Acting US ambassador to UN: PLO mission to be reopened
The United States will renew relations with the Palestinians, including reopening the Palestine Liberation Organization mission in Washington, D.C., acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Mills told the Security Council on Tuesday.
The Palestinian flag moments before being taken down from the PLO Mission in Washington in advance of its being ordered closed by the Trump administration, Oct. 10, 2018. Credit: Jackson Richman/JNS
Mills, who is serving in this interim position until U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to be America’s ambassador to Turtle Bay, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, said the Biden administration will restore U.S. assistance to the Palestinians.
The Trump administration cut off most U.S. assistance to the Palestinians, including through the Taylor Force Act, due to Palestinian leadership financially rewarding terrorists and their families. The PLO mission was closed in October 2018.
Washington’s Mideast policy “will be to support a mutually agreed, two-state solution, in which Israel lives in peace and security, alongside a viable Palestinian state,” said Mills, adding that a peace deal must be agreed to by both Israelis and Palestinians.
He also warned both sides against unilateral actions.
While Biden will encourage more Arab countries to normalize ties with Israel, that’s “not substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace,” said Mills.
Meanwhile, a report by the Palestinian Maan News Agency said that the PLO has had contact with the Biden administration. Ahmed Majdalani, who sits on the Executive Committee of the PLO, said that the Biden administration has expressed support for a two-state solution and against former President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace plan. He also said that Biden has promised to re-open the PLO’s mission as well as restore aid to UNRWA.
JNS
The desire for peace is laudable but the Palestinians and Israelis are far from agreement even with the Land Swap agreement .
The Jordan Valley Security the Jewish Return to the Jerusalem Area and Demilitarisation are very hard to say :Yes forever .
But an interim truce seems possible – many would like the Palestinians to get a good vaccine for Covid 19 with Israeli help but even the vaccination in the European Union is slow and halting and there are not enough produced yet .
It’s proving very hard to be Super Humanitarian with the Palestinians still very inciting hate against Jews and the Jewish State and paying murdered of Jews in prison super pensions.
My suggested solution to the Israel/Palestine border issue are as follows. From Jerusalem a line drawn west to the sea and east to Jordan should be the border between Israel and Palestine. North of this border would be Israel, which includes coastal cities like Tel Aviv while south of the border would be Palestine which includes Gaza.
Jerusalem would continue to have city council for local government administration were all resident who live there or own property there (like in Australia) would be ratepayers and residents of the city. Both countries may choose to have their respective parliament in Jerusalem too. The patchwork that is Palestine currently is ridiculous and unworkable for a country.
Other countries have been partitioned in the past like British India (India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan – now Bangladesh, Vietnam and Korea.