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A man enters the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Ramallah, occupied West Bank, on September 10, 2018. (MOHAMAD TOROKMAN / Reuters)
JERUSALEM – Palestinian officials pledged on Monday not to bow to the Trump administration's intimidation tactics after being informed that their Washington office would be closed and the blocking of their cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he was officially informed of the decision, which should be announced by US National Security Advisor John Bolton later on Monday. He lamented this initiative as an extension of a policy of "collective punishment" by the US administration.
"These people have decided to put themselves on the wrong side of history by protecting war criminals and destroying the two-state solution," he said. "I told them that if you worry about the courts, you should stop helping and encourage the crimes."
The move appears to be the latest in a series of US-led pressure tactics against Palestinian leaders as the Trump administration writes its long-awaited peace deal. In a series of blows to Palestinians, the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, moved its embassy, suspended funding for the UN agency that deals with Palestinian refugees. hospitals in East Jerusalem.
Under conditions imposed by Congress, the PLO can not run a Washington office if it calls on the ICC to prosecute Israelis for crimes against Palestinians. In a speech on Monday, Bolton will threaten to impose sanctions on the US or Israel International Criminal Court, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing an advance copy of his speech.
The United States would ban ICC judges and prosecutors from entering the country, sanctioning their funds in the US financial system and prosecuting them in court, according to the report.
However, Erekat said that Palestinian leaders would redouble efforts and submit a new complaint to the ICC within 48 hours of the Israeli Supreme Court's decision to demolish the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar.
He said that the United States was not part of the peace process and did not even have the right to sit in the room during the negotiations, rejecting US officials such as the ambassador. in Israel, David Friedman, as a "group of settlers" pursuing a right-wing Israeli agenda.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO's executive committee, described the initiative as "brutal and vicious blackmail".
"These irresponsible measures are clear evidence of American collusion with the Israeli occupation," she said. "The United States would do better to finally understand that the Palestinians will not surrender and that no measure of unjustified coercion or collective sanction will put the Palestinian leaders or the people on their knees."
The measures should be widely welcomed by the Israeli government, which was on vacation Monday to mark the Jewish new year.
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