Kushner’s $50-billion irony of the century

Jared Kushner, the US president's senior adviser and son-in-law, recently unveiled in Manama an economic proposal to settle the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict. He billed it as the "opportunity of the century".

The Manama Workshop aimed at disclosing a USD 50 billion plan for "a vision to empower the Palestinian people to build a prosperous and vibrant Palestinian society," the same Palestinians who have been enduring Israeli occupation for the last five decades.

Given that the United States, under the current administration, has acknowledged the disputed territory of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ratified Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, this move by Kushner is nothing short of ironic.

The United States has done very little over the last five decades to contain Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, with the number of illegal Israeli settlers in Palestinian territories only increasing over time. Just after the Oslo Accords were signed between Israel and Palestine in 1993, the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank was a little more than 116,000. Today, that number stands at a staggering 622,670. And the US has done nothing to condemn the persecution of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis.

Amidst all the pomp and glamour of the workshop at a Four Seasons in Bahrain, what was strikingly, but not surprisingly, missing was a delegation from Palestine, or from Israel for that matter. Not that the Palestinians were not invited; in fact, they had been invited to join the workshop, which they were right in declining. The Palestinians had shunned the proposal, while Israel was not invited to send a delegate to create a balance.

The Palestinians were widely criticised by the United States for boycotting the Manama conference. According to Kushner, the Palestinian decision to boycott the workshop was "hysterical and erratic and not terribly constructive." And the Israelis did not miss the chance to goad the Palestinians by referring to the oft-quoted phrase by Israel's former Foreign Minister Abba Eban: "The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

The Palestinians, of course, had legitimate reasons for boycotting the workshop. For one, the United States, despite all its talk about prosperity, has cut almost all of its aid to Palestine, leaving them alone to fend for themselves.

For 2019, the United Nations and the Palestinians had to appeal to the world community for humanitarian aid worth USD 350 million, since the US had cut almost all of the USD 500 million it used to provide to the Palestinians in aid every year. Regarding the decrease in funds, Jamie McGoldrick, UN's humanitarian coordinator in Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem, said, "We will be able to assist fewer people this year, 1.4 million people are being targeted as opposed to 1.9 million last year."

Earlier in 2018, the United States had pledged USD 385 million in aid to UNRAW, the UN agency that provides relief for Palestinian refugees. However, the US only provided the first installment of USD 60 million, before pulling the plug on it, in August. 

And while Jared Kushner asked the delegates in attendance in Manama to "imagine a bustling tourist centre in Gaza and the West Bank... Imagine people and goods flowing securely throughout the region as people become more prosperous," the question remains, amidst increasing encroachment of Palestinian lands by the Israelis, what is going to be the actual size and shape of Gaza and the West Bank in Kushner's fantasy story?

Amidst an existential crisis both metaphorical and real, how can the Palestinians be part of a dialogue that does not address the most basic of their needs—of statehood, identity, and survival?

Jared Kushner, rather brusquely, has already swept aside the Arab-League-endorsed "Arab Peace Initiative" that aims to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict. In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Kushner said, "I think we all have to recognise that if there ever is a deal, it's not going to be along the lines of the Arab peace initiative. It will be somewhere between the Arab peace initiative and between the Israeli position."

Before the workshop even began, in a show of blatant disregard for the concerns of the Palestinians, Kushner said, "They don't have a great track record of getting a deal done. I'll keep doing it the way that we want to do it." With Kushner already having decided that the US will do things the way they want to, what was even the point for the Palestinians to attend the workshop? Just to be silent spectators perhaps?

The Palestinians are right in their concern about the sincerity of the United States to address their plight. The plan to usher in economic prosperity for the Palestinians did not, on a single instance, refer to the Israeli occupation of their lands.

And most importantly, the plan does in no way outline where the USD 50 billion fund is going to come from and how. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has raised questions about the source of the funds that Kushner talks about: "It is just simply a theoretical piece of work calling for USD 50bn… We don't know where this money is going to come from but we know that the economic problem in Palestine has to do with all the Israeli measures."

Perhaps the biggest shortcoming of the Kushner plan is the decoupling of the economic plan of the peace initiative from its political blueprint, since without the political plan, it would be very difficult for the stakeholders to see the actual vision of the US for the region, if there is one. And with snap elections coming up in Israel in September 2019, Trump's political vision is unlikely to be unveiled anytime before late fall or even winter.

In short, the proposal unveiled at the Manama workshop does very little for the Palestinians. And given the Trump administration's cozy relationship with Israel, the possibility of Palestinians reaching their ultimate goal of having a free state and a safe abode for their people looks as bleak as ever.

Tasneem Tayeb works for The Daily Star. Her Twitter handle is @TayebTasneem.

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