Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad appeared at a protest tent near Ma’aleh Adumim on Friday, riding on the coattails of an increasingly hard-line American policy that would eliminate almost all issues from negotiations between the PA and Israel. Ma’aleh Adumim, whose population of 40,000 makes it the largest city in Judea and Samaria, is located only two miles (five kilometers) from the French Hill area of Jerusalem, where the PA demands to establish its capital. The city is a key political and geographical area, as Israeli efforts focus on establishing a Jewish presence along the entire route between it and the capital. Fayyad participated in Muslim prayers at Abu Dis, near the proposed E1 section of Ma’aleh Adumim, which has been the center of diplomatic disputes between the United States and Israel for several years. Officials of the American and Israeli governments have presented differing versions of a letter from former U.S. President George W. Bush to Israel concerning commitments that Ma’aleh Adumim will remain under Israeli sovereignty. Building in E-1 would solidify the claim. Meanwhile, the PA has won sweeping support from the U.S., European nations and countries as far away as China for a total halt to all Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria as a step towards the expulsion of more than 250,000 Jews from their homes. Supporters of the PA received another injection of confidence this past week, when U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. John Kerry told American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a strong lobby for Israel, that Israel must cooperate with the American vision in order to reach a peace agreement with the PA. The implicit pressure for an Arab state in Judea, Gaza and Samaria leaves the status of Jerusalem and the Arab demand for immigration to Israel as the only two issues the U.S. would consider to be outstanding. The PA considers their demand for Jerusalem to be non-negotiable, and Asian Online this week reported that President Obama told visiting King Abdullah of Jordan two weeks ago that the United Nations flag should fly over holy places in the city. The remaining issue of mass Arab immigration - the so-called “right of return” of approximately five million descendants of Arabs who once lived in Israel - appears to be the only topic on the agenda that is open to bargaining, in the American view. Asian Online stated that President Obama proposed that Arab countries grant citizenship to those descendants while giving them the option to move to the proposed new Arab country in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, if and when it is established.
