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Corbyn asks Boris Johnson to denounce Trump’s peace plan 

February 5, 2020 at 2:17 pm

Britain’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson demanding that he clarify his position on US President Donald Trump’s so called “peace plan”. In the process he condemned Israel’s intention to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank.

In a letter shared on Twitter yesterday, Corbyn asked the Tory leader for an “urgent” response, highlighting “the gravity of the situation facing the Palestinian people,” and demanding to know if Johnson is “really prepared to abandon the most basic principles of human rights and international law.”

Last week, US President Donald Trump unveiled his “peace plan” to end the Palestine-Israel conflict. Dubbed the “deal of the century” it has been slammed for giving Israel everything it wants while providing Palestinians with no rights, ensuring that they are forever subjugated by the occupation.

The UN rejected the plan, saying that it is not based on UN resolutions, but is an imposition of Trump’s own vision of a two-state solution. The deal was also rejected by all Palestinian parties.

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Jerusalem, the historic capital of Palestine, would “remain Israel’s undivided capital,” said Trump during the unveiling of the deal. The ceremony was attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz. Both welcomed the plan as a “win-win solution” for both parties: “A great plan for Israel… and a great plan for peace.”

Corbyn reminded Johnson that international law supports the rights of Palestinian refugees who were forced to flee their homes in 1948 and their descendants, including the right of return. “Some of these statements [by ministers] have given the impression that your government is prepared to depart from important positions of principle held by successive British administrations,” he told the Prime Minister. “This in turn raises critical questions as to the integrity of your government in relation to international law.”

The Labour leader demanded that Johnson should confirm that he would uphold “principles of international law” under which West Bank settlements are “illegal”. Their annexation, added Corbyn, would represent “a fundamental breach of the international legal order.”

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