Palestinians To Sue Attendees Of Us-Led Bahrain Meet

The Palestinian Bar Association (PBA) is planning to file a lawsuit against participants in a U.S.-led conference in Bahrain.





The two-day event will be opened in the Bahraini capital, Manama, on Tuesday during which U.S. officials are expected to unveil the economic portion of their back-channel Middle East peace plan known as "deal of the century".





Speaking to Anadolu Agency, PBA head Jawad Obaidat said lawyers could be tasked with filing a lawsuit against all participants in the U.S.-led meeting, citing that the event "harms state security".





Obeidat said the PBA has asked the Palestinian attorney general to take action against any Palestinian who may attend the conference.





The Bahrain meeting will reportedly be headed by Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's senior White House adviser and son-in-law, and his Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt.





Seven Arab states — the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and host country Bahrain — have all stated that they will be participating in the meeting.





The "deal of the century" has yet to be revealed in full, however, based on leaks in the media, it envisages to make major concessions to Israel regarding the status of Jerusalem city and also regarding right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine.





Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Middle East dispute, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might one day serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.





The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority said they will not be attending the conference in Bahrain and have rejected any U.S. role in the mediating process ever since Trump's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017. -