Trump Just Got Palestinians' Hopes Up
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s official delegation and the Palestinian mission in Washington haven’t been this ebullient or enthusiastic in at least a decade. One can certainly understand why. Abbas’s visit to the White House, strikingly early in the new Trump administration, is a political and diplomatic bonanza for Abbas as leader of the mainstream nationalist Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian Authority (PA). For them, it’s not a moment too soon.
The PLO mission in Washington celebrated with a reception for Abbas that welcomed a veritable D.C. who’s who on the issue, including representatives of pro-Israel groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and others not usually at the head of such guest lists. But now that the party (literally) and the honeymoon (figuratively) are over, the deeply daunting work to translate the positive atmosphere into even modest progress between Israel and the Palestinians will begin in earnest. Painful hangovers all around are a distinct likelihood.
The Palestinian enthusiasm for Donald Trump may be surprising to many, but it’s hardly mysterious. By prioritizing Israeli-Palestinian peace, the Trump administration has resurrected the Palestinian issue on the world stage (and hence also on the Middle Eastern stage) after several years during which it seemed
