In a press conference in Washington DC on Tuesday, accompanied by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz, US President Donald Trump finally lifted the curtain on his long-awaited peace plan, sparking feelings of anger and disappointment amongst Palestinians who protested the content of the deal on account of it being "strongly in favor of Israel."
Analysis: The forthcoming Mideast peace plan from the US amounts to a deal for the US and Israel, experts say, and not Palestinians. https://t.co/TYDdPgKqIw
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 28, 2020
The peace plan which was prepared by Trump’s Middle East team, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, introduces a new vision for the two-state solution explained in a conceptual map Trump posted on Twitter, featuring a fully demilitarized Palestine missing most of the Jordan Valley. The peace plan promises a Palestinian capital in some portions of East Jerusalem.
Analysis THREAD: a unilateral peace plan was offered to the Palestinian Authority (PA) by Trump’s administration: Here are some pros & cons of #DealOfTheCentury
— أبو عمّار (@MaajidNawaz) January 28, 2020
A) Major con: it’s unilateral. PA had no role in this plan, at all. PM Abbas didn’t even take Trump’s call last night https://t.co/IeNQcHuieF
Besides many statements by Palestinian Authority officials expressing their total rejection of the plan, many Palestinians took to social media to criticize the map.
According to many Palestinian social media users, the drafted plan presents an "unpractical isolated and fractioned" Palestinian state that is "barely sovereign." They also protested the absence of Palestinians' contribution to the deal, despite the plan's direct impact on their lives, calling it a unilateral deal.
In 1920 the Mandate for Palestine was imposed without involving Palestinians.
— Jehad Abusalim جِهَاد أبُو سَلِيم (@JehadAbusalim) January 28, 2020
In 2020, a "peace plan" was just announced without involving Palestinians.
Both visions affect Palestinian lives directly, but Palestinians were and still are rendered invisible on their land.
I will not be minimizing or considering your opinions on how my country and identity should exist. Palestine deserves to exist, sovereign and with it’s rightful borders. You stating any solution without the voice of Palestinians is irrelevant and invalid.
— mojo jojo but sad (@jude_haha) January 29, 2020
من الملفت ان مهندسي خطه ترامب للسلام في الشرق الاوسط جارد كوشنر ودافيد فردمان وجايسن غرينبلات ليس لديهم ايه خبره سياسيه او دبلوماسيه سابقه. القاسم المشترك بينهم انهم يهود ارثودكس. والملفت أيضًا الخطة (صفقه القرن) بعيده عن سياسه امريكا الخارجيه للشرق الاوسط المتبعة لعشرات السنين
— Mustafa (@Mustafa84896191) January 24, 2020
Translation: "It's interesting that Trump's Middle East plan was engineered by Jared Kushner, David Friedman, and Jason Greenblatt, all three with no prior political or diplomatic experience while they are all Orthodox Jews. It's also interesting that this deal isn't in line with the US foreign policy over the past decades."
Every Palestinian with a Palestine map necklace now needs to change it to this weird ass swirly doodle otherwise known as Trump’s plan https://t.co/yUdeq8R7CY
— لينة (@LinahAlsaafin) January 29, 2020
Social media users said they felt the peace deal disregards many of the Palestinian demands that have been acknowledged by the United Nations, such as having the Palestinian state within 1967 borders, East Jerusalem as a future capital, and the refugees' right of return.
The more you read the Trump deal the more you realise all the losses for Palestinians (right of return, settlement recognition, Jerusalem, UNRWA ending) are immediate and all the gains ($50 billion, some form of statehood) are years away and dependent on a bunch of hypotheticals
— Joe (@joedyke) January 29, 2020
Some commentators pointed out the peculiar timing for the announcement, referencing the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump over withholding Ukranian aid. It also comes only six weeks before Israel's third elections in attempts to form a new Israeli government.
As the Israeli Prime Minister faces several corruption charges that could jeopardize his election campaign, it's been argued that both Trump and Netanyahu needed to create a historical moment that can support their efforts to be re-elected during 2020 and distract the public from their legal troubles.
Netanyahu faces corruption charges, Trump is under an impeachment trial, the PA president is past his service term, and somehow these are the most dominant voices in the fate of the region. What a time to be alive. #Palestine
— مريم البرغوثي (@MariamBarghouti) January 29, 2020
The peace plan which seems to have won Israeli approval, having both Netanyahu and his political rival attending Trump's speech on Tuesday, doesn't seem to appeal to most Palestinians, prompting several protests across cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.