By: Azhar Azam
*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "One World":
http://oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=1307
Donald Trump’s Middle East plan – contending to bring peace, prosperity and a brighter future for the Israeli and Palestinian people; prop up a safer and affluent region and end the stalemate in the two-state talks to realize the aspirations of Palestine independence – is dead within a week of its disclosure though the author Jared Kushner disagrees.
Son-in-law and the senior advisor to the US President insisted that the Palestinians should accept the proposal and fulfill the idealistic preconditions, which would allow Israel to annex around 30% of the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, rescind Palestine’s entire claim on Jerusalem and the right to return the refugees.
Kushner – who struggled to respond on the bizarre plan provisions such as free press, free elections, guarantees of religious freedoms and an independent judiciary and financial institutions in four years that no Arab country has ever achieved in the history – dull defense was the blank acknowledgment that the Vision was deeply flawed and has reached at the dead end.
In fact, the “lopsided” concept tempted Palestinian rejection even before its revelation as it drew only the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the opposition leader Benny Gantz, omitting the Palestinian leaders outright. The subsequent dismissal by Palestine and the Arab League was nonetheless the seal of denunciation.
Once unveiled, the “deal of the century” fumed Palestine which sought them to settle at a telescoped West Bank that would be connected with Gaza through a tunnel and required former to surrender their resources and sovereignty to the latter as well as accepting East Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and the forbidden settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem.
By addressing the security concerns of Israel and providing them a demilitarized Palestinian state in the vicinity, the blueprint of Trump’s map avowed to take first step toward forming a foundation for historic peace in the region. But as the Vision authorized Israel to continue building in Judea and Samaria, he lobbed the peace away by more miles.
Trump argued that he was pushing hard to revive the stalled two-state negotiations for a peaceful and prosperous region but his quest of seeking too much comprises from the Palestinians somewhat conceded the neutrality of the United States as a reliable mediator and more critically, firmly locked the door of direct talks between Israel and Palestine.
Washington’s Potemkin plan, if implemented, would violate international law that prohibits any annexation of the territories and could lead to apartheid crimes of enforced racial discrimination. It turned the rules-based global order on its head and undermined the right of self-determination of permitting all nations to freely choose their statehood without any foreign intervention.
US unilateral action pulled the landmark Washington-abstained United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution to bits that was unanimously adopted in December 2016 by 14-0 votes, labeled Israeli settlement activities a “flagrant violation of international law” and demanded to cease those doings in the occupied territories to salvage the two-state solution based on 1967 lines.
The divisive map additionally desecrated the joint declaration of over 70 countries and international organizations including the Quartet, the five permanent members of UNSC, Arab and European partners, G20 countries and others at Paris peace conference on 15-July-2017 that reaffirmed their support for a long-lasting and negotiated two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Slamming the plan that endorses the creation of a 21st century “Bantustan in the Middle East,” the UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk dubbed the Vision only “a one and a half state solution” which will entrench occupation and favored realpolitik, power and conflict management over rights, justice and conflict resolution.
More than two years after the UNSC resolution and global agreement to serve a negotiated two-state solution to meet the legitimize aspirations of both the sides, Palestinians’ right to statehood and sovereignty and satisfy Israel’s security needs – Trump’s economic assistance of $50 billion is a recycle of the former US President Barrack Obama’s peace plan that pledged $4 billion “to transform the fortunes of a future Palestinian state.”
The economic trap was previously revealed in June 2019 when Kushner claimed, if executed, would create a million jobs in the West Bank and Gaza, reduce Palestinian poverty by half and double their GDP. But the Arab observers and Palestinian leadership jointly had poured scorn on the Trump administration’s Palestine’s witch-hunt.
History reiterates that the US has never been a candid and impartial peace broker for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has habitually strived to buy the Palestine’s freedom of movement, airspace, territorial waters and sovereignty in return for taxing restrictions, economic aid and investment.
Unless the US mends its behavior into a responsible and unprejudiced peace arbitrator and prevents itself to take combustible actions like moving its embassy to Jerusalem, all its proposed peace plans would tailspin abruptly just as “Peace to Prosperity.” Washington’s realignment with the global world is the only way to correct its foreign policy blunders.
