The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is over “territory, narratives, settlements and occupation” but those who are behind US President Donald Trump’s Middle East policy want to turn it into a religious one and are trying to create more divisions within the Arab and Muslim world to promote Trump's ideology, Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Dr. Saeb Erakat, told N1.

Erakat has previously called the recent Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement, also known as the Abraham Accord, a “poisoned dagger in the backs of the Palestinians.”  

He told N1 that the agreement came at a time when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner are “doing their best to annexe Jerusalem, put the Al-Aqsa mosque under Israeli sovereignty, put the Church of Holy Sepulchre under Israeli sovereignty, increase settlements by 40 percent, when (US Secretary of State, Mike) Pompeo is saying that the settlements are legal, when they are introducing the term annexation or spreading sovereignty over Palestinian territory.”  

He said that their ‘Vision of Peace’ implies that Palestinians must surrender and accept that “between the river Jordan and the Meditteranean is Jewish land, that Jerusalem is under Israeli sovereignty,” and that “Palestinians must live in enclaves, under Israeli subjugation.”  

The UAE-Israel deal is, according to Erakat, not about Palestine but rather “about Iran, it’s about regional accesses.”

The Palestinian negotiator told N1 that Trump is trying to use the numerous conflicts within the Arab and Muslim world to further his ideology and doctrine – the idea that “nations are born to either be strong or to find strong nations to protect them.”  

“So he’s creating this threat in order for Israel and some other countries to build a ‘NATO’ with Israel. It’s just hallucinating. Do they think that Israel will ever help anyone?” Erakat asked.

He argued that Netanyahu’s ideology implies that a “strong and prosperous Israel is a country that wants conflict and war and not peace” and that this can be seen in his attitude towards the Oslo Accords.  

“Palestinians have not been defeated and will not surrender and we’re here, standing firmly on our land, with international law, the rule of law, ending the occupation,” he said.  

“We have told them time after time – Judaism to us is not a threat, was never a threat and will never be a threat. Our conflict is not a religious conflict. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are God’s great religions. Our conflict is over territory, over narratives, over settlements, over occupation,” he added.  

Erakat continued to criticise Trump arguing that “even the jungle has laws” but that “what Trump is introducing is chaos and lawlessness.”  

He quoted Theodore Roosevelt who said that the White House is “an office of international responsibility” because “the more power you have the more responsible you are.”  

“And this White House needs giant statesmen, not real estate agents. That’s the truth. Trump is not who the U.S. is,” he said, adding that Palestinians have experience in dealing with several U.S. administrations.  

“Now this man and his team of these people, very ideological and very religious people, want to turn this conflict into a religious one,” he stressed.  

The full interview can be seen in the video above.