Palestinian journalists reject invitation to White House

The Palestinian Authority has been boycotting the US Administration since President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
The White House is pictured in Washington D.C. (photo credit: REUTERS)
The White House is pictured in Washington D.C.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) called on Palestinian journalists on Wednesday to turn down any invitation from the Trump administration to visit the White House.
The appeal came in response to remarks by US presidential envoy Jason Greenblatt, who was quoted earlier this week saying the White House seeks to speak to “ordinary Palestinians” about its upcoming Middle East peace plan, also known as the “Deal of the Century.”
Greenblatt told Al-Ayyam, the Palestinian Authority’s official newspaper, that “One idea would be potentially inviting Palestinian journalists to the White House, or maybe somewhere more neutral, and have our team make presentations directly to the Palestinian media what the plan is all about.”
The PA has boycotted the Trump administration since December 2017, when President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
 In late June, PA leadership called on Palestinians and Arabs to boycott the US-led “Peace to Prosperity” economic conference in Bahrain, where the Americans unveiled the economic portion of the long-awaited “Deal of the Century.”
The PJS, a group dominated by supporters of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction, said in a statement that Greenblatt’s invitation “is yet another failed and desperate attempt by the Trump administration to bypass the leadership of the Palestinian people, represented by the PLO and its chairman, Mahmoud Abbas.”
Noting that Greenblatt’s remarks came after the Palestinians “thwarted” the US administration’s plan to “eliminate the Palestinian cause,” the syndicate denounced Greenblatt’s remarks as “suspicious in its goals and intentions.”
The PJS also called on all Palestinian journalists to reject Greenblatt’s invitation and warned that collaboration with “these suspicious invitations goes against the freedom and independence of our people and is an attempt to create schism among Palestinians.”
Greenblatt’s invitation, the PJS added, “reflects the crisis facing the Trump administration after the failure of the Bahrain workshop.”
Meanwhile, the PA Foreign Ministry continues its attacks on the US administration and its officials. “The dream of the Trump team will not be fulfilled,” the ministry said in its latest denunciation.
“The Palestinian leadership has provided everything necessary for the success of peace and negotiations. The positions of Trump and his team are an extension of the [US] coup against the foundations of the international system and United Nations resolutions and reveal the true intentions of Trump’s anti-peace administration.”