CAIR Condemns Trump's Mideast Plan as 'Road Map to Perpetual Apartheid'

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned President Trump's long-awaited Mideast peace plan as a "road map to perpetual Apartheid" and an end to the national aspirations of the Palestinian people.

[NOTE: Bantustans were internationally-condemned non-viable "homelands" created by Apartheid-era South Africa to deprive black citizens of their rights and to make the segregation of the races permanent.]

Trump's unilateral plan, which was formulated without the input of Palestinian representatives, would allow Israeli annexation of settlement blocks on occupied land in the West Bank, sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, permanent Israeli control over Islamic holy sites, segregated transportation corridors, and would bar the return of Palestinian refugees forced from their homes in what is now Israel. It states: "There shall be no right of return by, or absorption of, any Palestinian refugee into the State of Israel."

Palestinians would also be made to dismiss pending actions against Israel "before the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and all other tribunals."

The plan suggests a capital of a "State of Palestine" to be located outside of Jerusalem and falsely called "Al Quds," the Arabic name for Jerusalem. An American embassy would be opened in this fake "Jerusalem." Israel would maintain overall control of the land, sea and airspace.

Israel's borders could be redrawn to eliminate communities ? such as "Kafr Qara, Ar'ara, Baha al-Gharbiyye, Umm al Fahm, Qalansawe, Tayibe, Kafr Qasim, Tira, Kafr Bara and Jaljulia" -- with high concentrations of Palestinians, thereby achieving a longstanding Israeli goal of decreasing its Arab population.

SEE: Read Full Text of Trump's Israel-Palestine Plan
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/EXT-read-full-text-of-trump-s-israel-palestine-plan-1.8466018 

In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad, who is himself a Palestinian refugee, said:

"This unilateral plan panders to religious extremists in a clear attempt to shore up President Trump's political support as he faces impeachment and the prospect of a presidential election. It is a road map to perpetual Apartheid in which a non-viable and non-sovereign 'State of Palestine' is in fact a new Bantustan controlled and dominated in every way by Israel and its illegal settlements.

"The details of the imposed 'peace plan' ? if implemented ? would mean the end of the national aspirations of the Palestinian people, endorse the acquisition and settlement of territory by force and would overturn decades of international efforts to bring a just and comprehensive peace to the region."

CAIR's mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.

CONTACT: CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, [email protected]; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, [email protected]

SOURCE Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)