25 june 2019
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US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser says Washington’s upcoming deal on the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict will fall somewhere between the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative on the issue and Tel Aviv’s position.
In an exclusive interview with Qatar’s al-Jazeera broadcaster that would be broadcast on Tuesday, Jared Kushner stressed that the US’s proposal — which is called the “deal of the century” — would not adhere to the Arab initiative. “I think we all have to recognize that if there ever is a deal, it’s not going to be along the lines of the Arab peace initiative,” he said. “It will be somewhere between the Arab peace initiative and between the Israeli position.” The Arab initiative, which has been adopted by the Arab League, calls for the normalization of ties between the Tel Aviv regime and Arab states in exchange for Israel’s withdrawal from lands it occupied in the 1967 war, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem al-Quds and Syria’s Golan Heights. In 2016, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed “the general idea” behind the initiative. Kushner called the Arab initiative “a great effort,” adding, however, that “if that was where a deal was going to be made, a deal would have been made a long time ago.” He made the remarks shortly before his departure for a US-sponsored workshop in Manama, Bahrain, where officials and businessmen from the US and some Arab states will discuss the economic section of Trump’s “peace” plan. Referring to the two-day Manama conference that is due to begin on Tuesday, Kushner claimed that the event would be a success despite a Palestinian boycott. “We’ve been working very carefully on a very detailed proposal for what we think can help bring this conflict, which has been stuck, forward and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to put that out soon and hopefully parties will be responsible, they’ll engage on it and they’ll try to move forward,” he said. |
All Palestinian factions have boycotted the Manama summit, accusing Washington of offering financial rewards for accepting the Israeli occupation.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said recently that a political solution must first be hammered out before an economic one.
“The Palestinians are seeking an entity, statehood, and after that we look at the economy,” he said.
On Saturday, the White House unveiled the details of the economic portion of Trump’s deal, which would inject $50 billion into struggling economies in the Middle East over the next ten years.
Under the document, dubbed “Peace to Prosperity,” over half of the funds ($28 billion) would go toward the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the remaining to Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, which have absorbed Palestinian refugees.
It also includes a $5 billion “transportation network” to connect the West Bank and Gaza.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said recently that a political solution must first be hammered out before an economic one.
“The Palestinians are seeking an entity, statehood, and after that we look at the economy,” he said.
On Saturday, the White House unveiled the details of the economic portion of Trump’s deal, which would inject $50 billion into struggling economies in the Middle East over the next ten years.
Under the document, dubbed “Peace to Prosperity,” over half of the funds ($28 billion) would go toward the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the remaining to Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, which have absorbed Palestinian refugees.
It also includes a $5 billion “transportation network” to connect the West Bank and Gaza.
Bahrain’s most senior Shia cleric outlines how a so-called peace plan devised by the United States under President Donald Trump seeks to irreversibly compromise Palestinians’ entire entitlements.
Sheikh Isa Qassim made the remarks during an address at a conference in the north-central holy city of Qom in Iran on Monday.
The US announced the scheme last year, but withheld its details. Leaked information, however, indicate that it features serious violations of the Palestinian’s age-old demands.
Palestinian officials from all factions have unanimously spurned the scheme, citing strong suspicion about the US’s intentions. The Palestinian Authority began refusing any intermediary role by Washington in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in late 2017 after Trump recognized the holy occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”
Ayatollah Qassim said the US plan amounted to selling everything the Palestinians have, including Islam’s holy sites.
Rejecting the deal means rejecting slavery and accepting freedom, he added, and noted that there was no choice for the Islamic world but to resist America's plans for Palestinians.
He said Washington's deal was a trial for Arab rulers to show their true colors.
Many Arab states have reportedly nodded their approval of the plan. Bahrain has even chosen to host a US-led conference, which will kick off on Tuesday to divulge the economic aspects of the plan.
The White House, itself, broadly referred to the economic component of the plan, which Trump has hailed as “the deal of the century,” on Saturday, saying it envisages $25 billion in new investment to aid Palestinians within the next 10 years. Palestinian officials reacted by saying that Palestinians’ would not be giving up their rights and demands to such economic incentives.
The Bahraini cleric noted that the Bahraini people were against both the deal and the Manama conference.
Ayatollah Qassim enjoys huge popularity among Bahrain’s Shia-majority population as a pro-independence figure. He has proven a prominent source of inspiration for the nation’s 2011-present popular protests against the US-backed Bahraini authorities’ campaign of suppression targeting the Shias.
Over the past years, the authorities have been leading tremendous effort to constrain Qassim’s freedoms and rights, including stripping him of his citizenship and raiding his house on numerous occasions, forcing him to live in exile since July 2018.
Sheikh Isa Qassim made the remarks during an address at a conference in the north-central holy city of Qom in Iran on Monday.
The US announced the scheme last year, but withheld its details. Leaked information, however, indicate that it features serious violations of the Palestinian’s age-old demands.
Palestinian officials from all factions have unanimously spurned the scheme, citing strong suspicion about the US’s intentions. The Palestinian Authority began refusing any intermediary role by Washington in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in late 2017 after Trump recognized the holy occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”
Ayatollah Qassim said the US plan amounted to selling everything the Palestinians have, including Islam’s holy sites.
