A "popular Palestinian uprising" against U.S. President Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan was announced Sunday following a meeting of Palestinian political factions, Palestinian civil society organizations and private individuals in the West Bank city of el-Bireh.
The protests are to coincide with the U.S.-sponsored June 25-26 "Peace to Prosperity" workshop in Bahrain, where the United States is expected to reveal the first, economic stage of President Donald Trump's peace plan.
Participants in the Bahrain conference are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Though Israel has not yet received a formal invitation, it is also expected to attend. Responses are pending from Egypt and Jordan.
Qatar said on Sunday that there was a disconnect between the Palestinians and the United States over a U.S. blueprint aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, warning that a solution could not be imposed on Palestinians.
The U.S. blueprint, driven by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior White House adviser, is seen by Palestinians, and by some Arab officials and politicians, as a plan to finish off the Palestinian cause.
"As far as we see, right now there is a disconnect between the Palestinians and the U.S.," Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told reporters in London.
"Our position remains very firm: We are going to support any plan that the Palestinians are willing to accept."
Kushner, who has been trying to put together a peace plan, said in an interview broadcast last week that the Palestinians deserved "self-determination", but stopped short of backing Palestinian statehood and expressed uncertainty over their ability to govern themselves.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has criticized the Trump administration's still-secret plan for creating peace in the Middle East calling it "an approach that cannot grant serenity."
Speaking Saturday during a visit to Morocco aimed at boosting diplomatic and economic relations between the countries, Le Drian reiterated France and the European Union's opposition to Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