*This is one of my opinion pieces (unedited) that first appeared at "One World":
http://oneworld.press/?module=articles&action=view&id=1307
Donald Trump’s Middle East plan – contending to bring peace, prosperity and a brighter future for the Israeli and Palestinian people; prop up a safer and affluent region and end the stalemate in the two-state talks to realize the aspirations of Palestine independence – is dead within a week of its disclosure though the author Jared Kushner disagrees.
Son-in-law and the senior advisor to the US President insisted that the Palestinians should accept the proposal and fulfill the idealistic preconditions, which would allow Israel to annex around 30% of the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, rescind Palestine’s entire claim on Jerusalem and the right to return the refugees.
Kushner – who struggled to respond on the bizarre plan provisions such as free press, free elections, guarantees of religious freedoms and an independent judiciary and financial institutions in four years that no Arab country has ever achieved in the history – dull defense was the blank acknowledgment that the Vision was deeply flawed and has reached at the dead end.
In fact, the “lopsided” concept tempted Palestinian rejection even before its revelation as it drew only the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the opposition leader Benny Gantz, omitting the Palestinian leaders outright. The subsequent dismissal by Palestine and the Arab League was nonetheless the seal of denunciation.
Once unveiled, the “deal of the century” fumed Palestine which sought them to settle at a telescoped West Bank that would be connected with Gaza through a tunnel and required former to surrender their resources and sovereignty to the latter as well as accepting East Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel and the forbidden settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem.
By addressing the security concerns of Israel and providing them a demilitarized Palestinian state in the vicinity, the blueprint of Trump’s map avowed to take first step toward forming a foundation for historic peace in the region. But as the Vision authorized Israel to continue building in Judea and Samaria, he lobbed the peace away by more miles.
Trump argued that he was pushing hard to revive the stalled two-state negotiations for a peaceful and prosperous region but his quest of seeking too much comprises from the Palestinians somewhat conceded the neutrality of the United States as a reliable mediator and more critically, firmly locked the door of direct talks between Israel and Palestine.
Washington’s Potemkin plan, if implemented, would violate international law that prohibits any annexation of the territories and could lead to apartheid crimes of enforced racial discrimination. It turned the rules-based global order on its head and undermined the right of self-determination of permitting all nations to freely choose their statehood without any foreign intervention.
US unilateral action pulled the landmark Washington-abstained United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution to bits that was unanimously adopted in December 2016 by 14-0 votes, labeled Israeli settlement activities a “flagrant violation of international law” and demanded to cease those doings in the occupied territories to salvage the two-state solution based on 1967 lines.
The divisive map additionally desecrated the joint declaration of over 70 countries and international organizations including the Quartet, the five permanent members of UNSC, Arab and European partners, G20 countries and others at Paris peace conference on 15-July-2017 that reaffirmed their support for a long-lasting and negotiated two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Slamming the plan that endorses the creation of a 21st century “Bantustan in the Middle East,” the UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk dubbed the Vision only “a one and a half state solution” which will entrench occupation and favored realpolitik, power and conflict management over rights, justice and conflict resolution.
More than two years after the UNSC resolution and global agreement to serve a negotiated two-state solution to meet the legitimize aspirations of both the sides, Palestinians’ right to statehood and sovereignty and satisfy Israel’s security needs – Trump’s economic assistance of $50 billion is a recycle of the former US President Barrack Obama’s peace plan that pledged $4 billion “to transform the fortunes of a future Palestinian state.”
The economic trap was previously revealed in June 2019 when Kushner claimed, if executed, would create a million jobs in the West Bank and Gaza, reduce Palestinian poverty by half and double their GDP. But the Arab observers and Palestinian leadership jointly had poured scorn on the Trump administration’s Palestine’s witch-hunt.
History reiterates that the US has never been a candid and impartial peace broker for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has habitually strived to buy the Palestine’s freedom of movement, airspace, territorial waters and sovereignty in return for taxing restrictions, economic aid and investment.
Unless the US mends its behavior into a responsible and unprejudiced peace arbitrator and prevents itself to take combustible actions like moving its embassy to Jerusalem, all its proposed peace plans would tailspin abruptly just as “Peace to Prosperity.” Washington’s realignment with the global world is the only way to correct its foreign policy blunders.