Palestinians are threatening to cut all ties with the US if the president closes the PLO office in Washington, D.C. President Trump and the world is shaking in its boots at such a threat. Please.

Yes, the Palestinians are threatening to cut all communication with the US. A memo from the state department came to the office of the PLO and its day in the US may be numbered. According to Al Jazeera “Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Saturday the PLO had been informed by the US Department of State of a decision not to renew the operating [permit] for the[ organization’s] diplomatic office in the American capital.” The PLO really should have seen this coming, seeing as this came as a result of “Palestinians’ decision to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), and to submit files for investigation of several Israeli war crimes, including settlements, against Palestinians, according to Erekat.”

It’s funny how no one spoke to them of consequences, or that they didn’t see something coming when one enters the ICC with baseless accusations and half-truths. It is time to stop coddling the Palestinians and let them sink or swim on their own. Their last car is to threaten to suspend all communication, which okay…that’s easy. The Trump administration can say “Sure when you do that, we’ll stop all aid packages we send you!” This is a flimsy threat by the PLO and is so easily outmaneuvered it’s almost sad they would even try it. The Palestinian government has no leverage and is not strong enough to stand up to America and have it stick, unlike say England, or Israel. But A for effort.

Apparently, there’s a special waiver that the State Department signs every six months allowing the PLO to remain in DC, even though, you know, they’re not a country. Now President Trump has 90 days to decide what to do and so do the Palestinians. Strategically it’s an interesting move by the Administration, it could be a bargaining chip to entice the Palestinians into negotiations with Israel…or it could be part of a greater agenda to put the Palestinians on notice, to change their terrorism inciting behavior. In theory anyway.

Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, said in a statement that the US measure aiming “to bring the closure of the PLO office represents an unprecedented step in the history of US-Palestinian relations”.

He added that the development “represents a blow to peacemaking efforts, while rewarding Israel, which is working to obstruct US efforts by persisting with its policy of settlements and its refusal to accept the two-state solution”.

This is the part of the article where Al Jazeera pretends that the Palestinians are committed to a two-state solution. Funny. It is also their attempt to portray the Palestinians as the hopeful little guys who just want to give peace a chance, even though they do everything they can to delay it. There should be consequences for the Palestinians actions, just as there would be consequences if they filed to become official members of the United Nations. The rest of the article has the usual AL Jazeera jargon of the “occupied” territories and the illegal activities, which aren’t illegal and aren’t occupied.

The point, however, is this. The Palestinians have nothing really to bargain with, this is all just a pathetic ploy which will end up costing them far more than it would the US or Israel. Israel isn’t intimidated by them and their pseudo-threats, nor will the United States when given any kind of ultimatum. The solution is simple then. Time to give the Palestinians the independence they so richly claim to crave and end all funding to the Palestinian Authority.

Time will tell what the Trump Administration does when it comes to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. Whatever it may be, it seems this administration is far less understanding of the Palestinian cause and the financial burden they place the US in.