Zero Palestine Solution

Zero Palestine Solution

US ARAB ISRAELI INITIATIVES

Recent developments including the election of Trump in the US and the Iran Saudi shosm have generated a fresh impetuous to the zero Palestine solution. Important changes in the formula have been the : US acceptance of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem ; Israeli enactment declaring Israel as a Jewish State ; US actions against Iran ; Saudi and Gulf States actions against Iran  . The solution when advanced years ago did not find any acceptance in either Egypt or Jordan. With the new realities in the Middle East both Jordan and Egypt seem receptive to the idea, so to seem the Saudis. There seems to be very few friends of the Palestinian people. Perhaps Iran or Turkey or Russia could be counted to accord support to the badly beleaguered residents of Palestine, the two former named are embroiled in struggles with the US and Russia may have overextended itself. This needs immediate attention of Muslims all over the World. The status of the Muslim land is at stake so too are the Holy Muslim places now in Occupied Palestine. Israel has already indicted intent to alter the Status of the AL Aqsa mosque .

Kindly also read: https://javedrashid.blogspot.com/2018/08/secret-interactions-between-israel-and.html

Background

The origins to the conflict can be traced back to Jewish immigration, and sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine between Jews and Arabs. It has been referred to as the world's "most intractable conflict", with the ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip reaching 51 years.

 A summarized history of the conflict would be : The British Mandate in Palestine and the Balfour Declaration, the Arab revolts of the 1930s, the declaration of the State of Israel (with scant regard of local opinion) and the subsequent war in the late 1940s, raids and counter-raids in the 1950s, the 1956 Suez Crisis, the 1967 Six Day War, the 1973 Yom Kipper War, the 1982 Lebanon War, the First and Second Intifada, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the Gaza War of 2008-2009. With over 100,000 casualties since 1945 and with economists estimating that the opportunity cost of the various conflicts representation trillions of dollars.

The dead are many, the costs are high and the divisions are deep. David Hacohen, a supposedly left-wing member of the Israeli Knesset for six terms once described Arabs as "... they are not human beings, they are not people". At the start of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the first secretary-general of the Arab League, Azzam Pasha, announced: "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades" . These are just illustrative examples of how deep the hatred has often reached; there are plenty of others and from equally senior positions.

 Solutions

Peace efforts have only had a modicum of success. The two United Nations Security Council Resolutions, 242 and 338, have provided a temporary cessation of hostilities, but have not been unable to unravel the continuing damage, let alone implement, the original UN General Assembly Resolution 181 for the partition of Palestine. Resolution 242 called for Israel to give up the occupied territories and the resolution passed was passed 15 to 0. It has not, of course, ever been implemented. Indeed the opposite has been the case; there are now 0.5 million Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, turning the region into a "pastrimi"  of harshly discriminatory settlement policy, of restricted movements, of concrete and iron 'separation barriers' - of kibosh ha'adama - "conquest of the land". The 1993 Oslo Accords fared somewhat better - they allowed for the formation of the Palestinian National Authority, providing the 'right' for Palestinians to police their own imprisonment.

Many attempts have been made to broker a two-state solution, involving the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel (after Israel's establishment in 1948). In 2007, the majority of both Israelis and Palestinians, according to a number of polls, preferred the two-state solution over any other solution as a means of resolving the conflict.^]Moreover, a majority of Jews see the Palestinians' demand for an independent state as just, and thinks Israel can agree to the establishment of such a state. The majority of Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have expressed a preference for a two-state solution. Mutual distrust and significant disagreements are deep over basic issues, as is the reciprocal skepticism about the other side's commitment to upholding obligations in an eventual agreement

The "Three State Solution" argues that Israel should give the West Bank to Jordon and Gaza to Egypt, changing boundaries back to the 1949 Armistice, some variation of the Allon Plan or, as alternative, independent governments of Palestinian Gaza, Palestinian West Bank and Israel. The former has been advocated by Benny Morris who argues that Muslims in particular are culturally inept in their ability to adopt to secularism. The position ignores that the people of the West Bank and Gaza do not want it, nor does Jordan, and nor do the half a million Israeli settlers are in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In contrast the mainstream "Two State Solution", also suffers the problem of practicality. This is the option with the greatest degree of plurality support according to opinion polls , and the official policy from the 1991 Madrid Conference to the 2007 Annapolis Conference. Yet it is plagued with impossibilities; there is next to no chance that the half million Israeli settlers are going to move from East Jerusalem or the West Bank. There is next to no chance that a Palestinian state without contiguous borders would ever be viable.

Here are the general solutions offered by the major political forces in Israel:

1.      The Extreme Left Wing – Annex everything and give citizenship rights to everyone. Forget about a Jewish majority. Arabs are awesome.

2.      The Left Wing – Give the Arabs their own State so you won’t have to give them voting rights, thereby maintaining the Jewish majority.

3.      The Center – Don’t do anything. Just keep staying in power and hope nobody notices.

4.      The Right Wing – Annex everything, give human rights but no citizenship rights to any of the Arabs, and instead pay them to leave, thereby maintaining the Jewish majority.

5.      The Extreme Right Wing – Annex everything and kick all the Arabs out of the country. Jews are awesome.

Zero Palestine Solution

Thus enter the "One State Solution", which in many ways Israel and the Occupied Territories already are, in a de facto sense. On one hand this is an argument used by both religious fundamentalists who advocate either an Islamic state in Palestine, such as Hamas, or the total ethnic cleansing of Arabs from a Greater Israel, potentially from the Biblical "from the brook of the Nile to the Euphrates", as expressed by the Revisionist Zionists. The alternative however is the "One State Solution" of equal and advanced rights (e.g., the Isratin option , the historic Brit Shalom), which is in the direction of a "Zero State Solution". At least on this level there are those who argue that the number of States is of less significance than the political rights of those who have to live in them, a consideration that rulers often forget. Whilst in both contemporary Israel an Palestine it is not the first preference choice, it is gaining support and is increasingly the most viable - ex factis jus oritur.

In a "Zero-State" solution, governance would be secular and democratic. There would be no special benefits on the basis of nationalities, real or imagined, or religious affiliation that were separate from the rights of all citizens. Of course the region would remain a Jewish homeland just as other regions and cultures have their homeland too; but that is quite distinct from a Jewish (or Islamic, or other) state. Organizations like the Israel Land Administration would retain their role in holding natural resources as a public good, but without the horrendous prohibitions on leasing rights that currently exist (this is a particularly clear example of the difference between "the governance of people" and "the administration of things"). Finally, in a "zero-state solution", there are no standing armies only reserve militia and emergency services; the purpose is local defense and civil order, not invasive war. The path to peace will never exist without the abolition of the means to war.

