Palestinians Stand Together in Rejection of Trump's Peace Plan

By Reuters

24 June 19

�We don�t need the Bahrain meeting to build our country, we need peace, and the sequence of (the plan) - economic revival followed by peace is unrealistic and an illusion,� Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara said on Sunday.

.S. President Donald Trump and his son in-law/adviser Jared Kushner are preparing to unveil their so-called �deal of the century� at the Bahrain Summit this week.

Arab politicians and commentators greeted U.S. President Donald Trump�s $50 billion Middle East economic vision with a mixture of derision and exasperation, although some in the Gulf called for it to be given a chance.

Despite the U.S.� optimism, several Arab leaders and states have expressed their apprehension and disapproval of this plan.

The Palestinian Authority is boycotting the Bahrain meeting, saying only a political solution will solve the problem. It said Kushner�s �abstract promises� were an attempt to bribe Palestinians into accepting Israeli occupation.

�We don�t need the Bahrain meeting to build our country, we need peace, and the sequence of (the plan) - economic revival followed by peace is unrealistic and an illusion,� Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara said on Sunday.

Joining the Palestinian Authority in rejection of Trump�s plan is Hamas, who was not invited to the Bahrain Summit.

Egyptian liberal and leftist parties slammed the conference as an attempt to �consecrate and legitimize� occupation of Arab land and said in a joint statement that any Arab participation would be �beyond the limits of normalization� with Israel.

While the precise outline of the political plan has been shrouded in secrecy, officials briefed on it say Kushner has jettisoned the two-state solution - the long-standing worldwide formula that envisages an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

-Israeli Perspective-

In Israel, Tzachi Hanegbi, a Cabinet member close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, described Palestinians� rejection of the �peace to prosperity� plan as tragic.

On Israel Radio, Hanegbi said Washington had tried to create �a little more trust and positivity� by presenting an economic vision but had touched a raw nerve for Palestinians.

�They are still convinced that the whole matter of an economic peace is a conspiracy, aimed only at plying them with funds for projects and other goodies only so they will forget their nationalist aspirations. This is of course just paranoia, but it�s another tragedy for the Palestinians,� he said.

-Gulf Role-

U.S.-allied Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, will take part in the Bahrain gathering along with officials from Egypt, Jordan and Morocco.

Saudi Arabia�s minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel Jubeir, said anything that improves the Palestinians� situation should be welcomed but that addressing the political process in resolving the conflict with Israel was �extremely important�.

�The Palestinians are the ones who have the ultimate decision in this, because it�s their issue and so whatever the Palestinians accept, I believe everybody else will accept,� he said on Sunday in an interview with broadcaster France 24.

-Exit Lebanon and Iraq-

Both Lebanon and Iraq have announced that they will be boycotting the upcoming conference in solidarity with Palestine.

�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,� the Lebanese parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, said.

Hezbollah has also condemned the Bahrain Summit, calling Trump�s plan a �historical mistake�.

The withdrawal of Lebanon and Iraq is a big blow to the Trump plan, as the former is neighboring state and the latter is one of their closest allies in the Middle East.