Tens of thousands of Palestinian prisoners are languishing behind bars after being arrested and unlawfully kept in Israeli prisons and the “deal of the century”, unveiled by President Trump, has stated that these prisoners will be forced to sign a pledge to promote the benefits of coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians in order to be released.
Unfortunately the number of prisoners who were kept unlawfully for decades is continuously growing as hundreds of Palestinian youth, male and female, are being shot or critically injured or put in jails by Israeli occupation forces, for no reason except practising their basic rights as people under occupation and coming out in peaceful demonstrations to defend their basic rights as native citizens of the land.
Since the recent announcement of US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” plan, which the Palestinians see undermining their absolute right to statehood and get rid of Israeli occupation, many Palestinians have been shot dead and many others have been critically injured by Israeli occupation forces during ongoing protests across the occupied West Bank and Gaza strip.
Yet the peace plan not only being rejected by the Palestinians but almost by the entire international community as being unrealistic and unfair, and instead of settling the long-standing conflict in the world, it has created further complications and possible new wave of violence.
If the peace initiative denies the right of 6.5 million Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland and denies the right to establish an independent state, and more settlements to be implanted in the remaining pockets of land, and after decades families will not be able to see their dear ones being released from prisons then no options for the Palestinian but to perceive the plan as “destructive and rejected” and there are no prospects or viability for any solution.
The firm position of the State of Qatar towards Palestine issue is based on the Arab peace initiative which laid a set of foundations for peace, and that peace is possible as long as it is just and sustainable as the Speaker of the Shura Council H E Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud stressed during his speech at the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union (APU) conference held in Oman.
The Arab peace plan according to him, restores the right of the Palestinian people, guarantees the establishment of an independent state on its land on the borders of June 4, 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, guarantees the right to return, remunerative compensation for the martyrs, the wounded and the prisoners, and guarantees the release of those who remained in prison.