Rejecting the deal means rejecting slavery and accepting freedom, he added, and noted that there was no choice for the Islamic world but to resist America's plans for Palestinians.
He said Washington's deal was a trial for Arab rulers to show their true colors.
Many Arab states have reportedly nodded their approval of the plan. Bahrain has even chosen to host a US-led conference, which will kick off on Tuesday to divulge the economic aspects of the plan.
The White House, itself, broadly referred to the economic component of the plan, which Trump has hailed as “the deal of the century,” on Saturday, saying it envisages $25 billion in new investment to aid Palestinians within the next 10 years. Palestinian officials reacted by saying that Palestinians’ would not be giving up their rights and demands to such economic incentives.
The Bahraini cleric noted that the Bahraini people were against both the deal and the Manama conference.
Ayatollah Qassim enjoys huge popularity among Bahrain’s Shia-majority population as a pro-independence figure. He has proven a prominent source of inspiration for the nation’s 2011-present popular protests against the US-backed Bahraini authorities’ campaign of suppression targeting the Shias.
Over the past years, the authorities have been leading tremendous effort to constrain Qassim’s freedoms and rights, including stripping him of his citizenship and raiding his house on numerous occasions, forcing him to live in exile since July 2018.
A general strike started on Tuesday morning in the besieged Gaza Strip in rejection of the Bahrain conference, which deals with the economic portion of the US deal of the century.
Accordingly Palestinian citizens stopped going to their workplaces, closed businesses. Public transportation also came to a halt, and most of the public and private institutions, including universities, banks and courts, were shut for the day.
The Follow-up Committee for the National and Islamic Forces had called for a general strike in Gaza to deplore the Bahrain economic conference, urging citizens to raise black flags over homes and in their areas.
The Committee said it would hold a national conference at the Rashad Shawa Cultural Center on Tuesday in conjunction with the Manama workshop.
Another popular conference will take place Wednesday in the east of Gaza.
A massive popular march will also be organized on the same from the western gate of the UNRWA headquarters to the UN offices in Gaza.
During the Manama workshop slated for today and tomorrow, June 25-26, US president Donald Trump's brother-in-law and aide Jared Kushner is expected to present the economic plan for the settlement of the Palestinian cause.
Accordingly Palestinian citizens stopped going to their workplaces, closed businesses. Public transportation also came to a halt, and most of the public and private institutions, including universities, banks and courts, were shut for the day.
The Follow-up Committee for the National and Islamic Forces had called for a general strike in Gaza to deplore the Bahrain economic conference, urging citizens to raise black flags over homes and in their areas.
The Committee said it would hold a national conference at the Rashad Shawa Cultural Center on Tuesday in conjunction with the Manama workshop.
Another popular conference will take place Wednesday in the east of Gaza.
A massive popular march will also be organized on the same from the western gate of the UNRWA headquarters to the UN offices in Gaza.
During the Manama workshop slated for today and tomorrow, June 25-26, US president Donald Trump's brother-in-law and aide Jared Kushner is expected to present the economic plan for the settlement of the Palestinian cause.
24 june 2019
Over the weekend, the White House released “Peace to Prosperity [pdf],” the economic component of its so-called Deal of the Century. tweet
It calls for $50 billion in “investments” spread over 179 projects. Half the money would be spent on Palestinian infrastructure over 10 years, with the rest spread between Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
It will supposedly include a $5 billion transportation corridor between the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and another $2 billion in the Palestinian tourism sector.
The plan has zero chance of success, not least because no one knows where the money would come from – presumably it is to be pledged by America’s client states in the Gulf – and there’s no reason to believe Israel would ever remotely allow any major projects intended to benefit Palestinians.
Jared Kushner, adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, and US envoy Jason Greenblatt are the brains behind the plan.
They claim it will reduce Palestinian poverty by half and double Palestinian GDP over a decade. tweet
I told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the plan amounts to reheated ideas for “economic peace” – the hope that a few financial crumbs will buy Palestinians off from demanding liberation and from continuing to resist Israel’s system of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid.
It’s an effort to buy Palestine for peanuts.
Inflicting pain and misery
Even taking the plan on its own terms, Kushner comes into this with a real credibility problem: To take just one example, “Peace to Prosperity” claims that there will be big investments in healthcare for Palestinians because, “a healthy economy requires a healthy population.” tweet
But at Kushner’s urging, one of the first things the Trump administration did was to cut all US humanitarian and development aid to Palestinians, including US financial support for UNRWA, the UN agency that provides health and education to the poorest and most vulnerable Palestinian refugees.
The Trump administration also eliminated funding for six hospitals in East Jerusalem that provide life-saving care for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Jared Kushner can’t tell us that he cares about ending poverty for the Palestinian people while inflicting more pain and misery on them – which is his actual record as compared with the pipe dreams in this plan. tweet
Repackaging occupation
There is nothing new in Kushner’s effort to market military occupation and colonial exploitation as a plan for prosperity.
