RAMALLAH, November 10, 2016 (WAFA) – Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the US presidential elections and the official Palestinian and Israeli reactions to this hit the front page headlines in Palestinian dailies on Thursday.
Al-Quds said Trump has become the 45th president of the United States “against all odds.” Al-Ayyam described it in a headline that went across the front page with a picture of Trump and his opponent Hillary Clinton as “the sudden victory earthquake that shocked the world.”
Highlighting official Palestinian reactions, al-Quds and al-Ayyam said President Mahmoud Abbas congratulated Trump on his victory and expressed his hopes for “just and comprehensive peace” in the Middle East during Trump’s term.
Highlighting official Israeli reactions, al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as calling Trump “true friend of Israel.”
Both dailies also reported Education Minister Naftali Bennett as stating Trump’s victory would mark the end of a push for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. He reportedly said: “The era of a Palestinian state is over.”
While al-Quds and al-Ayyam highlighted Trump’s victory, al-Hayat al-Jadida opted to give prominence to the inauguration of Yasser Arafat Museum in Ramallah.
The dailies said Abbas inaugurated Yasser Arafat Museum ahead of the 12th anniversary of his death.
They noted the ceremony was attended by Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abul-Gheit and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov.
Abbas was quoted as pledging that he would remain committed to the fundamental national principles.
Furthermore, the dailies reported Israeli forces shot and critically injured a Palestinian man following an alleged stabbing attack at the entrance of Huwwara village in Nablus. The man was identified as 32-year-old Muhammad Jallad from Tulkarem.
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said a Palestinian man from al-Jalazun refugee camp in the central West Bank district of Ramallah died from wounds sustained 26 years ago.
The man, identified as Ahmad Elayyan Zayid, 44, was shot and injured by Israeli forces with a rubber-coated steel bullet in 1992 that partially paralyzed him.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said Israeli bulldozers demolished a carwash in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina.
Highlighting situation at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, they said about 100 Jewish Israeli settlers escorted by police forced their way into the mosque compound.
Al-Quds reported British ambassador to Israel, David Quarrey, as stating peace between Israel and the Palestinians is unlikely to happen for decades, even centuries.
Finally, al-Hayat al-Jadida said hundreds demonstrated in the Moroccan capital against the Israeli flag being flown at the UN climate talks in the central city of Marrakesh.
K.F. /M.A.