In the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, a 'zero-state solution', based on a proposal by the Ariel Center for Policy Research(ACPR), assumes that there is no unique Palestinian identity and that the Palestinians in the West Bank should get "restoration of Jordanian citizenship" while Egypt should have responsibility for the Gaza Strip. Israel thus has no reason to agree to assimilate them or provide them with a state, since they were part of those countries until their territory was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. This proposal is very similar to the three-state solution advocated by some commentators. The approach generally assumes that Israel will expand to fill the territories occupied in 1967. Specific proposals differ as whether the present Palestinians can remain where they are, as non-citizens of Israel, or are expected to return to the territory of their national identity.

The proposal by ACPR, the "Framework Proposal for a National Strategy Regarding Judea and Samaria and the Issue of Eretz Israel Arabs", describes an objective of "Consolidating a political proposal with the intention of halting Israel's defeatist campaign that is manifest in its most extreme form in the conduct of the Olmert Government". It assumes that there is no unique Palestinian identity and that the Palestinians in the West Bank should get "restoration of Jordanian citizenship" while Egypt should have responsibility for the Gaza Strip. The proposal is as follows:

·         Extending Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank

·         "Jordan is Palestine" and restoration of Jordanian citizenship to the Arabs in Judea and Samaria

·         Municipal autonomy for the Arabs of Judea and Samaria (on the basis of the Camp David Accords) accompanied by a total disarmament of the autonomous areas

·         The areas of Arab settlements located on private property (the Mosaic Program by Dr. Yuval Arnon Ohanna)

·         Military liquidation of the military infrastructure in Gaza and according responsibility for the area to Egypt

·         Israeli Arabs: Equal rights in exchange for equal obligations

Update: Dec.,24,2018

It's been more than a year now that the Trump administration has been talking about the "deal of the century" to bring some form of settlement to the Palestinian question in the Middle East.

Bits and pieces of the deal have been leaking: the siege on Gaza is to be lifted, its residents provided with humanitarian aid, while East Jerusalem and West Bank settlements are to be recognised as Israeli territory; Palestinian refugees will have to give up their right of return.

President Donald Trump and his Middle East team, led by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, seem to have secured an implicit backing of the deal by strategic players in the Arab world such, such as Saudi Arabia. Recent diplomatic initiatives by Israel in Gulf states have borne fruit and it is increasingly clear that they have set out on a course towards normalisation of relations.

Thus, the Trump administration is likely to press forward with the deal sometime in the first half of 2019. And on the eve of this certain disaster for Palestinians, the Palestinian political leadership stands disunited.

Relations between Fatah and Hamas -   are at an historic low and seem to be getting worse.It has been 12 years since the two parties clashed in Gaza in the aftermath of the legislative elections, effectively creating two axes of political power in the Palestinian territories. And it's been 11 years since Arab states started trying to broker a reconciliation between the two. Every time - in Mecca (2007), Sanaa (2008), Cairo (2011), Doha (2012), and Gaza (2014) - an agreement was signed but never implemented.

There was hope that the last Israeli assault on Gaza in November this year would bring the two sides together and would enable them to get over partisan and personal interests. Therefore, Egypt, which is currently leading another attempt at reconciliation, called on the leadership of both movements to come together for new talks and invited delegations from both sides.But its efforts ended in failure after Fatah and Hamas exchanged hostile statements, accusing each other of wrongdoing.

Fatah declared it would not reconcile and participate in a unity government with Hamas until the latter rolls back the "coup" it carried out in 2007. It also signalled that it would look into imposing additional sanctions on the Gaza Strip, adding to the ones that have been in effect since 2017, to press Hamas to give up power. The Hamas leadership responded that its government is legitimate, as it won the 2006 elections, and accused Fatah of playing "politics of arrogance" and trying to undermine its power in Gaza. Thus, Egypt's reconciliation efforts ended yet again in a regrettable failure, and no new initiative is expected to be launched in the foreseeable future.

One of the main points of contention currently between Fatah and Hamas is the ongoing negotiations over a truce between the latter and Israel. A number of local, regional and international bodies have been trying for some time to bring about an agreement between Hamas and the Israeli government for a more permanent ceasefire and some form of lifting of the debilitating siege imposed on Gaza for the past 11 years.

Fatah - and by extension the Palestinian Authority (PA) it controls - sees this arrangement as highly problematic because it deals with the Gaza Strip as a separate geographical entity from the West Bank. And given that the mass expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank over the past few decades has made a declaration of a Palestinian state in its area impossible, Fatah and the PA leadership fear Gaza could be given that status.

This would effectively mean the complete sidelining of the party and its leadership (given that the Strip is under Hamas' control politically and militarily) and the relegation of the PA to an administrative authority (and not a sovereign state structure), managing the affairs of the Palestinian population in the remaining pockets of territory outside Israeli settlements.

To preclude such a development, Fatah has demanded that a unity government is formed, whereby Hamas relinquishes control over the government, economy and security in Gaza and the model of governance currently in place in the West Bank is transferred to the Strip. Hamas has outright rejected these demands because they effectively mean that Gaza would slip out of its grip.

The group insists that it should participate in the unity government as an equal partner, along with other Palestinian factions, and rejects the extension of the PA's security policies and model (especially cooperation with the Israeli security apparatus) into the Gaza Strip. It has also made it clear that it will resist any pressure from the PA to disarm its military wing.

The persistent squabbling and disunity between Fatah and Hamas are detrimental to the Palestinian cause and are resulting in increasing disillusionment among the general Palestinian population. Although both factions claim to have the legitimate right to power, political legitimacy is difficult to gauge in Gaza and the West Bank, given that there haven't been legislative elections since 2006 and PA President Mahmoud Abbas has not faced a vote after his term expired in 2009.

As Fatah and Hamas trade accusations of aiding the deal of the century, their political disunity is what would ultimately allow for its implementation. Hostility between the two factions would facilitate the political separation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, in which Egypt is likely to take over economic and security supervision of the former, while Jordan will have some form of authority over the latter.

This would not only preclude the declaration of a viable Palestinian state that satisfies Palestinian aspirations and solidify Israel's denial of the Palestinian right to return but would also deal a major blow to the popularity and legitimacy of both Fatah and Hamas. At this time, it is clear that it is in their best interest and that of the Palestinian people that they overcome their disagreements and stand united.

