Tag Archives: lib dem friends of palestine

Lib Dem Friends of Palestine have put out a statement on the Trump “peace plan” for Gaza.

They say that the “flawed Trump ‘peace plan’ offers only a temporary pause in the genocide and denies Palestinians sovereignty and self-determination.”

President Trump’s ‘20-point plan’ for Gaza presents itself as a pathway towards peace but in reality promises only a temporary reprieve from the violence while denying Palestinians sovereignty, political unity and the right to self-determination, which are essential for achieving permanent peace.

Negotiated between the United States and Israel without input from Palestinian representatives, it offers a ceasefire without guarantees and fails to establish any roadmap towards a genuine two-state solution.

Limited short-term relief – no long-term guarantees

There are short-term elements that are to be welcomed. An immediate end to the killing, the release of hostages and detainees on both sides, and greater humanitarian access are urgent priorities that must be achieved without delay. (And should all proceed even in the absence of a longer-term proposal.)

Yet while Trump’s proposed plan would see Hamas disarmed and evicted from Gaza, it contains no enforcement mechanisms and no safeguards to prevent Israel from resuming the genocide once the hostages have been released. Despite promising a “complete staged withdrawal” of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, it fails to set out a timeline or milestones for achieving this. Netanyahu has already made clear his intention that Israeli troops will remain in “most” of Gaza – there are no proposals for tackling this intransigence. Given his long record of obstructing and derailing peace processes, including his recent attack targeting Hamas negotiators in Qatar and consistent denial of Palestian nationhood throughout his career, there is little reason to believe this plan will deliver more than a brief pause before Israeli’s bombardment and expansion resume.

Failure to recognise Palestinian agency

Equally troubling is the absence of any provisions for ensuring Palestinian input and self governance. Oversight and supervision of Gaza would lie with a supposed international ‘Board of Peace’, chaired by Trump and including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. This would oversee a non-political Palestinian technocratic body tasked with the day to day running of the Gaza Strip. Palestinians would be relegated to mid-level administrative roles, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) would be excluded from any meaningful involvement at least until it has completed an undefined and externally-imposed ‘reform’ programme.

Palestinians recognise that the PA needs reform and support, not least capacity building to be able to administer and rebuild the whole of its sovereign territory. It needs to hold elections (and Israel needs to be compelled to allow Palestinians to hold and participate in those elections). But the PA is the Palestinian government, one that the UK government has recognised. Its exclusion entrenches divisions between Gaza and the West Bank, a key aim of the Israeli government, and denies Palestinians the right to determine their own political future. Western governments cannot recognise a Palestinian state only to deny its current government any role in the rebuilding process.

Liberal Democrats must challenge the PA’s exclusion and make clear that their participation cannot be made contingent on conditions dictated by outsiders. Particularly concerning is the proposed requirement that it abandons cases against Israel in the international courts, a move that would constitute an illegitimate interference and a denial of Palestine’s sovereignty and the basic right to pursue justice through the rule of law. It would also undermine the future use of the international courts system to prevent and punish major breaches of international humanitarian law.