After absorbing the shock of Donald Trump’s election to the presidency of the United States, it is time for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to get practical. President Mahmoud Abbas has put together a steering committee to prepare for Trump entering the White House and outline the PA's initiatives in the United Nations over the coming year.
The members of the committee include Saeb Erekat, a member of the Fatah Steering Committee who was also responsible for negotiations with Israel; Maen Areikat, who was the PLO’s representative in Washington; and Husam Zomlot, who is slated to replace Areikat in the American capital. Noted “Americanologists” who will be advising the team include Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour; former UN ambassador and relative of late PLO leader Yasser Arafat Nasser al-Qudwa, who is considered close to Abbas; politician Hanan Ashrawi; senior Fatah leader Mohammad al-Shattiyeh, who Abbas is rumored to be planning to make his deputy during the upcoming Fatah conference; and senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad.
The team was asked to prepare an opinion paper on how well the PA is prepared for the challenges posed by the new US administration. They were also asked to prepare daily position papers, based, among other things, on the analyses of Palestinian advisers who live in the United States and teach at universities there.
Palestinians are wondering whether Trump will really rely on the advice of his Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Top PA officials followed Trump’s interview with The New York Times with considerable consternation. In it, Trump indicated that it is possible his son-in-law will play a significant role in this area. What concerns the Palestinians most is that they have no idea what Trump’s Jewish son-in-law’s opinions on the issues are and whether he can be objective. They have bad memories of the Clinton administration’s emissary to the region, Dennis Ross, who they never considered a fair intermediary because of his Jewish origins.
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