Palestinians protest US-led Bahrain conference

RAMALLAH, 26 June 2019 [Fik/News Sources]: Palestinians staged several rallies across Israel-occupied West Bank on Tuesday in protest of a U.S.-led conference in Bahrain.

The two-day event will open in the Bahraini capital, Manama, on Tuesday during which U.S. officials are expected to unveil the economic portion of their back-channel Middle East peace plan known as “deal of the century”.

Demonstrators gathered in Hebron [Al-Khalil] city in the southern West Bank, waving banners decrying the conference and participation of Arab delegates in the event.

Similar rallies were held in the cities of Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm, Salfit, Qalqilia and Jericho.

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians staged a general strike in protest of the U.S.-led conference.

"Any plan that includes the liquidation of the Palestinian cause…is rejected by the Palestinians and is not debatable or negotiable," Saeb Erekat, Secretary-General of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s Executive Committee, said in a statement.

"Our right to self-determination, freedom, and independence should be honored through the implementation of UN resolutions and international law. This is the only way to peace and prosperity," he said.

Several Arab states will take part in the conference, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Last week, the White House called for $50 billion in investment for Palestine and neighboring Arab states as part of the plan, which calls for increased infrastructure projects between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with a stated goal to "empower" the Palestinian people.

The "deal of the century" has yet to be revealed in full, however, based on leaks in the media, it envisages to make major concessions to Israel regarding the status of Jerusalem city and also regarding right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Middle East dispute, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might one day serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority said they will not be attending the conference in Bahrain and have rejected any U.S. role in the mediating process ever since U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017.