Progressive Democrats condemn Trump's sham 'Deal of the Century'

Prominent US Democrats including presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have joined ranks to condemn President Donald Trump's so-called "Deal of the Century", slamming the Israel-Palestine peace plan as "theft" of Palestinian land.

Senator Sanders, currently surging in the polls for the Democrat nomination, demanded that any peace proposal "end the Israeli occupation and enable Palestinian self-determination in an independent state".

"Trump's so-called 'peace deal' doesn't come close, and will only perpetuate the conflict," he said in a tweet on Tuesday. "It is unacceptable."

Sanders is set to come under fire on Wednesday for his stance on Israel, with super PAC Democratic Maajority for Israel backing ads against the senator, The New York Times reported.

Fellow presidential hopeful Senanator Warren was also quick to condemn the deal, which she said "offers no chance of a Palestinian state".

"Trump's 'peace plan' is a rubber stamp for annexation," she said, referring to the plan's greenlighting of the Israeli annexation of both West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley.

"Releasing a plan without negotiating with Palestinians isn't diplomacy, it's a sham. I will oppose unilateral annexation in any form - and reverse any policy that supports it," Warren added.

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) January 29, 2020" style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post Aqua: a mosque, a slip and slide or a '90s pop group? 🤦‍♀️ https://t.co/VV5gofuO6n — The New Arab (@The_NewArab) January 29, 2020

Firebrand Congresswoman Ilhan Omar termed the plan "shameful and disingenuous". 

"They could have guaranteed justice, and brought everyone into this peace deal. Instead these two embattled heads of state, impeached and indicted, have a 'just us' peace deal," she tweeted.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was officially indicted on charges of corruption on Tuesday just hours ahead of the peace plan announcement. The move by Israel's attorney general came after the caretaker leader withdrew his bid for immunity.

Read more: 'Deal of the Century': Palestinians feel letdown but can they resist American and Israeli dictation?

"This is not a peace plan," Omar added. "It is theft. It is erasure."

Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called the announcement a "political stunt" which "gets us no closer to peace or justice".

Tlaib hit back at Trump over Twitter, replying to the president's Arabic-language tweet unveiling his proposal for the map of a future state of Palestine.

The plan's vision for a future Palestinian state [Click to enlarge]

"From Detroit to Palestine: what was announced today is futile and useless, and contrary to all UN resolutions and international legitimacy," she wrote in Arabic.

Fellow Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said the announcement was a "planned distraction" from Trump's ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate and Netanyahu's indictment.

"I reject this pro-annexation plan, it is a step in the wrong direction," she added.

Known to be less progressive and more favourable of Israel than his competitors in the race for the Democratic nomination, former Vice President Joe Biden also condemned the deal as a "political stunt".

"A peace plan requires two sides to come together," he said, adding that Trump's deal could "spark unilateral moves to annex territory and set back peace even more".

"I've spent a lifetime working to advance the security & survival of a Jewish and democratic Israel. This is not the way," Biden said.

Read more: Trump's plan leaves Palestinians no option but to reject it. Just as he intended

A number of Jewish-American organisations also slammed the peace plan.

"Trump's plan is totally and utterly bankrupt and reveals the shameful way that our government has catered to the Israeli right - at the cost of Palestinian freedom - for our entire lives," said anti-occupation organisation IfNotNow.

Pro-Israel organisation J Street, which calls for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, deemed the deal a "peace sham".

"It is the logical culmination of repeated bad-faith steps this administration has taken to validate the agenda of the Israeli right, prevent the achievement of a viable, negotiated two-state solution and ensure that Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territory in the West Bank becomes permanent," it said in a statement.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay connected