In the early 1990s, when the Oslo accords were signed, media hyped that Gaza would turn into a “Hong Kong on the Mediterranean.”
Instead, under the guise of the “peace process,” Israel began to isolate Gaza and systematically “de-develop” its economy, as scholar Sara Roy describes.
Again, in 2005, when Israel was preparing to withdraw its settlers from the interior of Gaza, media hyped that the coastal territory would become a “Singapore on the Mediterranean.”
But rather than allowing it to prosper, Israel turned Gaza into a sealed ghetto for what it deems a surplus population who must be bombed or murdered by snipers if they dare resist their fate.
Undaunted, Kushner’s plan asserts that “Just as Dubai and Singapore have benefited from their strategic locations and flourished as regional financial hubs, the West Bank and Gaza can ultimately develop into a regional trading center.”
One shudders to think what worse fate is in store for Gaza after these latest promises.
Dystopian future
Amid all the neoliberal pablum about “governance,” “capacity building,” and “empowering” Palestinians, Kushner’s plan promises to “Increase Palestinian exports as a percentage of GDP from 17 to 40,” partly through “the development of state-of-the-art industrial zones.”
This, too, recycles decades-old plans to turn Palestinians, or migrant workers who would be brought in, into a cheap, captive workforce in industrial zones where foreign corporations would exploit them free from labor rights, health and environmental standards or any effective monitoring as has happened in neighboring Jordan and all over the developing world – I examined this in my 2014 book The Battle for Justice in Palestine.
This dystopian future for the Palestinians was championed in similar rosy terms by Tony Blair in 2008 when he was envoy for the Quartet, the moribund group of US, European Union, UN and Russian officials who claimed to be advancing the “peace process.”
If Kushner really wanted to dramatically increase Palestinian GDP it would not take 10 years and billions of dollars. All it would take, to start with, is for Israel to end its severe restrictions on Palestinians working, doing business and farming their land in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israeli military restrictions on Palestinian economic activity in so-called Area C – the 60 percent of the West Bank under total Israeli military rule – have cost Palestinians billions of dollars. tweet
The World Bank estimates that “if businesses and farms were permitted to develop in Area C, this would add as much as 35 percent to the Palestinian GDP.”
But Kushner’s plan makes no mention of how millions of Palestinians live under an Israeli military dictatorship that places countless deliberate obstacles on the Palestinian economy as part of its systematic violence against the population. tweet
The closest the plan gets to acknowledging reality is the laughably euphemistic claim that Palestinians “routinely encounter logistical challenges in the West Bank and Gaza, impeding travel, stagnating economic growth, reducing exports and stunting foreign direct investment.”
No, Jared, it’s a military occupation, not a “logistical challenge.”
Similarly, unemployment in Gaza is over 50 percent – almost 80 percent for university graduates – not because of an absence of “investment” projects, but because of Israel’s 12-year blockade on the territory, another glaring reality the plan refuses to acknowledge.
Tried and failed
There’s little more to be said about this plan, except that anyone who harbors the remotest illusions that the forthcoming (if it ever sees the light of day) political component would be any better, should lay those to rest.
That will be nothing more than window-dressing for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank in whole or in part.
The Bahrain conference scheduled for this week, where “Peace to Prosperity” is to be launched, is already a flop.
Originally, it was supposed to be a showcase of normalization, with a high-level Israeli ministerial delegation hobnobbing with Arab leaders.
But amid stiff regional resistance – or perhaps mere shyness among some Arab regimes – and a total boycott by Palestinians, the US abandoned plans to invite an official Israeli delegation.
Even normally reliable US clients like the European Union, Jordan and Egypt are sending the lowest possible representation.
A decade ago, the Quartet tried to impose an illusory economic peace on Palestinians – at that time with the enthusiastic collaboration of the Palestinian Authority leadership. The effort came complete with a much-hyped “investment conference” in Bethlehem, which like the Bahrain edition, failed amid staunch opposition from Palestinians.
In case there was any doubt about how Palestinians feel, political factions in the Gaza Strip announced a general strike for Tuesday to send a message to those gathering in Bahrain that no one can extinguish their inalienable rights, especially with empty promises of “prosperity.”
As I told Al Jazeera, what Palestinians need and demand is liberation, not Jared Kushner’s charity.
It calls for $50 billion in “investments” spread over 179 projects. Half the money would be spent on Palestinian infrastructure over 10 years, with the rest spread between Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
It will supposedly include a $5 billion transportation corridor between the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and another $2 billion in the Palestinian tourism sector.
The plan has zero chance of success, not least because no one knows where the money would come from – presumably it is to be pledged by America’s client states in the Gulf – and there’s no reason to believe Israel would ever remotely allow any major projects intended to benefit Palestinians.
Jared Kushner, adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, and US envoy Jason Greenblatt are the brains behind the plan.
They claim it will reduce Palestinian poverty by half and double Palestinian GDP over a decade. tweet
I told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the plan amounts to reheated ideas for “economic peace” – the hope that a few financial crumbs will buy Palestinians off from demanding liberation and from continuing to resist Israel’s system of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid.