Update: Jan., 7, 2019:

US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Sunday visited the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and the adjacent Western Wall tunnels, raising the ire of a senior Palestinian official. The Western Wall — the holiest place where Jews can pray — is located in Jerusalem’s Old City, which the international community does not recognize as sovereign Israeli territory. Therefore, foreign dignitaries very rarely agree to be accompanied by Israeli officials when they visit the site. In May 2017, six months before recognizing the city as Israel’s capital, Donald Trump became the first sitting US president to visit the Western Wall.   

Update: Mar., 8, 2019:

Just a week after attending what was largely seen as "anti-Iran" conference in Warsaw earlier this month, Jared Kushner, senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, embarked on a special diplomatic trip across the Middle East to promote and fundraise for his peace plan to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Unsurprisingly, on his tour of the region, he brought along US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook. The Warsaw meeting and Kushner's Middle East trip reflect what seems to be a key foreign policy pillar of the Trump administration which links the much-awaited "deal of the century" to the formation of an Arab-Israeli anti-Iran alliance. The expectations of the White House are that the Arabs would sign off on Kushner's deal, normalise relations with the Israelis and work with them to deter Iran. That is why, while many observers saw the Warsaw conference as a failure, since it did not convince European allies to fully back US anti-Iranian regime policies, the Trump administration saw it as a success, having brought together Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives of several Arab countries on the same table.

Trump has also reversed the long-standing US policy on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. His administration is now pushing to break a basic Arab policy principle, which ties normalisation with Israel to a fair Israeli-Palestinian deal that recognises a viable Palestinian state, provides for Israel's withdrawal to 1967 borders and settles the status of Jerusalem. US Arab allies want a deal that meets these basic requirements; anything short of that would be difficult to sell at home. Arab leaders remain uncomfortable with official normalisation with Israel given that the Arab public remains sensitive to the idea of them cosying up to Israel. Popular unrest can easily erupt across the Arab world if Arab leaders endorse a Palestinian-Israeli deal perceived as flawed. However, the core challenge to Arab-Israeli normalisation and anti-Iran coalition-building remains the Palestinian question.

Jared Kushner has put together a peace deal which might be unveiled in April after the Israeli general elections. The so-called "deal of the century" is arguably the first attempt at resolving the conflict in which the Palestinian side was not informed or consulted.

What is interesting about this plan is its approach to Palestinian politics. After Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, the Bush administration's policy was to punish the strip by blocking all aid while simultaneously assisting the Palestinian Authority to showcase a model of how the West Bank can prosper when it abides by international norms and accepts negotiations with Israel. Trump is reversing this approach by punishing the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank for refusing to accept the "deal of the century" after he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Simultaneously, the White House is enticing Hamas with funding for major economic projects in Gaza, which like the approach of the Bush administration, encourages Palestinian divisions instead of strengthening Palestinian unity.

Although the full provisions of the deal have not been yet disclosed, the details already known to the public indicate that it will not uphold the best interests of the Palestinians. In an interview for Emirati channel Sky News Arabia broadcast on February 25, Kushner stated: "if you can eliminate the border and have peace and less fear of terror, you could have freer flow of goods, freer flow of people and that would create a lot of opportunities." What his cryptic declaration means is that the weaker Palestinian economy will become further integrated into the Israeli one, making Palestinians even more dependent on the Israeli state, which will retain full control over security and hence its ability to repress Palestinian political dissent. Thus, Trump is linking the Arab-Israeli normalisation and deterrence of Iran to a Palestinian-Israeli deal on terms, which would institutionalise Israeli control over the Palestinian territories and have disastrous consequences for Palestinians.

Having the Palestinians pay for the Arab-Israeli alliance will likely spell trouble for Arab leaders down the road. It might undermine the deterrence of Tehran by boosting the popularity of the Iranian regime in the region and further delegitimize already weakened Arab regimes.

In this sense, the Trump administration's strategy of linking a flawed Israeli-Palestinian deal to an Arab-Israeli alliance to deter Iran might undermine these two US objectives in the Middle East and might even backfire against US allies and interests in the region.

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Maiming of Palestinians ; Mar.,31,2019: Earlier this year, the UN Human Rights Council's Commission of Inquiry released their report stating that during the Great March of Return, which commenced on March 30, 2018, Israeli snipers intentionally fired on civilians who presented no danger to them - they shot protesters, medics, journalists, disabled people, and even children. The February 2019 Situation Report from the World Health Organization (WHO) states that 266 Gazans have been killed since the beginning of the march. But civilian deaths are only part of the story. The report also highlights the fact that in just under one year, 29,130 people - more than 0.01 percent of the population of the Gaza Strip  have been injured. Of those, 6,557 sustained live ammunition gunshot wounds and in 89 percent (5,183) of these cases, the lower limbs were affected.During the protests, sniper bullets that are designed to kill a target at a distance of more than a kilometre were fired on protesters from just a couple of hundred metres, causing devastating injuries. Patients with such injuries usually require five to nine surgeries before their wounds could heal and their treatment takes a minimum of two years to complete. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health's Limb Salvage Unit, there are between 800 and 1,200 young Palestinian men currently awaiting reconstructive surgery in Gaza  At the MSF meeting, Palestinian surgeons from Gaza's largest hospital Shifa described how the majority of those injured by Israeli snipers were shot in the lower thigh/back of knee where a single bullet can damage nerves, arteries and the knee joint all at once. The prevalence of such hard to treat injuries, reminiscent of the ones sustained by Northern Ireland's "kneecapping" victims during the Troubles, demonstrates how Israeli snipers shoot not only to temporarily immobilize their targets, but also to inflict long-term damage.  Approximately 30 percent of such gunshot wounds lead to bacterial bone infections, further complicating an already grueling treatment process. In the age of multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDR), treating these infections is both difficult and costly. According to the WHO, 124 amputations have taken place in Gaza in the last year as a result of injuries sustained during the Great March of Return. This number is likely to increase in the coming days, as infected gunshot wounds can deteriorate quickly and render limbs unsalvageable, despite the best efforts of medical professionals   This policy of intentionally maiming protesters and creating an epidemic of disability serves several purposes for Israeli settler colonialism. First, it puts enormous strain on the already crumbling Palestinian healthcare infrastructure. On May 14, 2018, for example, during the protests against the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, Israeli forces wounded so many Palestinians (more than 1,300) within 10 hours that the healthcare system was completely overwhelmed and hospitals in Gaza ran out of beds, forcing doctors to issue early discharges. Second, it burdens already struggling Palestinian families, who not only lose a breadwinner, when one of their members is maimed, but also have to provide care for him or her and find additional funds to cover medical costs. Third, maiming attempts to smother the spirit of resistance of protesting Palestinians while avoiding international criticism for mass killing. By creating a humanitarian catastrophe, Israel is able to reframe the global debate around the rights of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip from that of national liberation and anti-apartheid struggle to one of the medical needs of an afflicted population. The need to provide for a large number of disabled people further entrenches modes of dependency on aid. The past year has been a testament to the unbridled bravery of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The international community has, unfortunately, yet again, failed them - further emboldening Israel's sense of impunity that fuels its crimes. Despite this failure, the determination of the Palestinians in Gaza to end a medieval blockade that has lasted for over 12 years - robbing a whole generation of its potential - spurred by their belief that they deserve a better and more dignified life, will go down in the annals of history as testimony to the human spirit. 

