Monday, February 3, 2020

In blow to Trump administration, pan-Islamic group rejects peace plan

The world’s largest pan-Islamic organization denounced President Donald Trump’s peace plan Monday and called on member states not to cooperate with the administration in implementing it.
 
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan, calling on its 57 member states to oppose the “Deal of the Century”, as the plan has been dubbed.
 
The pan-Islamic body, which represents more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, "rejects this US-Israeli plan, as it does not meet the minimum aspirations and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and contradicts the terms of reference of the peace process," the organization said in a statement.
 
It called on "all member states not (to) deal with this plan or cooperate with the US administration efforts to enforce it in any way or form".
 
The rejection is the latest blow to Trump administration efforts to build up support for the plan in the Arab and Muslim world, in the hopes that states allied with the Palestinian Authority will pressure it to eventually accept the proposed peace deal.
 
Over the weekend, the Arab League also rejected the Trump administration’s plan, with member states agreeing not to “cooperate with the US administration to implement this plan.”