It’s an effort to buy Palestine for peanuts.
Inflicting pain and misery
Even taking the plan on its own terms, Kushner comes into this with a real credibility problem: To take just one example, “Peace to Prosperity” claims that there will be big investments in healthcare for Palestinians because, “a healthy economy requires a healthy population.” tweet
But at Kushner’s urging, one of the first things the Trump administration did was to cut all US humanitarian and development aid to Palestinians, including US financial support for UNRWA, the UN agency that provides health and education to the poorest and most vulnerable Palestinian refugees.
The Trump administration also eliminated funding for six hospitals in East Jerusalem that provide life-saving care for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Jared Kushner can’t tell us that he cares about ending poverty for the Palestinian people while inflicting more pain and misery on them – which is his actual record as compared with the pipe dreams in this plan. tweet
Repackaging occupation
There is nothing new in Kushner’s effort to market military occupation and colonial exploitation as a plan for prosperity.
In the early 1990s, when the Oslo accords were signed, media hyped that Gaza would turn into a “Hong Kong on the Mediterranean.”
Instead, under the guise of the “peace process,” Israel began to isolate Gaza and systematically “de-develop” its economy, as scholar Sara Roy describes.
Again, in 2005, when Israel was preparing to withdraw its settlers from the interior of Gaza, media hyped that the coastal territory would become a “Singapore on the Mediterranean.”
But rather than allowing it to prosper, Israel turned Gaza into a sealed ghetto for what it deems a surplus population who must be bombed or murdered by snipers if they dare resist their fate.
Undaunted, Kushner’s plan asserts that “Just as Dubai and Singapore have benefited from their strategic locations and flourished as regional financial hubs, the West Bank and Gaza can ultimately develop into a regional trading center.”
One shudders to think what worse fate is in store for Gaza after these latest promises.
Dystopian future
Amid all the neoliberal pablum about “governance,” “capacity building,” and “empowering” Palestinians, Kushner’s plan promises to “Increase Palestinian exports as a percentage of GDP from 17 to 40,” partly through “the development of state-of-the-art industrial zones.”
This, too, recycles decades-old plans to turn Palestinians, or migrant workers who would be brought in, into a cheap, captive workforce in industrial zones where foreign corporations would exploit them free from labor rights, health and environmental standards or any effective monitoring as has happened in neighboring Jordan and all over the developing world – I examined this in my 2014 book The Battle for Justice in Palestine.
This dystopian future for the Palestinians was championed in similar rosy terms by Tony Blair in 2008 when he was envoy for the Quartet, the moribund group of US, European Union, UN and Russian officials who claimed to be advancing the “peace process.”
If Kushner really wanted to dramatically increase Palestinian GDP it would not take 10 years and billions of dollars. All it would take, to start with, is for Israel to end its severe restrictions on Palestinians working, doing business and farming their land in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israeli military restrictions on Palestinian economic activity in so-called Area C – the 60 percent of the West Bank under total Israeli military rule – have cost Palestinians billions of dollars. tweet
The World Bank estimates that “if businesses and farms were permitted to develop in Area C, this would add as much as 35 percent to the Palestinian GDP.”
But Kushner’s plan makes no mention of how millions of Palestinians live under an Israeli military dictatorship that places countless deliberate obstacles on the Palestinian economy as part of its systematic violence against the population. tweet
The closest the plan gets to acknowledging reality is the laughably euphemistic claim that Palestinians “routinely encounter logistical challenges in the West Bank and Gaza, impeding travel, stagnating economic growth, reducing exports and stunting foreign direct investment.”
No, Jared, it’s a military occupation, not a “logistical challenge.”
Similarly, unemployment in Gaza is over 50 percent – almost 80 percent for university graduates – not because of an absence of “investment” projects, but because of Israel’s 12-year blockade on the territory, another glaring reality the plan refuses to acknowledge.
Tried and failed
There’s little more to be said about this plan, except that anyone who harbors the remotest illusions that the forthcoming (if it ever sees the light of day) political component would be any better, should lay those to rest.
That will be nothing more than window-dressing for Israel to annex the occupied West Bank in whole or in part.
The Bahrain conference scheduled for this week, where “Peace to Prosperity” is to be launched, is already a flop.
Originally, it was supposed to be a showcase of normalization, with a high-level Israeli ministerial delegation hobnobbing with Arab leaders.
But amid stiff regional resistance – or perhaps mere shyness among some Arab regimes – and a total boycott by Palestinians, the US abandoned plans to invite an official Israeli delegation.
Even normally reliable US clients like the European Union, Jordan and Egypt are sending the lowest possible representation.
A decade ago, the Quartet tried to impose an illusory economic peace on Palestinians – at that time with the enthusiastic collaboration of the Palestinian Authority leadership. The effort came complete with a much-hyped “investment conference” in Bethlehem, which like the Bahrain edition, failed amid staunch opposition from Palestinians.
In case there was any doubt about how Palestinians feel, political factions in the Gaza Strip announced a general strike for Tuesday to send a message to those gathering in Bahrain that no one can extinguish their inalienable rights, especially with empty promises of “prosperity.”