Israeli Elections: Apr., 12, 2019:

First, the way the campaign was conducted: Israel’s long-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is desperate to cling to power to avoid punishment for impending indictments on multiple counts, undertook a campaign that crossed multiple red lines that have alienated even his traditional supporters in the United States like AIPAC. Netanyahu not only built an alliance between his Likud party with a coalition that includes the ultra-racist Otzma Yehudit party, which draws inspiration from terrorist groups, but declared the coalition Likud’s single closest ally, forging a vote-sharing agreement with them to share surplus votes. Although Otzma Yehudit won’t actually end up with a seat in the Knesset—unless a couple of members of its alliance resign from the Knesset—their ultra-right-wing coalition bedfellows in Tkuma and the Jewish Home Party will likely form a core part of Netanyahu’s government.

Second, as if that weren’t bad enough, Netanyahu also effectively declared an end to the two-state paradigm that has undergirded the U.S.-supported Oslo peace process for the past quarter of a century by declaring: “All the settlements, without exception, those that are in blocs and those that aren’t, need to remain under Israeli sovereignty.” Although it may just be campaign sloganeering, we all need to be clear that Israeli sovereignty over all the Israeli settlements would make it impossible to create a Palestinian state.

Third, even if Netanyahu is not able to form a coalition government in Israel, none of his main opponents have said they would reverse the ever-expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are a growing threat to the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Even without annexation this year, the growth of settlements makes annexation all the more likely. Since the Oslo Accords were signed on the White House lawn in 1993, the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank alone has more than tripled, from 116,000 to over 413,000 in 2017. Further, as Secretary of State John Kerry stated at the end of his tenure, this included “100,000 just since 2009 when President Obama’s term began.” Kerry added: “Nearly 90,000 settlers are living east of the separation barrier that was created by Israel itself. In the middle of what, by any reasonable definition, would be the future Palestinian state? And the population of these distant settlements has grown by 20,000 just since 2009.” In other words, the difficulty of separation—and the likelihood of annexation—is growing stronger day by day.

Indeed, undergirding the right-wing rhetoric in the election campaign was the fact that the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank is now reaching a tipping point whereby it may be too painful to evacuate them to make room for a Palestinian state. And when Israelis and Palestinians come to terms with the fact that as Netanyahu says “no settler [will be] uprooted,” the prospects for a Palestinian state will have collapsed. That will mean that Jews and Palestinians will be living in adjacent communities in the West Bank controlled by Israel where Jews have the right to vote in Israeli elections and Palestinians do not.

And whatever word one wants to use to describe this situation, it is entirely intolerable in the 21st century. Americans should all agree that it is also totally inconsistent with American values. This is not some far-off scenario. We are indeed on the precipice of a moment where, as the two-state solution collapses, Palestinians in the West Bank will need to be extended citizenship and the right to vote in Israel—complete with automatic registration, the day off, and inter-city transportation! And as Americans, who have learned to live together in an albeit imperfect melting point, who are we to object? As longtime peacemaker Dennis Ross just wrote, ultimately Americans won’t object.

There are still a few brief moments to prevent what increasingly seems like an inevitable outcome. And that’s where America has a role to play. If we had the vision and the courage, we could today boldly declare: a commitment to two states based on the 1967 lines with lands of equal size swapped; that Jerusalem will be a shared city; that Israeli settlements in the West Bank can no longer be expanded; and that Israeli settlers on the Palestinian side of the barrier will soon need to be evacuated to make room for the Palestinian state.

But of course President Trump won’t do that—indeed; he’s already said that the Israeli election results mean a “better chance for peace.” He’s moving in the opposite direction. He has recognized the Israeli attachment to Jerusalem without also recognizing the Palestinian attachment. He has closed the Palestinian office in Washington and the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem that once engaged them. And he has recognized the Israeli annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, sending the signal—to Israelis and Palestinians—that the United States could very well recognize Israeli annexation of parts or even all of the West Bank.

That’s where we come back not only to the Israeli elections but elections in America as well. If Netanyahu forms a government and annexes even parts of the West Bank, the only thing that will be able to bring two-state solution back from the dead is the election of a new American president in 2020. This president would need to firmly state and prioritize the swift implementation of a two-state solution, where the state of Israel and a newly created state of Palestine live side-by-side in peace and security, prosperity and dignity. But even if all or part of the West Bank is not imminently annexed, time is not the friend of those who dream of a two-state solution. Instead, time is the enemy, an enemy that can only be countered by a bold new approach that tenaciously and tangibly works for the on-the-ground and swift implementation of two states. Some Democrats—candidates for the presidency and not—seem to have at least in part gotten the message. Let’s just hope that the 2020 U.S. elections are not too late to bring the two-state solution back to life.

