RAMZY BAROUD, ramzybaroud at gmail.com, @RamzyBaroud
Baroud is a syndicated columnist, editor of The Palestine Chronicle and a senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs in Istanbul. He is author of the new book These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons.

In the U.S. until Thursday, Baroud said today: “The ‘Deal of the Century’ is not a ‘peace plan,’ nor was it ever intended to be, despite what its chief architect and White House adviser Jared Kushner has been claiming.

“It is yet another propagandist U.S. government political undertaking justified by the false notion that it is in the best interest of the American people that Israel remains the regional hegemon and is enabled to swallow the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. It’s a green light for further suffocation of Palestinian freedom.

“While this charade is taking place in Washington, the prospect of a real just peace is dimmer than ever; the Israeli military machine continues to occupy Palestinian land and to confiscate more territories for the expansion of its illegal settlement projects; Gaza remains under a hermetic siege; and over 5,000 Palestinian prisoners are still in Israeli jails, hundreds of them held without due process or a trial.

“No real peace can possibly be achieved without first and foremost ending the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. The ‘Deal of the Century’ is a political document aimed at propping up the right-wing policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and creating the needed media hype and distraction to give a respite to an embattled U.S. president.”

Baroud’s past books include The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story.