As I told Al Jazeera, what Palestinians need and demand is liberation, not Jared Kushner’s charity.
There have been protests in several Palestinian and Arab cities in the days leading up to the Bahrain conference this week.
On Saturday, the White House unveiled the economic component of the Trump administration’s so-called Deal of the Century, that it plans to showcase at the conference.
In an interview with Reuters, US presidential adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said that to reveal the political component of the Trump administration’s peace proposals simultaneously with the economic aspect would have been “very, very hard” for people to digest.
The choice to reveal the economic plan first was due to its “less controversial” nature, he added. tweet
Kushner’s admission of how controversial the political plan will be can only mean it reinforces the status quo, or perhaps worse. tweet
The 40-page economic plan details the Trump administration’s vision to “establish a new foundation for the Palestinian economy” while actively failing to address that which destroys it: seven decades of Israeli settler-colonialism.
It proposes injecting $50 billion of “investments” into the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and neighboring countries.
The plan fails to mention, however, who would foot the bill to buy Palestine for peanuts.
It ignores the brutal effects of Israeli military occupation and treats the Palestinian predicament as a mere lack of investment.
But the Palestinian issue was never an economic one, nor simply a tale of unexplained “adversity and loss,” as the White House describes it.
At its core is Israeli oppression and theft.
The elephant in the room
On Saturday, the White House unveiled the economic component of the Trump administration’s so-called Deal of the Century, that it plans to showcase at the conference.
In an interview with Reuters, US presidential adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said that to reveal the political component of the Trump administration’s peace proposals simultaneously with the economic aspect would have been “very, very hard” for people to digest.
The choice to reveal the economic plan first was due to its “less controversial” nature, he added. tweet
Kushner’s admission of how controversial the political plan will be can only mean it reinforces the status quo, or perhaps worse. tweet
The 40-page economic plan details the Trump administration’s vision to “establish a new foundation for the Palestinian economy” while actively failing to address that which destroys it: seven decades of Israeli settler-colonialism.
It proposes injecting $50 billion of “investments” into the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and neighboring countries.
The plan fails to mention, however, who would foot the bill to buy Palestine for peanuts.
It ignores the brutal effects of Israeli military occupation and treats the Palestinian predicament as a mere lack of investment.
But the Palestinian issue was never an economic one, nor simply a tale of unexplained “adversity and loss,” as the White House describes it.
At its core is Israeli oppression and theft.
The elephant in the room
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As The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah told Al Jazeera English on Saturday, “the basic issue of Israeli military occupation, colonization [and] apartheid is really the elephant in the room.”
Israel controls every aspect of Palestinian life in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. For example, the White House plan mentions “logistical challenges” Palestinians “routinely encounter” that “imped[e] travel.” In reality, Israel imposes a biometric ID system at its military checkpoints all over the occupied West Bank to enforce a pass system on Palestinians that amounts to a high-tech version of what existed in apartheid South Africa. |
Kushner’s plan to build a railway between the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip would not dismantle this racist architecture but simply streamline it.
It is reminiscent of how Trump envoy Jason Greenblatt lauded “the updated facilities and security procedures” at the Qalandiya checkpoint separating Ramallah from Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. tweet
He called for similar “progress” at other checkpoints. There couldn’t be a clearer example of what South African anti-apartheid veteran Archbishop Desmond Tutu called polishing the chains of the oppressed.
There are other absurdities in the plan; for example, the White House cites the “limited access” Palestinian farmers have to “land, water and technology” for hindering the advancement of agriculture.
In reality, Israel has done everything to ensure such limitations. For instance, it bans Palestinian farmers from digging wells on their own land in the West Bank and even prevents them from collecting rainwater.
And in Gaza it bulldozes crops, sprays them with herbicides and shoots at farmers.
Israeli occupation forces also protect settlers as they steal, damage and destroy Palestinians trees in the West Bank, especially leading up to the olive harvest season, a pillar of Palestinian agriculture.
Kushner’s plan claims that Palestinian access to housing is due to “high real-estate prices across the West Bank and Gaza.”
Now why on Earth would Palestinians face a housing crisis? Could it be because Israel drastically limits their access to their own land while it accelerates the construction of Jewish-only settlements on it?
As is well-known, Israel refuses to permit virtually any Palestinian construction in occupied East Jerusalem or in Area C – the 60 percent of the West Bank that remains under full Israeli military control.
This forces Palestinians to build on their own land without permits and live in constant fear of demolitions.
The majority of Israel’s 600,000 settlers live in Area C, where Israel uproots Palestinian communities to expand its colonies, such as the village of Khan al-Ahmar.
Gisha, a human rights group that monitors Israel’s siege of Gaza, says that while the plan rightly notes “the Palestinian population’s need for improved civilian infrastructure and for movement of people and goods between Gaza and the West Bank, what the document doesn’t include is any reference to the political dispute at the heart of the conflict: the occupation.” tweet
Wide rejection
Palestinians across the political spectrum have rejected the Trump plan and the Bahrain conference.
The Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) called for a boycott of the conference and condemned “in the strongest terms the participation of some official Arab organizations and businessmen and representatives of Arab corporations.” tweet
“Arab participation in this conference surpasses normalization and is considered direct cooperation with the Zionist-American alliance.”
Defying the unified voice of Palestinians, Bahrain, in an unprecedented move, is formally allowing six Israeli media organizations to enter its territory to cover the conference.
They include Barak Ravid for Israel’s Channel 13: tweet
By contrast, Marzouq al-Ghanim, the speaker of the Kuwaiti parliament, affirmed his country’s rejection of the Bahrain conference and its commitment to the Palestinian cause on Monday: tweet
Palestinians protested in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday: tweet tweet
Thousands protested in Morocco’s capital Rabat on Sunday, demanding their government not participate in the conference: tweet
Political factions in the Gaza Strip announced a general strike for Tuesday as well.
Hundreds marched towards the US embassy in Jordan’s capital Amman on Friday. Police prevented protesters from coming within 400 meters of the embassy: tweet tweet tweet
Jordanian unions have also called for a boycott of the Bahrain conference. tweet
Jordan announced its secretary general of the finance ministry will attend the conference on Saturday, a notably low-level representation.
Despite its cold shoulder to the economic plan, Jordan has a multi-billion dollar agreement to buy natural gas from Israel – a deal staunchly opposed by Jordanian society and parliament.
Solidarity in Tunisia
Meanwhile, activists in the Tunisian city of Sfax protested on Friday against tourism ties between their country and Israel: tweet
Trade unions and political parties in Tunisia are mobilizing against a travel agency that is organizing trips to the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and cities in present-day Israel despite there being no formal diplomatic ties between the countries.
Last week, Tunisian-French Imam Hassen Chalghoumi visited Israel and met with army officials, including its Arabic-language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. tweet tweet
Chalghoumi led a religious delegation of 40 people, organized by Israel advocacy group the European Leadership Network and hosted by settlement body Samaria Regional Council. On the trip, the imam criticized the Palestinian Authority’s decision to boycott the Bahrain conference.
It is reminiscent of how Trump envoy Jason Greenblatt lauded “the updated facilities and security procedures” at the Qalandiya checkpoint separating Ramallah from Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. tweet
He called for similar “progress” at other checkpoints. There couldn’t be a clearer example of what South African anti-apartheid veteran Archbishop Desmond Tutu called polishing the chains of the oppressed.
There are other absurdities in the plan; for example, the White House cites the “limited access” Palestinian farmers have to “land, water and technology” for hindering the advancement of agriculture.
In reality, Israel has done everything to ensure such limitations. For instance, it bans Palestinian farmers from digging wells on their own land in the West Bank and even prevents them from collecting rainwater.
And in Gaza it bulldozes crops, sprays them with herbicides and shoots at farmers.
Israeli occupation forces also protect settlers as they steal, damage and destroy Palestinians trees in the West Bank, especially leading up to the olive harvest season, a pillar of Palestinian agriculture.
Kushner’s plan claims that Palestinian access to housing is due to “high real-estate prices across the West Bank and Gaza.”
Now why on Earth would Palestinians face a housing crisis? Could it be because Israel drastically limits their access to their own land while it accelerates the construction of Jewish-only settlements on it?
As is well-known, Israel refuses to permit virtually any Palestinian construction in occupied East Jerusalem or in Area C – the 60 percent of the West Bank that remains under full Israeli military control.
This forces Palestinians to build on their own land without permits and live in constant fear of demolitions.
The majority of Israel’s 600,000 settlers live in Area C, where Israel uproots Palestinian communities to expand its colonies, such as the village of Khan al-Ahmar.
Gisha, a human rights group that monitors Israel’s siege of Gaza, says that while the plan rightly notes “the Palestinian population’s need for improved civilian infrastructure and for movement of people and goods between Gaza and the West Bank, what the document doesn’t include is any reference to the political dispute at the heart of the conflict: the occupation.” tweet
Wide rejection
Palestinians across the political spectrum have rejected the Trump plan and the Bahrain conference.
The Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) called for a boycott of the conference and condemned “in the strongest terms the participation of some official Arab organizations and businessmen and representatives of Arab corporations.” tweet
“Arab participation in this conference surpasses normalization and is considered direct cooperation with the Zionist-American alliance.”
Defying the unified voice of Palestinians, Bahrain, in an unprecedented move, is formally allowing six Israeli media organizations to enter its territory to cover the conference.
They include Barak Ravid for Israel’s Channel 13: tweet
By contrast, Marzouq al-Ghanim, the speaker of the Kuwaiti parliament, affirmed his country’s rejection of the Bahrain conference and its commitment to the Palestinian cause on Monday: tweet
Palestinians protested in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday: tweet tweet
Thousands protested in Morocco’s capital Rabat on Sunday, demanding their government not participate in the conference: tweet
Political factions in the Gaza Strip announced a general strike for Tuesday as well.
