The US Secretary of State is set to visit different regions of Israel this week; Rudeineh: Neither this visit nor any U.S. support for Israeli settlements in Palestinian lands can give legitimacy to the settlements or change the fact that they are doomed to end.
In light of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s current trip to the Middle East – where he will be visiting the Jewish State – Palestinian officials and spokesmen are condemning his visit to the West Bank settlements. More specifically, he’ll be visiting a winery that named a bottle of wine after him earlier this year following his announcement last November that the US would no longer view Israeli settlements in the West Bank as “illegal” like much of the international community does.
One spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, accused Israel of utilizing the support of the Trump administration to carry out a “takeover” of “more Palestinian lands.” He also stated, “This American administration has become a fundamental partner in the occupation of the Palestinian lands. Neither this visit nor any U.S. support for Israeli settlements in Palestinian lands can give legitimacy to the settlements or change the fact that they are doomed to end.”
Furthermore, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, has made several assumptions and accusations concerning Pompeo’s visit, stating, “It is a participation in the war crime that Israeli settlement constitutes under international law,” and that his visit “reflects the aggressive and lawless behavior of the Trump Administration in its endeavor to reap the largest number of gains for Israel before leaving the White House.”
Needless to say, the Palestinians are on high alert for whatever policies might be presented by the White House in the next several weeks. Pompeo’s visit to the West Bank settlements will be the first ever from a sitting US Secretary of State.
