of peace and human rights.
Faced with the violent offensive by US imperialism and Zionist forces, PCP underlines the importance of unity and solidarity with the Palestinian cause and the inalienable rights and historical demands of this people and calls for the mobilization of public opinion in Portugal and the strengthening solidarity with the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people for their national cause.
PCP Press Office
30th January 2020.

Palestinian Communist Party
(Statement in Arabic)
في يوم السبت، الموافق 1\2\2020، اجتمعت اللجنة المركزية للحزب الشيوعي الفلسطيني في مدينة رام الله، حيث كان بند الاجتماع الوحيد هو مناقشة ما يسمى بصفقة القرن، وتبعاتها على قضية شعبنا الفلسطيني.
وقد افتتح الاجتماع بالوقف دقيقة صمت حداداً على وفاة نائب الامين العام للحزب الرفيق محمد علقم (أبو فادي)، ومن ثم بدأ النقاش بشكل مستفيض عن آخر المستجدات على الساحة الفلسطينة وتحديداً صفقة القرن، حيث اعتبر المجتمعون أن ما يسمى صفقة القرن ما كانت لتعلن في هذا التوقيت لولا وصول الوضع الفلسطيني إلى واقع مأزوم بسبب الانقسام الفلسطيني الفلسطيني، وسياسة السلطة الفلسطينية التي اعتبرت المفاوضات خيارها الاستراتيجي، وتخلت عن كل الخيارات الأخرى وعلى رأسها المقاومة بكافة أشكالها وليس حصرها فقط بالمقاومة الشعبية التي لانقلل من اهميتها، وقد جاء الإعلان عن هذه الصفقة بعد أن أمعنت حكومات الاحتلال المتعاقبة في سياسة مصادرة الأراضي وبناء المغتصبات وتهويد القدس وهدم للمنازل، والسيطرة على الموارد الطبيعية وهدفت هذه السياسة العنصرية والفاشية إلى حصر شعبنا العربي الفلسطيني في كنتونات ومعازل سكانية، بحيث لم يبقى هناك أي معنى لما يسمى حل الدولتين، فقط كانت دولة الكيان ومنذ البداية لا تريد دولة فلسطينية على حدودعام 1967، وكان حزبنا قد استشعر هذا التوجه، وبناءً عليه تم تغيير رؤية الحزب السياسية في مؤتمره العام الثاني عام 2016، من حل الدولتين الى حل الدولة الديمقراطية العلمانية الواحدة على كافة التراب الوطني ولكافة أبنائها، وكما جاء الاعلان عن صفقة القرن في ظل وضع عربي متردي ومزري أيضاً، حيث الحروب والنزاعات في كل مكان تقريبا من سوريا الى اليمن، ليبيا، العراق، لبنان، كل ذلك صب في مصلحة دولة الكيان والولايات المتحدة في الإعلان عن صفقة القرن.
ورأت اللجنة المركزية أن قول رئيس السلطة الفلسطينية السيد محمود عباس لا لصفقة القرن ليس كافياً، بل يجب أن تتبعه خطوات عملية أخرى، ويجب أن تطرح السلطة الفلسطينة والفصائل الفلسطينية الاستراتيجية البديلة وأهدافها ومحدداتها، ويجب عدم التفرد باتخاذ القرار الفلسطيني من قبل أي فصيل فلسطيني، ويجب العمل على اعادة هيكلة منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية على أسس كفاحية ثورية، بحيث تشمل كافة فصائل العمل الوطني دون استثناء، واعتبرت اللجنة المركزية أن أي حديث عن حوار من أجل انهاء الانقسام.