Saudi Money to Abbas: : May.,2, 2019 : Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas $10bn to accept a controversial US-backed peace plan, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar has reported. Abbas rejected the offer, saying supporting US President Donald Trump's "deal of the century" would be "the end of his political life", the paper reported on Tuesday, citing leaked diplomatic reports based on conversations between the two leaders. One of the Saudi offers, according to the Jordanian's report, was to exchange Palestinian recognition of Trump's deal for $10bn to assist West Bank authorities and refugee resettlement, along with “unlimited financial and political support”. "One billion US dollars," Abbas replied, to which MBS was said to have responded:“ I will give you $10bn over ten years if you accept the deal.”  The crown prince reportedly added that Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab countries, had been asked by the Americans to provide the Palestinians with financial support to launch projects in the West Bank that would lead to economic prosperity. The projects would also, he said, see the expansion of the West Bank's Area B, where the PA and Israel hold administrative and military control, and Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the territory, and is exclusively under Israeli military authority. “Saudi Arabia will support the PA with more than four billion in principle,” the envoy wrote, citing conversations between Abbas and MBS. Shawabkeh mentioned in his report that Abbas told Bin Salman that he could not accept any concessions with regards to settlements, the two-state solution and Jerusalem. Abbas, however, believed that the Americans would not provide any written proposals, but would adopt a “Balfour-style tactic”. According to the Jordanian envoy, Abbas said that the PA would dismantle itself if it became subject to any pressure from any side, and would “hold Israel responsible for managing the affairs of occupied territories  Palestinian leaders have vehemently denounced key points of the plan that have been leaked. They include recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, offering the East Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis as the capital of a future Palestinian state, taking refugees' right of return off the table, and drastically cutting the number of registered refugees. Saeb Erekat, the veteran Palestinian negotiator, told MEE in June that the deal of the century was not a deal and was already being implemented on the ground."If there's any plan, this is being implemented on the ground: with moving the US embassy to occupied Jerusalem, withdrawing support for the two-state solution, cutting funds to UNRWA and, eventually, trying to normalize the Israeli apartheid in Palestine," Erekat said.

Control over Jerusalem: May, 12, 2019: 

Recent foreign policy decisions by the United States have opened yet another chapter in the long history of the competition for the guardianship over Islam's holiest places. After the US recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved its embassy there, the question of who gets to control the holy sites in the city (the third holiest in Islam after Mecca and Medina) has come to the fore.

Currently, King Abdullah II of Jordan is the custodian of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem, but there are growing speculations that the "deal of the century", which the Trump administration has promised would offer a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, might usher in the transfer of guardianship to the House of Saud. In March, King Abdullah hinted at the ongoing tensions between Amman and Riyadh over the issue by saying that he had been put under pressure to change his position on occupied Jerusalem. Then in April, King Mohammed VI of Morocco also stepped into the fray by announcing a grant of an undisclosed amount to be made available for the restoration of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its compound - a first of its kind for the past many years. Turkey is also seemingly vying for influence in Jerusalem. All four have historical claims to leadership in the Muslim world and all four seem intent on playing a major role in the future of the holy city.

It is not the first time that the House of Saud and the House of Hashim have clashed over Islam's holy sites. King Abdullah's ancestors, the Hashemites, who are considered to be descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, ruled Mecca for centuries before they were deposed by the Saudis. In the 1920s, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the father of Saudi King Salman, challenged the rule of Sharif Hussein bin Ali, the great-great-grandfather of King Abdullah in Mecca and the whole of the Hijaz region (the westernmost part of modern Saudi Arabia), eventually defeating his forces and expelling the Hashemites from the holy city.

Two of Sharif Hussein's sons established monarchies in Iraq and Transjordan with the help of Britain, but only the latter has survived to this day. The Jordanian monarchy acquired the custodianship over Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem in 1924 after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled over Palestine for centuries.

Both the Hashemites and the Saudis also share historical animosity against the Ottomans. In 1517, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I took control of Mecca and Medina and solidified the Ottoman claim to the caliphate; the Hashemites were forced to pay him allegiance. Four centuries later, Sharif Hussein of Mecca led the Arab rebellion against the Ottomans, aided by the British Empire. The Saudis, too, clashed with Ottoman forces throughout the 19th century and early 20th century, as they tried to expand territories under their control. Although the caliphate was dissolved and the Ottoman Empire transformed into a secular republic in 1924, in recent years the Turkish government has sought to regain a leadership position within the Muslim world.

Despite the fact that the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty was a distant observer to this struggle between the Ottomans, the Saudis and the Hashemites over Islam's holiest sites, it, nevertheless, managed to develop and maintain a special relationship with Jerusalem, as well. The ancestors of King Mohammed VI who, like the Hashemites, traced their lineage to the Prophet Muhammad, supported the holy sites in the city and its inhabitants for centuries.

Eventually, a Moroccan Quarter emerged in Jerusalem which hosted many Muslims from the Maghreb. When the Israeli government destroyed it after the 1967 war, many of its inhabitants were re-settled by King Hassan II (King Mohammed's grandfather) in Morocco. The historic role Rabat has played in supporting the holy city was recognised in 1975, when a summit of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) chose the Moroccan king to head the newly established Jerusalem Committee, which was tasked with addressing various challenges the city faced under Israeli occupation.

Today, some of these old rivalries and claims to historical legitimacy have resurfaced, although the geopolitical situation has changed significantly since the early 20th century. Thanks to its massive oil revenue, Saudi Arabia has emerged as one of the most powerful countries in the Arab world.

In the late 1960s, Riyadh intensified its "chequebook diplomacy", supporting financially former foes like Egypt and Jordan to help them recover from the defeat in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In recent years, Saudi funds have helped both Cairo and Amman stabilise their struggling economies amid political upheaval. While Jordan has been hard-pressed to accept the financial assistance, it has watched with ever-increasing anxiety Saudi efforts to gain more influence in Jerusalem over the past few years.

In December 2017, less than two weeks after the US officially recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the House of Saud made clear its intention to challenge Hashemite custodianship during a meeting of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, a body bringing together members of parliament from Arab countries. At the event, the Saudi delegation snubbed their Jordanian counterparts by objecting to the mention of Jordan's historical role vis-a-vis the holy city in draft documents.

A few months later, Saudi Arabia announced a grant of $150m to support the administration of Jerusalem's Islamic properties. Meanwhile, the Saudi crown prince has sought to intensify Saudi-Israeli rapprochement and has seemingly supported the US "deal of the century".

Jordan now fears that the Trump administration, with Israel's approval and Saudi Arabia's encouragement, may propose to establish an administration under Saudi supervision over Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, which would not only diminish the Palestinian Authority is playing in Jerusalemite affairs, but also effectively cancel Jordanian custodianship.

In response, Jordan has sprung into action, getting more involved in Jerusalem issues and seeking regional support. In February, it announced a new Islamic Endowment Council made up of important Palestinian figures (including some who participated in the mass protests against the metal detectors Israel installed at Al-Aqsa Mosque in 2017) and tasked with tackling some of the most pressing issues occupied Jerusalem is facing.

In March, King Abdullah travelled to Morocco and met King Mohammed VI, seeking his political backing. The Moroccan king obliged and affirmed officially that defending Jerusalem was a "top priority" for his country. A month later, he made the announcement about the special grant to help with restoration work on Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On the Jerusalem issue, Jordan has also sought support from another important regional player: Turkey. In February, King Abdullah visited the country to discuss the Palestinian issue, among other issues. Previously, the Jordanian king attended both meetings of the OIC Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called in order to discuss the status of Jerusalem and worrying developments in Palestine, despite reportedly being pressured by Saudi Arabia not to do so.

