Arab Rulers Cheer U.S., Palestinians Vow to Fight

Trump Unveils ‘Treason of Century’

Date: 31 January 2020 - 23:19

News ID: ۷۵۶۵۷

RAMALLAH/SANAA (Dispatches) – Tens of thousands of worshipers descended on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his extremely biased Middle East plan.
Despite the cold weather made worse by rain and strong winds, men, women and children responded to the call for prayers from the 14-hectare compound in Jerusalem Al-Quds, where the Dome of the Rock and the adjacent silver-domed Al-Aqsa Mosque are located.
People promised to show a strong presence at the holy site following Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that the city, where the Al-Haram al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary is located, would remain the "undivided capital” of the Zionist regime.
"The deal is humiliating and unacceptable. Trump wants to deny us access to our Al-Aqsa. This holy site is ours. We will never give it up,” said Um Khaled al-Jawabri, who lives in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
"Even if it requires sacrificing all our blood, Palestine’s capital will always be Al-Quds,” he said.
Under Trump’s plan, the site regarded by Muslims as the third holiest site in Islam and important for all three Abrahamic faiths, would be under Israeli control.
The document elicited strong reactions from Palestinian worshippers who said they were worried that if implemented, the deal would deny freedom of access to the compound and prayer rights.
For Ahmad Hamad, a 25-year-old resident of the Old City and volunteer paramedic at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Trump’s so-called Deal of the Century was an offensive plan to "take away Al-Aqsa from us”.
"We reject this deal, especially since it impacts our right to Al-Aqsa,” said Hamad.
"As Palestinians, we will never give up a single inch of this land, or of our holy sites whether it’s the Al-Haram al-Sharif or the Church of Holy Sepulcher,” he added.
Hamad said a large crowd that gathered for the morning prayers at the Mosque was hurried away by Zionist security forces. "Ten worshippers were injured after Israeli forces used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd,” he said.
Videos from the holy site on Friday showed a heavy Israeli security presence at the compound, with forces motioning worshipers to leave after the prayers.
Hamad said the worshipers were not intimidated and said they would come for the Friday prayers in larger numbers. "We will keep coming in larger and stronger numbers,” he said. "If we are ever denied access to Al-Aqsa, there will be a war.”
Noor Abdellatif, a 20-year-old student in Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera she was angered by the announcement of the deal, but could not take it seriously after Trump referred to the holy site as "Al-Aqua Mosque”.
"Trump doesn’t know what he is talking about. He doesn’t understand what Al-Aqsa means to us. He couldn’t even pronounce its name,” she laughed.
"He doesn’t realize we will all stand up for Al-Aqsa if he touches it,” she said, before picking up her bag and heading inside the Dome

of the Rock, from where Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) is believed to have ascended to heaven.
Zeinat Abusbeih, who heads security at the Al-Aqsa compound, told Al Jazeera that restrictions on access of Palestinian worshippers, which are already in place would only increase under Trump’s plan.
Zeinat Abusbeih summed up the mood at the holy site when she said Palestinians will stand strong against Trump’s deal.
"We will never allow them to take control of Al-Aqsa and dictate to us when and where we have access to it.”
The Tuesday announcement of the deal has triggered a storm of indignation and protest across different countries in the Middle East along with the condemnation of various international organizations.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets in the northern city of Saada, the capital Sanaa and elsewhere on Friday to protest the Trump plan.
Yemen’s Al-Masirah television network said the demonstrators carried banners and slogans, decrying the deal and pledging to support the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation.
The protesters, in a statement, blasted what they described as the treason of certain "hypocritical Arab regimes” - particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - for supporting the plan and betraying the Palestinian cause.
The statement said existing divisions within the Muslim and Arab world have emboldened Tel Aviv and Washington to carry out the measure. The protesters called on Palestinian factions to unite and overcome existing rifts to liberate Palestine from the Israeli occupation.
The statement reiterated an earlier pledge from the leader of Yaman’s popular Ansarullah movement Abdul-Malik al-Houthi to support the "Palestinian and Lebanese” resistance in any future conflict with the Israeli regime.
Trump unveiled the so-called peace plan alongside Zionist PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday.
The so-called peace plan unilaterally annuls previous UN resolutions on the Palestinian issue and suggests giving the occupying regime of Israel almost everything it demanded.
The so-called deal would, among other contentious terms, enshrine Jerusalem Al-Quds as "Israel’s undivided capital” and allow the Zionist regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley.
Thousands of Jordanians rallied in the capital Amman Friday under heavy rain to vent their anger at the United States. The protesters chanted slogans calling for the protection of Al-Aqsa Mosque and burned the Israeli flag.
Abdul Hamid Thunaibat, the leader of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, was among the protesters and gave a speech warning of "a U.S. conspiracy against the Palestinian and Jordanian peoples.”
Other activities and events in support of Palestinians and against the U.S. plan took place in various Jordanian cities.
On Tuesday, Jordanians rallied outside the U.S. embassy in Amman as Trump unveiled the plan and demanded the closure of the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Amman.
"Down with the Americans’ approach,” "No embassy for the Zionist entity on your land, O Amman,” "No U.S. embassy on your land, Amman,” and "Down with Wadi Araba,” a reference to peace agreements with Israel, the protesters chanted.
Iran has denounced the scheme as "the shameful and deceptive plan of the century,” which is "doomed to failure.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Tuesday called the U.S. plan as "the treason of the century”, saying Iran is ready to cooperate with the regional states to foil this major plot against the Islamic community.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said the plan will consolidate unity among the Muslim community and muster support for the oppressed Palestinian nation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the initiative is a "nightmare” both for the region and the world.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday criticized Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf Arab nations for not speaking out against the plan.
Erdogan said Arab nations’ stance toward Palestinians was pitiable and countries that failed to speak out would be responsible for "grave results”.
Turkey has dismissed the plan as an attempt to steal Palestinian lands and kill off prospects of establishing a Palestinian state.
Despite Palestinians’ rejection of the plan and their boycott of Trump, three Persian Gulf Arab states - Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - attended the White House gathering where Trump announced his plan.
"When we look at the stance of countries in the Muslim world toward this step and the announced text, I pity us. Saudi Arabia mostly, you are silent. When will you speak? The same goes for Oman, Bahrain, the Abu Dhabi leadership,” Erdogan said in comments to members of his ruling party in Ankara.
"They even go and applaud it there. Shame on you,” he added. "Some Arab countries supporting such a plan are betraying Al-Quds, their own peoples and most of all humanity.”
Despite their historic support for Palestinians, some Arab powers have appeared to prioritize close ties with the United States and a shared hostility toward Iran over traditional Arab alliances.
Saudi Arabia expressed appreciation for Trump’s efforts and support for direct negotiations under U.S. auspices.
Erdogan said it was "inexplicable” for Palestinians to be pressured into accepting the plan, adding that he would talk later on Friday to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the leader of the Palestinian Hamas group, Ismail Haniyeh.
Abbas will speak at the United Nations Security Council about the plan.