Palestinian People's Party (PPP)
(Statement in Arabic)
موحدون في النضال لإسقاط صفقة "ترامب- نتنياهو".. موحدون في إنهاء التزامات السلطة واتفاقاتها مع إسرائيل
موحدون في استنهاض طاقات شعبنا في كل مكان من أجل الدفاع عن حقوقه .. موحدون في استعادة دور ومكانة م. ت. ف في قيادة شعبنا.. موحدون في تعزيز صمود شعبنا ووقف أية إجراءات تزيد من أعبائه
يا جماهير شعبنا الفلسطيني البطل
مع الإعلان الرسمي لصفقة "ترامب- نتنياهو"، فإن الإشهار الفعلي لمساعي الصهيونية والإمبريالية الامريكية لتصفية قضية شعبنا وحقوقه باتت اكثر سفورا وانكشافا ،كما ان الاستغلال البشع لتردي الوضع الداخلي الفلسطيني بسبب الانقسام وغيره من السياسات الخاطئة، وكذلك تردي الوضع العربي والإقليمي يظهر بأبشع صوره في مسابقة الزمن من قبل أدارة ترمب ونتنياهو لفرض مشروعهم التصفوي  للقضية الفلسطينية.
إن الرد على هذا المشروع هو في تعزيز  النضال ضد الاحتلال وتفعيل المقاومة الشعبية وتوحيد كافة إطاراتها وصولًا لانتفاضة شعبية شاملة في وجه الاحتلال والعنصرية، والعمل على توسيع حملة مقاطعة إسرائيل وإعادة بناء حركة التضامن الدولي مع شعبنا  الفلسطيني على قاعدة إنهاء الاحتلال والعنصرية وعلى قاعدة استعادة التحالف مع القوى الشعبية المساندة لكفاح شعبنا، والإسراع في إنهاء الانقسام والتوقف عن تقديم أي ذرائع لاستمراره من اي كان، كما يتطلب التوجه لمطالبة  دول العالم والأمم المتحدة باحترام قراراتها والتدخل لحماية دورها في ظل استخفاف ترامب والحكومة الاسرائيلية بها، وهي أولًا وأخيرًا تتطلب وقف العمل بكافة الاتفاقات الموقعة مع اسرائيل  وفي مقدمتها اتفاق أوسلو  وانهاء كافة الالتزامات المترتبة عليها ، اضافة لاستعادة الجهد الوطني والعربي والدولي من اجل إنهاء الاحتلال .
ان حزب الشعب الفلسطيني وامام المخاطر الراهنة يؤكد على أهمية الالتزام بمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية الممثل الشرعي والوحيد لشعبنا ويدعو  لاستعادة  مؤسساتها كافة  لاستعادة دورها في قيادة شعبنا من اجل التحرر والاستقلال وفي توسيع اطارات العمل المشترك مع مكونات شعبنا المختلفة في كافة أماكن تواجده والى التحرك بجدية من اجل  عقد لقاء وطني شامل بما في ذلك استئناف اللقاء الذي عقد  في العاصمة الروسية موسكو  لمواجهة صفقة "نتنياهو- ترامب" وإغلاق أية ذرائع لاستمرار حالة الانقسام المدمر ،وبما يضمن وحدة نضالنا من اجل التحرر والاستقلال والعودة.  
إن حزب الشعب الفلسطيني يدعو رفاقه ومناصريه وكل جماهير شعبنا الى الانخراط  في اوسع مواجهة كفاحية وسياسية  ضد صفقة "ترامب – نتنياهو"  التي تمثل وعد بلفور جديد يمهد لنكبة جديدة للشعب الفلسطيني تستهدف القضية الفلسطينية و تصفية حقوق شعبنا في العودة والحرية والاستقلال .
عاشت وحدة كفاح شعبنا.. المجد والخلود للشهداء
حزب الشعب الفلسطيني
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Communist Revolutionary Party of France (PCRF)
The PCRF vigorously denounces the criminal initiative of the President of the United States, the scandalous complicity of the French government, and calls on the progressive forces and the workers for an immediate response to affirm their solidarity with the just struggle of the Palestinian people for their rights and his land.
Ce plan n’est rien d’autre que le feu vert donné à l’annexion par Israël de Jérusalem-Est, du Golan, de la vallée du Jourdain et de toutes les colonies israéliennes, illégales, en Palestine occupée !

Un «  futur État palestinien  » pourrait voir le jour, sur le "gruyère" de l’actuelle Cisjordanie, territoire rabougri et ayant perdu ses principales ressources, au sein duquel les centaines de colonies seraient de fait devenues "l’État d’Israël", et relié par un tunnel à la Bande de Gaza ; si et seulement si...
les Palestiniens renoncent à leur capitale Jérusalem et reconnaissent l’État d’Israël comme un « État juif » (où quelque 1 809 000 citoyens arabes sont à ce titre discriminés, de par la nouvelle Constitution...).

On croit halluciner devant un tel déni du droit international (toutes les résolutions de l’ONU sur la Palestine sont ainsi rayées d’un trait de plume) ! Pourtant, le gouvernement français affirme, dans un communiqué, : "La France salue les efforts du président Trump et étudiera avec attention le plan de paix qu’il a présenté".
Une honte, qu’il partage avec ses homologues britanniques, mais aussi saoudiens, qataris, égyptiens et des Émirats arabes, qui tous applaudissent à la mise à mort des droits du peuple palestinien.

Le PCRF dénonce avec vigueur l’initiative criminelle du Président des États-Unis, la complicité scandaleuse du gouvernement français, et appelle les forces progressistes et les travailleurs à une riposte immédiate pour affirmer leur solidarité avec la juste lutte du peuple palestinien pour ses droits et sa terre.

Dans l’urgence, nous invitons nos lecteurs et lectrices à signer la pétition au lien suivant : http://chng.it/p2LkVztq8z