Friction between the White House and the Palestinians is growing as PLO chief, PA head negotiator and master Palestinian propagandist Saeb Erekat spins President Trump’s threat to cut UN funding, as seeking to “starve Palestinian children in refugee camps and deny their natural rights to [continued free] health and education.”

By TAMAR BEN-OZER

Top Palestinian Authority (PA) official Saeb Erekat claimed that United States President Donald Trump has threatened to “starve Palestinian children in refugee camps and [to] deny their natural rights to health and education” if the PA doesn’t endorse his terms, according to a press release issued by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) on Wednesday.

…peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018

This comes after Trump issued a tweet on Tuesday implying that the US would cut off assistance to the Palestinians because they give the US “no appreciation and respect” and are “no longer willing to talk peace” with Israel.

Tensions between Palestinians and the US have been high since Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month. In November, the US also threatened to close the PLO’s offices in Washington. Both these events have shaken the PLO’s trust in the US as a broker of peace negotiations.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has stated on several occasions that the Palestinians will no longer cooperate with the US as an interlocutor in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The PLO ended its statement by calling upon Trump to “stand on the right side of history, to respect international law and to stop encouraging international anarchy and violations of the basic requirements of peace.”

View original The Jerusalem Post publication at:
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Top-PA-official-claims-Trump-is-threatening-to-starve-Palestinian-children-532767