Turkey itself has been vying for a leadership position within the Islamic world for years now and Palestine has been a special focal point of these efforts. Turkish charities have become increasingly active in Gaza and the West Bank, as have various Islamic organisations with sizeable budgets. Ankara has encouraged religious tourism to Jerusalem and has funded various humanitarian initiatives, including the construction of a dormitory for Al-Quds University students, the provision of meals for Ramadan, the renovation of historical sites and houses, etc. It also gave Palestinians access to Ottoman archives which documented land ownership, which could help in the struggle against Israeli land expropriation.

All these efforts and Turkey's rising popularity in Palestine are worrying Saudi Arabia, especially because the two countries are now part of two opposing axes in the Middle East. This rift was solidified further in 2017 when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar.

Ultimately, what happens next in the scramble for Jerusalem will be very much determined by the provisions of the "deal of the century", expected to be revealed next month. Whatever the US proposals are for the administration of the holy sites of Jerusalem, it would certainly fuel further the growing divisions between Arab countries, which just a decade ago were in full agreement on the status of Jerusalem and the prerequisites for peace with Israel.

US Palestine Solution: May, 15, 2019:

The United States would announce new proposals or a blueprint next month for resolving the long-standing dispute over Palestinian statehood. In part the move is designed to build up support for President Trump as a leader who can take difficult decisions and ones which reflect the aspirations of the predominant white majority of the population. The stage is set for the new Palestine initiative. In 2017, Mr Trump announced the US government’s approval for recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. Last year, that is, in 2018 the US embassy was relocated to Jerusalem.

Following up on this unprecedented decision that sparked widespread protests in the Arab Middle East, the President went on to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Obviously the president was acting in the belief that a war-shattered Syrian regime is in no position to galvanise support of the Arab nations against the US move, reeling from the destructive consequences of war that has disfigured the region. The move to accept Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan heights was also meant to help Netanyahu win another term as the Zionist state’s undisputed ruler.

Netanyahu had promised during his election campaign that he would annex the Jewish settlements in the West Bank if he wins. If that happens the chances of any peace would further recede. Not only that, the noose is being tightened around the Palestinian Authority (PA). The US has cut delivery of financial aid to the Palestinian Authority since last year. The move is calculated to bring pressure to bear upon the PA to begin to show flexibility and abandon its stance of defiance on the yet to be announced US proposals.

The pressure on the Palestinian Authority is not coming only from the US. Israel has also started squeezing the Palestinian government by withholding tax revenues. Under an agreed formula, Israel collects taxes on goods imported for the West Bank and Gaza strip. Such collections are then released to the PA for running its lopsided administration.

Israel has now decided to deduct five per cent from the tax revenues that it would release to the Palestinian Authority claiming that this sum is being dished out by the Palestinian government to the families of those who were in Israeli jails and have committed crimes against Israel and its citizens. Mahmud Abbas has refused to accept the partial tax remittances from Israel. Abbas claims the PA is entitled to all the money under interim peace deals.

The PA is in dire straits .The World Bank estimates the Palestinian financing gap could exceed one billion dollars in 2019. That would further strain an economy that has registered 52 per cent unemployment. The Palestinian Authority’s main source of legitimacy is its capacity to provide employment to a large number of desperate and impoverished citizens. But if the PA is weakened as planned, the security situation would considerably worsen in the West Bank and Gaza strip.

Israel knows but does not acknowledge that peace in Palestine has been achieved largely because of the cooperation that Israeli security forces have received from their Palestinian counterparts. For the last many years there has been no significant act of terrorism within Israel because of the cooperation that has existed between the two security forces. If this were to change, the awful consequences of an escalating cycle of violence could well be imagined.

President Trump believes economic sanctions which affect lives would force the Palestinians to seek a compromise on terms the Israelis would offer. That is not likely to happen. To add to the woes of Palestinians, Trump’s adviser and son in law Jared Kushner, who has close family ties with Benjamin Netanyahu, is in charge of the new Palestine policy. President Mahmud Abbas has refused to deal at a political level with the US administration since the US president recognised Jerusalem as Israeli capital in 2017.

The ‘two-state solution’ that has been touted as the best insurance for durable peace, does not seem to have been included in the proposals that Jared Kushner and his team are going to present to the world in just a few weeks from now. In an interview recently he confessed there would be no mention of ‘two states’ in the new framework he is going to unfold. It is surprising how a US government can repudiate with impunity all that the previous administrations had adopted as the red lines that are not to be crossed.

For all their support to Israel, no previous administration had either dared to recognise Jerusalem as Israeli capital, or accepted Tel Aviv’s occupation of Golan Heights or acquiesced in Israel’s expansionist policy to go on creating more settlements in order to bury deep the concept of a Palestinian state.

Ongoing hostilities: May, 18, 2019: Ever since the unilateral disengagement from Gaza in the summer of 2005, Israel has engaged in “bargaining by the threat of violence” with Hamas. Within that framework, the IDF has conducted three large-scale operations in Gaza in addition to smaller rounds of hostilities. With no possibility in the offing of either serious political negotiations or a decisive war, the only alternative is to continue the “diplomacy of violence.”. Israel along with US actions (shifting of embassy, acceptance of Golan Heights annexation by Israel, cutting off funds for Palestine) are all designed to soften the Palestinians to accept the forthcoming US Palestine solution. The Arab monarchies have mostly already approved the plan that has been prepared by Trump and his team. Apart from Turkey there seems to be few who still support the hapless Palestinians .

US Palestine solution: May.20, 2019: The US  will co-host an economic "workshop" with Bahrain to encourage investment in the occupied Palestinian territories "that could be made possible by a peace agreement", the White House said on Sunday. "Peace to Prosperity will facilitate discussions on an ambitious, achievable vision and framework for a prosperous future for the Palestinian people and the region," said the statement. 

The June 25-26 conference in Manama is expected to bring together government, business and civil leaders to gather support for potential economic investments and initiatives that could be possible with a peace agreement, the statement said  

Trump's Middle East team, led by his son-in-law Jared Kushner and regional envoy Jason Greenblatt, appear to  initially focus on the potential economic benefits of the plan, despite deep scepticism among experts that they can succeed where decades of US-backed efforts have failed. Kushner has declined to say whether the plan will include a two-state solution, a key goal of other peace efforts.

