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Labour MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, condemn Donald Trump's 'reckless' peace plan
Incumbent Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined the loud chorus of voices condemning Donald Trump's so-called "Deal of the Century", which Amnesty International said violates international law.
Trump unveiled the 181-page document, which includes effectively annexing a large swath of the West Bank and giving full control of settlements - actions that are considered illegal under international law - to Israel.
The soon-to-be former Labour leader tweeted: "Donald Trump's Middle East deal is not a peace plan. It is a plan to lock in illegal Israeli colonisation and deny Palestinian rights. It is a threat to peace."
He called on the UK government to support a two-state solution, which is currently seen by the international community as a legitimate end to the occupation and basis of a peace plan between Palestinians and Israelis.
"The UK government should oppose this travesty and press for a real peace deal and a genuine two state solution," he added.
The Labour leader is an anti-war campaigner and has been a vocal critic of Israeli policies towards Palestinians.
He wasn't the only Labour member to condemn the plan, and contenders to replace him took to social media last night to slam Trump’s plan.
Leadership contender Rebeca Long-Bailey was one of the first to tweet about it, saying: "Trump's deal I nothing like a peace plan."
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She said it "only perpetuates conflict [and] undermine rights of the Palestinian people".
Keir Starmer, another Labour leader hopeful called the plan a "farce".
"It is inconsistent with international law and human rights protections.
"Our government should unequivocally condemn it because it will cause even more suffering for the Palestinian people who have already endured so much."
He threw his support behind a two-state solution, saying "we shouldn't rest" until it exists.
Lisa Nandy, MP for Wigan who is also in the running to be the next Labour leader appeared on LBC Radio, where she criticised Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab after he welcomed the plan.
Labelling Trump’s 181-page proposal "reckless", she told the host that she was "horrified".
"I've spent seven years as the vice-chair in the Labour Friends of Palestine in the Middle East, watching the situation get worse for the Palestinian people.
"What this does is close off the prospect of any two-state solution. And that is devastating for Israel as well."
Later, she went on to tweet that the US president’s plan "tramples on Palestine’s self-determination".
They all had their say [Getty] |
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry released an extended statement in which she called Trump's plans for the Middle East an "utter abomination".
"The so-called 'peace plan' has nothing to do with the two Middle East states living side-by-side together in peace, but everything to so with two corrupt leaders standing side-by-side trying to get each other re-elected,” she fumed.
"It is an abomination, and a betrayal of all those US, Israeli and Arab leaders who have worked in the past to create the conditions for a genuine peace, many of them paying with their lives."
She concluded by demanding the UK government "recognises the independent Palestinian state, while there is still one left to recognise".
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