Palestinian leaders meet to attack US-led Bahrain peace conference, calling it “The Holocaust of the Century,” slamming Arab “normalization” with Israel

Headline: "During a meeting in Nablus – leaders and faction representatives: The Bahrain workshop is a holocaust for the basic Arab principles and the Palestinians’ rights"

"Palestinian leaders and faction representatives emphasized that the ‘Bahrain workshop’ (refers to US-led conference in late June 2019 focusing on economic aspects of US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan –Ed.) will be tantamount to a holocaust for the Arab principles and Palestinian rights, and a starting point for the deal of the century (i.e., Trump's as yet unpublished Middle East peace plan) and for Arab normalization with the occupation…

Some of them think that our people and its leadership have not experienced a worse moment than now, considering the enormous scope of the plot, and because colonialism has taken on an unprecedented form under unprecedented circumstances, and due to the existence of an American administration the essence of whose policy is material, political, and military extortion; fully siding with Israel; and erasing the Palestinian rights, step by step.

This was said during a political meeting organized by the Palestinian cultural enlightenment forum Tanweer, in cooperation with the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, under the title The Holocaust of the Century in Bahrain… Its Signs, Consequences, and Ways to Deal With It, and this is in reference to the Bahrain workshop that the US intends to hold in the Kingdom of Bahrain at the end of this June [2019].

At the meeting, which was held in the courtyard of the Nablus municipal library, Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, [former] Deputy [PA] Prime Minister of the 10th government (Ismail Haniyeh's government) [parentheses in source] Dr. Nasser Al-Shaer, and [PLO] Central Council member and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Omar Shehadeh spoke – and this was in the presence of a number of political and academic leaders, representatives, and activists from the district…

At the beginning of the meeting, the representative of the Committee of Palestinian Women Dr. Ismat Al-Shakhshir spoke… and pointed out the danger of the deal of the century and its Bahrain workshop, as a prelude to a new Sykes-Picot (Agreement; see note below –Ed.).

Director of the meeting and Tanweer Coordinator of Cultural Activities Dr. Yusuf Abd Al-Haq… added that in the shadow of the [Palestinian] national movement's weakness and the wretchedness of the Arab situation, the Zionist-American ‘Holocaust of the century’ has come to eliminate the Palestinian cause, and in order to pass this, it was necessary to convene the Bahrain conference for Arab normalization with the Israeli racism, under the cover of 'the illusion of economic prosperity’ and skipping over the legitimate national rights that cannot be changed.

Abbas Zaki reviewed the racist and aggressive character of the occupation since Sykes-Picot and the division of the Arab world that arose from it, and the establishment of the occupation state with British colonialist support…

He noted that Trump is extorting the Gulf states and deluding them that he is defending them from the illusion of Iranian danger, and this pushed these states to exchange the conflict with the occupation for a conflict with Iran, and in this way to create a suitable environment for presenting the deal of the century…

[Former PA Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Nasser] Al-Shaer said that we are now bearing witness to American bullying, and the imperialism has already exposed its teeth and wants to swallow the world.

Al-Shaer praised the Palestinian position regarding the deal of the century, and described it as an 'honorable position' on the part of the [PA] Presidential Office, on the part of the [national] factions, and on the part of Hamas, and joint and united action is necessary to deal with this deal… He called for a national conference to be held, and to establish a joint front that will express a clear position against this deal…

[PLO Central Council member and PFLP leader Omar Shehadeh] added that our national path must be seriously reevaluated, and that the Palestinian leadership must extricate itself from the trap of Oslo and implement the decisions of the [PLO] Central Council and the [Palestinian] National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO) from 2015, including revoking the recognition of the occupation state, boycotting it, cancelling the security coordination, and serious implementation of popular resistance."

Sykes-Picot Agreement – A secret agreement between Britain and France negotiated by French diplomat François Georges-Picot and Briton Sir Mark Sykes and concluded in May 1916. The agreement had Russia’s approval and specified Britain’s and France’s proposed spheres of influence and control in the Middle East if the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War I. The plan was revealed in 1917 in the Russian press, and subsequently in the British press, angering the Arabs as it contradicted promises of independence made to them - on the condition they helped fight against and bring down the Ottoman Empire. The plan caused lasting distrust on the part of the Arabs in relation to Western countries.