Trump peace deal ‘evokes chilling associations’ with apartheid South Africa
Former Foreign Office ministers sign open letter from other politicians criticising the 'Deal Of The Century'
Seven former Foreign Office ministers have signed an open letter from politicians across Europe saying Donald Trump’s proposed Middle East peace deal “evokes chilling associations” with apartheid era South Africa.
The senior British contingent spans three decades of government and includes two former Middle East ministers, a former foreign secretary and a former European Commissioner.
The seven, including Douglas Alexander, Ben Bradshaw, Alan Duncan, Peter Hain and Jack Straw all signed the letter calling on Europe “to reject [it] as a basis for negotiations and take immediate and effective steps to counter the threat of annexation – and thereby preserve the international rules-based order”.
They were joined by former prime ministers and presidents from Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, Italy, Luxembourg and France, alongside a former NATO secretary-general, a former president of the European Commission, and two former UN special coordinators for the Middle East peace process.
“[Trump’s] Peace to Prosperity is not a roadmap to a viable two-state solution, nor to any other legitimate solution to the conflict,” they wrote.
“The plan envisages a formalisation of the current reality in the occupied Palestinian territory, in which two peoples are living side by side without equal rights. Such an outcome has characteristics similar to apartheid – a term we don’t use lightly.”
They added that the plan “projects a future Palestinian ‘state’ without control and sovereignty over fragmented territory” and said the map featured in the plan “proposes Palestinian enclaves under permanent Israeli military control, which evoke chilling associations with South Africa’s bantustans”.
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