"Economic progress can only be achieved with a solid economic vision and if the core political issues are resolved," said Kushner in a statement on Sunday. "We look forward to presenting our vision on ways to bridge the core political issues very soon." He added: "The Palestinian people, along with all people in the Middle East, deserve a future with dignity and the opportunity to better their lives."  

She said that Kuchner is expected to invite treasury secretaries and finance ministers from all over the world to the June event. "They say they want to focus on four areas, one is infrastructure, other industry, empowering and investing in people and reforming the government for the Palestinian people “This is an administration that has taken hundreds of millions of dollars away from the Palestinians in the form of aid to the Palestinians and to the United Nations. So their request that other countries replace that money, well it remains to be seen how well that's going to be received."

US officials had said earlier the peace plan would be rolled out after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in early June. However, the announcement of the investors workshop appears to set the stage for a sequenced release of the plan, starting with the economic plan in late June, and later, at some time not yet clear, the political proposals.

This begs a question, if the economics of Palestine in now a concern, why did the US freeze aid to PA , secondly why has Israel been allowed to  deduct and decrease Palestinian  money which Israel received . This seems to be a rue, to soften the blow which will come later. The announcement did not mention a tow State Solution at all.

US Palestine Investment Conference: May, 21, 2019: 
The Palestinian leadership has not been consulted about a US-led conference in Bahrain next month in support of Washington's Middle East peace plan, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said. White House said the gathering in Bahrain's capital, Manama, will give government, civil and business leaders a chance to rally support for economic initiatives that could be possible with a peace agreement. But Palestinian officials said the June 25-26 meeting would not address the core political issues of the conflict: final borders, the status of Jerusalem, or the fate of Palestinian refugees.   Social Development Minister Ahmed Majdalani, meanwhile, said Palestinian officials would not attend the June meeting.  

The Palestinians, who severed ties with the United States more than a year ago, have repeatedly expressed fears that the White House would try to buy them off with large sums of investment in exchange for freezing their demands for an independent state. They have also expressed concerns that Washington is trying to rally support from other Arab countries to pressure them into accepting a plan they see as unacceptable.

The eventual peace plan is expected to feature proposals for regional economic development that would include Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.  Amid the controversy, Shtayyeh reiterated Palestinians' core demands for a two-state peace deal with Israel, which include gaining full control of the occupied West Bank and Hamas-ruled Gaza, as well as occupied East Jerusalem - territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war.

Israel claims Jerusalem as its indivisible capital and has said it might declare sovereignty in its West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law. The Trump administration has said its still-secret peace plan would require compromise by both sides. Since Trump came to office, the US has cut back on providing aid for the Palestinians, contributing to economic hardship in the West Bank and Gaza. "The financial crisis the Palestinian Authority is living through today is a result of the financial war that is being launched against us in order to win political concessions," Shtayyeh said on Monday.

"The fact that there are no discussions of Palestinian sovereignty, land claim, borders are making many people say 'what's the point'?," Halkett said. Hanan Ashrawi, a longtime aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, slammed the planned Bahrain meeting, saying it was not "a peace plan". "This is just an economic workshop ... [and] another way of rewarding Israel again and maintaining Israel's control of our land and resources," Ashrawi told Al Jazeera.     

"The plan for this kind of gathering in the Trumpian world is for the US to dictate what it feels is in the interest of the US and the Netanyahu wing of the Israeli government," Khouri told Al Jazeera, citing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."It's really important to see the reaction of other major countries … the US probably can count on some of the Arab Gulf countries because they are so dependent on it for security, arms and money, but we need to look at the Europeans, the Russians, the Chinese and others who may be invited to this [conference]," he added. "The reaction of the world is going to be really critical now."

Jordan being pressurized: May, 23, 2019: In March of this year, King Abdullah of Jordan met the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington.  King Abdullah is said to have expressed his deep frustration about being kept almost completely in the dark about the "ultimate deal" that is supposed to secure peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Jared Kushner has emphasized the economic benefits of the proposed deal  and praised it as a "very good business plan". He has also sought not to address the question of Palestinian statehood since "[it] means one thing to Israelis, [and another] thing to the Palestinians, so we said, let's just not say it".

King Abdullah, whose country is home to nearly two million Palestinian refugees, has, it seems, been given no opportunity to contribute to or influence the Kushner deal. As a Jordanian official told the Axios news website: during the meeting, "His Majesty was asked about the plan and said he has not yet seen it and therefore cannot comment. He also believes that an economic plan without a political one is not sufficient." Jordan is being pushed towards accepting a disastrous deal that will give the Israelis virtually everything they want in exchange for a chunk of the economic aid that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are supposed to provide. The Palestinians and their regional supporters will be bought off with the promise of a bright economic future and, in the process; the issue of Palestinian statehood will be buried. Like the Palestinians - who will be presented with an ultimatum of take it or the bad gets worse for you - King Abdullah is being left with very little wriggle room.

The Jordanian economy is close to a breaking point. The public debt stands at 28.3 billion dinars ($39.9bn), nearly equal to the country's economic output, while unemployment is running at close to 20 percent. Last summer, as a series of protests roiled Jordan over plans to increase income tax, the Saudis led a bailout effort worth $2.5bn. With their backing, King Abdullah was able to reverse the planned increase and stabilize the situation temporarily. Of course, it is very much in the Saudis' interest not to see Jordan destabilized by protesters taking to the streets. The last thing they want to see is a hereditary monarch deposed. But the message is not lost on King Abdullah that Saudi Arabia has the whip hand.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is very close to Kushner, has already demonstrated that he can turn the aid tap off as quickly as he turned it on. In 2017, the Saudis, annoyed with King Abdullah's continued support for a Palestinian homeland and his failure to ban the Muslim Brotherhood and sever diplomatic ties with Qatar, abruptly decided not to renew a Gulf aid package. It was only when Abdullah went cap in hand to Riyadh last year that the tap was turned back on again. Another pressure point is Jordan's acute water crisis - one of the worst in the world. Ten of the country's 12 aquifers are massively depleted and the Jordan River and the Dead Sea are drying up.

The refugee influx from Syria has increased consumption and exacerbated the situation. Most of the one million Syrian refugees have been settled in camps and in poor rural areas in the north of the country where water scarcity is the severest. In the desperate search for potable water, deep illegal wells are being drilled which further depletes the aquifers. With global warming and the continuous rise in temperatures, water shortages are expected to get that much worse.