Hundreds marched towards the US embassy in Jordan’s capital Amman on Friday. Police prevented protesters from coming within 400 meters of the embassy: tweet tweet tweet
Jordanian unions have also called for a boycott of the Bahrain conference. tweet
Jordan announced its secretary general of the finance ministry will attend the conference on Saturday, a notably low-level representation.
Despite its cold shoulder to the economic plan, Jordan has a multi-billion dollar agreement to buy natural gas from Israel – a deal staunchly opposed by Jordanian society and parliament.
Solidarity in Tunisia
Meanwhile, activists in the Tunisian city of Sfax protested on Friday against tourism ties between their country and Israel: tweet
Trade unions and political parties in Tunisia are mobilizing against a travel agency that is organizing trips to the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and cities in present-day Israel despite there being no formal diplomatic ties between the countries.
Last week, Tunisian-French Imam Hassen Chalghoumi visited Israel and met with army officials, including its Arabic-language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. tweet tweet
Chalghoumi led a religious delegation of 40 people, organized by Israel advocacy group the European Leadership Network and hosted by settlement body Samaria Regional Council. On the trip, the imam criticized the Palestinian Authority’s decision to boycott the Bahrain conference.
Hundreds of Palestinian citizens on Monday staged a protest in Jenin against the US-led economic conference set to begin in Bahrain on Tuesday.
The demonstrators roamed the streets of Jenin holding banners condemning the countries taking part in the conference and normalizing relations with Israel.
They waved banners saying "No to the occupation", "No to the Deal of the Century" and "No to the Bahrain workshop", and stressed that the Bahrain workshop is part of a larger conspiracy aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause.
The demonstrators roamed the streets of Jenin holding banners condemning the countries taking part in the conference and normalizing relations with Israel.
They waved banners saying "No to the occupation", "No to the Deal of the Century" and "No to the Bahrain workshop", and stressed that the Bahrain workshop is part of a larger conspiracy aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause.
Lebanon will not be lured by a US plan to invest billions in the country, in return for settling Palestinian refugees, Lebanese parliament speaker, Nabih Berri said on Sunday (Jun 23).
“Those who think that waving billions of dollars can lure Lebanon, which is under the weight of a suffocating economic crisis, into succumbing or bartering over its principles are mistaken,” Berri said in a statement from his office.
“The rejection of settling Palestinian refugees who must have the right of return stands at the forefront of these principles,” he said, adding that “any investment at the expense of the Palestinian cause will not find fertile ground in Lebanon.”
US President Donald Trump’s “deal,” regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue, is set to be presented by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, at a conference in Bahrain, on Jun 25 to 26, envisions a US$50 billion investment plan to lift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies.
But, it has met broad rejection in the Arab world, even as some in the Gulf called for giving it a chance.
The US plan envisions spending more than half of the US$50 billion in the Palestinian territories over 10 years while the rest would be split between Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
“Those who think that waving billions of dollars can lure Lebanon, which is under the weight of a suffocating economic crisis, into succumbing or bartering over its principles are mistaken,” Berri said in a statement from his office.
“The rejection of settling Palestinian refugees who must have the right of return stands at the forefront of these principles,” he said, adding that “any investment at the expense of the Palestinian cause will not find fertile ground in Lebanon.”
US President Donald Trump’s “deal,” regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue, is set to be presented by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, at a conference in Bahrain, on Jun 25 to 26, envisions a US$50 billion investment plan to lift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies.
But, it has met broad rejection in the Arab world, even as some in the Gulf called for giving it a chance.
The US plan envisions spending more than half of the US$50 billion in the Palestinian territories over 10 years while the rest would be split between Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks during an official meeting with the Iraqi Prime minister in Riyadh on April 17, 2019
Saudi Arabia’s expanding nuclear and missile programs have raised fears that it aims to acquire nuclear weapons, with analysts warning that a nuclear Riyadh under its “reckless” leadership would pose a threat to the countries in the region.
Saudi Arabia, a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), signed in 2005 a so-called small quantities protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which exempts countries with no or minimal nuclear programs from inspections.
Riyadh, which is constructing a nuclear reactor, has so far resisted calls by the IAEA to implement proportionate safeguards and an inspection regime that would prohibit possible deviation towards weaponization.
“The small quantities protocol was designed to simplify safeguards for states with minimal or no nuclear material, but it is no longer adequate for Saudi Arabia's expanding nuclear program,” Kelsey Davenport, director of Nonproliferation Policy at Arms Control Association, told Middle East Eye.
Referring to Saudi Arabia’s threats to pursue nuclear weapons, its exemption from inspections and its developing ballistic missile program, Davenport said: “There are legitimate reasons to be concerned that Saudi Arabia is seeking to develop the technical capabilities that would allow Riyadh to quickly pursue nuclear weapons if the political decision were made to do so."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who enjoy strong support from US President Donald Trump, said last year that his country would promptly acquire nuclear weapons if Iran does.
Iran has warned that it has noticed some of its neighbors with a “proven black record of supporting terrorist movements” working on “suspicious nuclear projects,” which would force Tehran to revise its defense strategy.
According to a report by MEE, Saudi Arabia's nuclear and missile programs are bound to have significant regional implications.
