1) Trump's Middle East peace plan heavily favors Israel and imposes one-sided terms that require Palestinian surrender. It would annex most Israeli settlements in the West Bank and deny Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homeland. 2) The plan gives Israel control over Palestinian borders, airspace, resources and security while limiting Palestinian self-governance to civil matters. It recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital against international law. 3) The plan has been rejected by Palestinians and most Arab states as it violates international law and ignores Palestinian interests and demands for an independent state comprising the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

1. Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan: Declaration of terms for
PalestinianSurrender
Written by Somia Badar;
Executive Summary:
An uncloaked leap towards realizing the Zionist dream of ‘greater Israel’ in the heart of the Middle East
has been taken by US President Donald trump through his vision for peace. On 28th
January, 2020, he
announced his so called “Deal of the Century” which is not a deal in the actual sense of the word as it
does not reflect a compromise between two equal partners. It is simply a declaration of terms for
Palestinian surrender. In Trump’s 29,000 word plan, there are two parts. The first part proposes political
framework which includes redrawing the boundaries to incorporate the vast majority of illegal Israeli
settlements into Israeli territory and annexing the Jordan Valley. Besides this, it requires the state of
Palestine to be fully demilitarized and denies internationally-recognized “Right of return” by Palestinian
refugees. The second part offers an economic framework that vows to facilitate more than $50 billion in
new investment over ten years. This includes the construction of a tunnel between the West Bank and
Gaza Strip and an artificial island off the coast of Gaza to develop a port and airport.

2. 
Jewish author, Stephen
Lendman, described the
peace plan as a
“degrading spectacle”
which “has nothing to do
with peace, nothing to
do with respect for
Palestinian rights and
welfare, everything to do
with serving US/Israeli
interests exclusively at
the expense of regional
peace and stability”

A cursory glance at the plan reveals its lopsidedness as it imposes intimidating requirements that the
Palestinians must meet before negotiations even begin and gives Israel much of what it has long sought. It
is, in fact, a giveaway of the century which Donald Trump describes as the last opportunity for a
Palestinian state. However, there was not significant Arab backing as only three out of twenty six
members of Arab league were present. Moreover, it violates international by recognizing all West Bank
settlements of Israel and depriving Palestinian refugees from there right to return.
Introduction:
To resolve century-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict, US President Donald
Trump gave his long-awaited vision for peace on 28th
January, 2020. He
hailed his plan as the “Deal of the Centuary”. In which, the Palestinians,
who were not even consulted in the formulation of the plan. It is a one-
handed clap where Donald Trump has tried to impose his daunting ideas on
Plastinian people and have given them arbitary time of four years to decide
on the plan. The deal is clearly a lose for palestinian people as it envisions
Palestinian State a limited autonomy under Israeli Sovereignity. Security
control over the Palestinian enclaves, Palestinian borders, airspace,
aquifers, maritime waters and elctromagnetic spectrum would be in hands
of Israeli government. The plan, orchestrated by Trump’s son-in-law Jared
Kushner, grants the Palestinian homeland autonomy over civil matters like education and healthcare,
while keeping critical areas such as trade, immigration, and security under Israeli control. Furthermore,
Trump’s plan declares Jerusalem as Israel’s ‘undivided capital’. Moreover, it defies the international law
and international precedent on the issue and ignores the Palestinian interest by legitimizing illegal Israeli
settlements and depriving Palestinian refugee from their ‘Right to return’. Apart from that, the deal
includes status of Al-Aqsa mosque to remain same. In order to visit the historic Al-Aqsa mosque,
Muslims must get permission from Israeli authorities.
Key points
 New Palestinian state would not have any army
 recognizes Israel as ‘Jewish state with Jerusalem as its capital
 Borders of new Palestine state would be under Israeli control
 Legitimizes illegal Israeli settlements
 Deal contains no right to return of some 6M Palestinians displaced since 1948
 Deal promises $50 billion investment

