Dear John,

The Trump administration released its Israel-Palestine “peace” plan today. 

The pomp and circumstance surrounding the release of this plan are an entirely cynical political exercise. Rather than be an honest and fair broker to build peace between Israelis and Palestinians, this is but another in a growing list of attempts to suppress any possibility of peace between Netanyahu’s far-right government and the Palestinians they subject to brutal occupation. In light of the recent troubles of the Netanyahu government at the polls, this plan is a gift to the Israeli right.

Devised without consultation from any Palestinian representatives, the plan amounts to a pact between Israel and the United States. It also abandons decades of US bipartisan foreign policy to effectively endorse Israel’s settlement policy, which is in direct violation of international law.

The timing of this release suits both Trump, who is currently being impeached and Netanyahu, who was just indicted, both for scandals involving political corruption. This plan was also released just weeks before Israeli’s national elections, an unprecedented attempt by an American president to influence the outcome. By shoring up the status of Trump and Netanyahu, both of whom are demonstrably opposed to Palestinian self-determination, the plan also actively harms the Palestinians. 

This plan is a logical next step for two regimes actively opposed to peace in the region; it ignores the Palestinians while granting the most far-reaching concessions to Israel in the entire history of peace talks between Israel, Palestine, and the United States.

In solidarity,

Salam Al-Marayati