Earlier this month, Democratic US Senator Tim Kaine revealed that the Trump administration had approved the transfer of nuclear know-how to the kingdom seven times, twice after the Riyadh regime's killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in early October 2018.
The money-driven politics of the American president have raised doubts about Washington's resolve, or even ability, to keep possible Saudi nuclear ambitions in check.
The Trump’s administration approved six authorizations that allow American companies to secretly provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear technology or technical assistance, revealed a document issued by the Department of Energy and seen by Reuters in late March.
Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia has reportedly stepped up its ballistic missile program with the help of China.
"Saudi Arabia's development of ballistic missiles goes against long-standing US policy of opposing missile proliferation in the region," said Nicholas L. Miller, professor of government at Dartmouth College. "But the Trump administration has so far been relatively quiet about its response."
"There seems to be a pattern in this administration of looking the other way at provocative Saudi behavior due to the laser-like focus on Iran," Miller argued.
‘Reckless’ leadership in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s concurrent and mostly clandestine missile and nuclear activities combined with bin Salman's warnings that the kingdom would pursue atomic weapons are also sounding alarm bells in certain regional capitals.
"A nuclear Saudi Arabia means nuclear proliferation in the most unstable and volatile region of the world," Ali Bakeer, a Turkey-based political analyst, told the online news outlet.
"Given the reckless leadership in Riyadh, this is an alarming development for small states in the [Persian] Gulf in particular, which might either seek a nuclear umbrella from great powers or consider constructing parallel deterrence capabilities of their own if they could afford it," he added.
Qatar is one of those countries that has feared an invasion by Riyadh. US officials said that Saudi Arabia was planning to invade Qatar and seize its North Dome gas field, before its imposition of an all-out diplomatic and economic boycott on the nation in June 2017.
Saudi Arabia’s expanding nuclear and missile programs have raised fears that it aims to acquire nuclear weapons, with analysts warning that a nuclear Riyadh under its “reckless” leadership would pose a threat to the countries in the region.
Saudi Arabia, a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), signed in 2005 a so-called small quantities protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which exempts countries with no or minimal nuclear programs from inspections.
Riyadh, which is constructing a nuclear reactor, has so far resisted calls by the IAEA to implement proportionate safeguards and an inspection regime that would prohibit possible deviation towards weaponization.
“The small quantities protocol was designed to simplify safeguards for states with minimal or no nuclear material, but it is no longer adequate for Saudi Arabia's expanding nuclear program,” Kelsey Davenport, director of Nonproliferation Policy at Arms Control Association, told Middle East Eye.
Referring to Saudi Arabia’s threats to pursue nuclear weapons, its exemption from inspections and its developing ballistic missile program, Davenport said: “There are legitimate reasons to be concerned that Saudi Arabia is seeking to develop the technical capabilities that would allow Riyadh to quickly pursue nuclear weapons if the political decision were made to do so."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who enjoy strong support from US President Donald Trump, said last year that his country would promptly acquire nuclear weapons if Iran does.
Iran has warned that it has noticed some of its neighbors with a “proven black record of supporting terrorist movements” working on “suspicious nuclear projects,” which would force Tehran to revise its defense strategy.
According to a report by MEE, Saudi Arabia's nuclear and missile programs are bound to have significant regional implications.
Earlier this month, Democratic US Senator Tim Kaine revealed that the Trump administration had approved the transfer of nuclear know-how to the kingdom seven times, twice after the Riyadh regime's killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in early October 2018.
The money-driven politics of the American president have raised doubts about Washington's resolve, or even ability, to keep possible Saudi nuclear ambitions in check.
The Trump’s administration approved six authorizations that allow American companies to secretly provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear technology or technical assistance, revealed a document issued by the Department of Energy and seen by Reuters in late March.
Simultaneously, Saudi Arabia has reportedly stepped up its ballistic missile program with the help of China.
"Saudi Arabia's development of ballistic missiles goes against long-standing US policy of opposing missile proliferation in the region," said Nicholas L. Miller, professor of government at Dartmouth College. "But the Trump administration has so far been relatively quiet about its response."
"There seems to be a pattern in this administration of looking the other way at provocative Saudi behavior due to the laser-like focus on Iran," Miller argued.
‘Reckless’ leadership in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s concurrent and mostly clandestine missile and nuclear activities combined with bin Salman's warnings that the kingdom would pursue atomic weapons are also sounding alarm bells in certain regional capitals.
"A nuclear Saudi Arabia means nuclear proliferation in the most unstable and volatile region of the world," Ali Bakeer, a Turkey-based political analyst, told the online news outlet.
"Given the reckless leadership in Riyadh, this is an alarming development for small states in the [Persian] Gulf in particular, which might either seek a nuclear umbrella from great powers or consider constructing parallel deterrence capabilities of their own if they could afford it," he added.
Qatar is one of those countries that has feared an invasion by Riyadh. US officials said that Saudi Arabia was planning to invade Qatar and seize its North Dome gas field, before its imposition of an all-out diplomatic and economic boycott on the nation in June 2017.
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