“We Will not be a Slave to Trump’s Peace Plan”: Abbas

Ramallah, MINA – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday, June 23 that Palestinians would not be “slaves” of the United States (US) President Donald Trump’s peace team.

In his comments in Ramallah to reporters, he believed this week’s US initiative peace conference in Bahrain would fail.

“We are confident that the workshop in Manama will not succeed,” Abbas said. He boycotted a conference focused on the Palestinian economy, the Times of Israel reported.

The US government on Saturday launched an economic part of the peace plan which will be presented in Bahrain on Tuesday and Wednesday June 25-26, aiming to increase more than 50 billion US dollars for Palestinians and create one million jobs in one decade.

Abbas’s government has rejected the proposal, saying the dispute with Israel is political. He accused the US of trying to buy Palestinian support.

“We will not be slaves or servants for (Jason) Greenblatt, (Jared) Kushner and (David) Friedman,” Abbas said, referring to US President Donald Trump’s negotiating team.

“We need an economy (support), money and assistance, but before all there is a political solution,” he said.

Abbas has cut ties with the US government in December 2017, after Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. (T/Sj/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)