PLO: US asked Jordan to stop supporting Palestinian cause

Secretary of the PLO Saeb Erekat said yesterday that the US had asked Jordan to stop supporting the Palestinian cause, Safa News Agency reported.

During a speech delivered to the Amman Security Club, he also said: “There will not be normalisation of ties between Israel and the Arab states unless Israel accepts the Arab Peace Initiative.”

He added: “There is not an Arab state that agrees on the so-called ‘deal of the century’.”

Since taking office, US President Donald Trump’s administration has officially recognised Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel, moved its embassy to the occupied city, ceased all funding to the UN agency responsible for Palestine refugees and cut donations to Palestinian hospitals in Jerusalem.

The so-called “Deal of the Century” is claimed by Trump’s Administration to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but has been seen as a way to push the Palestinians to make concessions. The relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem was thought to be just one part of the plan.

It is also thought that the US has been pushing Jordan to strip two million Palestinians of their refugee status in an effort to reduce the number of refugees to just 40,000. Palestinian refugees, under the US’ new policy, would only be those who were forced out of their homes to make way for the creation of the state of Israel and not their dependents.

Read: The importance of the PA’s response to normalisation