Ramallah, Palestinian Territories – The Palestinian government rejectedThursday a US-led conference on Middle East peace and security due to takeplace next week in Warsaw, branding it an “American conspiracy.”
The joint US-Polish conference, which was first announced last month by USSecretary of State Mike Pompeo, will be held on February 13 and 14 and hostministers from across the globe.The Palestinians were not invited to the meeting amid a breakdown ofrelations with the United States, though the Israeli-Palestinian conflictcould be discussed.
Among those expected to attend are Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu, as well as US President Donald Trump senior advisors JaredKushner and Jason Greenblatt, as well as Pompeo.
In a statement Thursday the Palestinian foreign ministry labelled themeeting “an American conspiracy intended to get the participants to adoptthe US views on issues of the region, particularly the Palestine question”.
It said the Palestinian government would ignore all conclusions made by theconference.
The Palestinians have refused to talk to the Trump administration since theUS leader recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
Read Top Stories
They see the eastern part of the disputed city as the capital of theirfuture state and have said Washington’s pro-Israel bias meant the US couldno longer be the main mediator in stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
The Trump administration has delayed multiple times the launch of aproposed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, though officials still say theystill intend to present one.
The Palestinian foreign ministry also criticised Trump for hailed the USembassy move in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
“The malicious intentions of this administration were reiterated by USPresident Donald Trump in his State of the Union speech to Congress inwhich he stressed continuing with the policy of absolute bias towardIsrael,” said the statement carried on official Palestinian news agencyWafa. – APP/AFP