3. Approaches and Results:
The given analysis of the issue is based on news reports and journal articles from reliable sources. In
addition to find out how ‘the deal of the century’
compares with the last 100 years of Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations, Trump’s 181 pages Middle East peace
plan was given a cursory look.
Jerusalem is claimed by both Israel and Palestinians. Israel regards the whole of Jerusalem as its capital
which it occupied from formerly Jordanian-held eastern Part in 1967. It is home to about 350,000
Palestinian, thus, they insist on East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. The UN
Security Council’s resolution 478(1980) rejected Israel's claim to Jerusalem as the "complete and united"
capital of Israel and was adopted with 14 votes to none, with the United States abstaining. However,
Trump's 2020 plan contradicts Resolution 478 by calling for Jerusalem to "remain the sovereign capital of
the State of Israel".
According to Israel, any peace deal must include Palestinian recognition of it as “nation-state of Jewish
people”. They fear, without this Palestinians will continue to press their own national claims to land,
causing the conflict to endure. The Palestinian argue that recognizing it as Jewish state will discriminate
Against Israel’s Arab people of Palestinian origin who are
Muslims, Christians and Druze.
Moreover, Israel has built almost 140 settlements in Wet
Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as, 121 outposts since
1967, which are illegal under international law. Palestinian
wants all the settlements to be uprooted for a Palestinian
state to be viable. In contrast, Trump's 2020 plan recognizes
these settlements and states that Israel "will not have to
displace any settlements, and will integrate the vast
majority of Israeli settlements into contiguous Israeli
territory."
The Palestinian desired independent
statecomprisesthe west bank,Gaza
and East Jerusalem.Though Prime
ministers haveaccepted theidea of a
Palestinian statealongsideIsrael,not
the formit should take.The Israeli
Prime minister,Benjamin Netanyahu,
hasenunciated any Palestinian state
should bedemilitarized with the powers
to govern itself but notto threaten
Israel
What are the issues at stake?

4. With regards to UN, its agencies support about 5.5 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East who
fled or were expelled by Jewish authorities in the 1448-49 war. Palestinian claims on their right to return
which is universally recognized law in the international refugee law. Whereas, Trump’s plan says “there
shall be no Right to Return”. Israeli argues that such a move would overwhelm it demographically and
lead to its end as Jewish state.
As a result of Trump's new plan, which he repeatedly refers to the "State of Israel" and "the Palestinians",
further highlighting the disparity between the two, Israel would annex huge parts of the occupied West
Bank and give Palestinians control of only 15% of historical Palestine. This will not only annihilate
Palestinian cause but will cause chaos in the Middle East.
Conclusion:
It is evident from the trump’s terms and conditions in his
Middle East peace plan that he wants Palestinian to surrender.
It is not a deal in real essence as it is not a compromise
between the two parties of the conflict but a declaration of terms. The deal of the century reflects triumph
of trumps pro-Israeli biasness and domestic politics over any commitment to serious peacemaking. The
deal seems to be giveaway of the century where only Israeli demands have met while ignoring
Palestinians interests. Although Palestine has rejected the deal, the truth is neither Israel nor the US wants
the Palestinians to accept the deal. That is why Trump has listed unrealizable prerequisites before
Palestinian which includes annexation of illegal settlements, disarmament, no right to return by
Palestinian refugee, joint capital, control over borders etc.
Implications and Recommendations:
Trump’s proposed economic peace plan expects Palestinian to give up their demands for freedom and
self-determination in exchange for economic inducements. Politically, Palestinians would be left with a
smaller share of the West Bank and some areas on the outskirts of Jerusalem and no control over their
borders. Around six million Palestinian refugees would be stripped of their rights of return. They would
be deemed “foreign” with the status that would allow Israel to ethnically cleanse them from their own
towns and villages. With this plan, the existence of Jewish settlements in the West Bank would be
preserved comfortably. Further, under the pretext that Palestine is now an autonomous state, the United
Nations Relief and works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the near East would withdraw. Besides that,
all the UN agreements and arrangements specially made in support of the discriminated Palestinian
refugee would also be cancelled.
There is no significant Arab backing.
The Arab league unanimously rejected
the Trump’s controversial Middle East
peace plan on 31st
January, 2020.

5. The trump’s ‘deal of the century’ is a misnomer. Therefore, international community should take step to
solve the plight of Palestinians. Century old conflict should be resolved by a compromise between both
parties. Arab league and other organization such as OIC (Organization of Islamic Community), United
Nations etc must play role to emancipate oppressed Palestinians. Above all, Palestine’s representative
group (Palestinian Liberation Party) should be strengthened. The two-state theory ought to be amended.
UN has announced that it is committed to the two-state solution as “defined
throughout years on the basis of pre-1967 lines.”