One solution – the Red Sea to Dead Sea project - envisions seawater from the Red Sea desalinated at the Jordanian port of Aqaba to create fresh water with the brine being pumped into the Dead Sea to slow its shrinkage. But the project comes with a hefty price tag of $1bn. The Israelis have offered to pay for it. Like the Saudis, they see the benefit of a stable Jordan. The offer, though, can always be withdrawn and although Kushner is being coy about details of his plan, it is hard not to see the desalination project as part of the economic package offered to Jordan.

The US president's son-in-law must believe he has caught King Abdullah in an economic pincer with the Israelis on one side and the Saudis on the other. He knows he needs to gain the king's backing and he seems to reckon that with that sort of pressure he will have it.

However, even those experts and diplomats who favor the Israeli side argue that the plan is bound to fail and could well lead to a huge uptick in violence. For King Abdullah, this is an impossible choice. The Palestinians in Jordan, both refugees and those who have citizenship, will expect and demand he take a robust stand against the deal. But denouncing it cuts him off from the financial lifeline the Saudis and the Israelis are offering to help manage the severe economic crisis.

At the same time, the king is facing pressure to surrender the custodianship of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, to Saudi Arabia. Such a move would destroy the remaining legitimacy that King Abdullah and the Hashemite dynasty he represents still have. 

Jordan: May ,30, 2019: Jordan's King Abdullah II has told US President Donald Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner that a lasting Middle East peace can only come with the creation of a Palestinian state on land captured by Israel in a 1967 war.  "His Majesty stressed the need for a comprehensive and lasting peace based on a two-state solution, leading to an independent Palestinian state on 4 June 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital," the palace statement said.

Jordan is worried the plan could jettison the two-state solution - the long-standing US and international formula that envisages an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza  

Palestinians see this as offering financial rewards for accepting ongoing Israeli occupation and already declared that they would not attend the event."Attempts at promoting an economic normalisation of the Israeli occupation of Palestine will be rejected," said Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Meanwhile, Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said on Wednesday that Washington's peace plan was doomed to fail and that the Palestinian resistance movement would respond firmly to those who proposed such deal. The Revolutionary Guard said in a statement carried by Tasnim news agency that the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was "withdrawal of Zionists from the occupied lands, and return of Palestinian refugees to hold free elections".

US backtracks: June, 4,2019: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is voicing skepticism about the prospects for the Trump administration's long-delayed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan even before it is disclosed. He said that “one might argue” that the plan, called the "deal of the century" by the administration of President Donald Trump, is “unexecutable” and might not “gain traction.”   The U.S. is planning to unveil an economic investment proposal for the Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories later this month at a conference in the Bahraini capital, Manama. But it does not plan to simultaneously offer a plan to resolve the more difficult political and territorial issues in the region. Palestinian leaders have rejected attending the Bahrain meeting and often derided the U.S., long an Israeli ally, as an honest peace broker in the region.

US Ambassador: June, 10, 2019: In an interview published by the New York Times on Saturday, Friedman said some degree of annexation of the West Bank would be legitimate."Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank," he said. Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said any such policy would be tantamount to "US complicity with Israeli colonial plans".The public comments made by administration officials so far suggest the plan will lean heavily on substantial financial support for the Palestinian economy, much of it funded by Gulf Arab states, in return for concessions on territory and statehood."The absolute last thing the world needs is a failed Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan," Friedman said in the NYT interview. "Maybe they won't take it, maybe it doesn't meet their minimums During campaigning for the first general election in April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to annex illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move long supported by nearly all legislators in his alliance of right-wing and religious parties. In February this year, Netanyahu told legislators he had been discussing with Washington a plan that would effectively annex illegal settlements. In a rare public show of disunity between the close allies, the White House then flatly denied any such discussion. Following persistent expansion of the settlements by successive Netanyahu governments, more than 600,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank, including annexed East Jerusalem, among some three million Palestinians. The international community regards the settlements as illegal and the biggest obstacle to peace.

Need for Palestinian Actions: June, 15,2019:   the   "deal of the century" is the most lethal of these attempts to deprive Palestinians of their basic rights to date. Drawn up over the past two years by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, Jason Greenblatt, his adviser, and David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, it heavily favors Israeli interests. All three men are fervent Zionists, lack experience in Middle East peacemaking, and know little about Palestinian history or culture. It is hard to envisage three more unsuitable people for such a task.   a stream of unauthenticated leaks in the Israeli press provide a rough idea of what might be some of its provisions. Briefly, the deal proposes the creation of a Palestinian semi-autonomous mini-state called "New Palestine", comprised of Areas A and B of the occupied West Bank, its capital to be somewhere within the expanded boundaries of municipal Jerusalem. It would be demilitarised, its borders under Israeli control, and linked to Gaza by a corridor. Israel would retain most of Area C and the whole Jordan Valley. Gaza would be expanded into northern Sinai on land leased from Egypt. Hamas would surrender its arms and come under Palestinian Authority control. The deal would be sweetened by an aid package of $30-40 billion over five years, the bulk to be provided by the Gulf States, with smaller contributions from the United States, the EU and others The Palestinian right of return would be cancelled. Palestinian refugees would receive compensation and be allowed more rights in the Arab states where they reside.  

  Preserving Israel as a Jewish state has been a Western imperative since 1948, and pressuring Israel into complying with anything it does not want to do has been a complete taboo. Today, this stance is stronger than ever, as the West moves to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, silencing all criticism of Israel.

Mounting popular support for the Palestine cause, like the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, is encouraging, but will take too long to become effective. Meanwhile, Israel's drive to annex most of the West Bank and build more settlements, and its campaign of slow Palestinian ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem and the other occupied territories will continue apace.

To counter this, what Palestinians need is a strategy that keeps them on their land, stops their cause from being further eroded by "peace" concessions, and can pave potentially the way for the return of the refugees. The only strategy that could conceivably achieve this is a campaign for Palestinian equal civil and political rights in the entirety of Israel-Palestine.

There is nothing unreasonable in this demand. Israel-Palestine is currently one state under Israeli rule. The population is divided into 6.6 million Israeli Jews with citizenship and rights, 1.8 Palestinians with citizenship and restricted rights and 4.7 million Palestinians without citizenship or rights. Demanding equality of rights in this unequal situation is natural and inevitable. Had the Palestinian Authority not existed to provide an illusion of independent rule, equal rights would have been demanded long ago.

The advantages of an equal rights system are many: equal legal status, equal government representation - with which refugee repatriation could become policy - equal access to education, employment and social services, and the myriad benefits that come with a normal civic life. As Israeli journalist Gideon Levy has pointed out, only a system of equal rights for everyone can qualify Israel to be a true democracy, with a Palestinian president and a Jewish prime minister or vice versa.

Attaining equal rights in Israel-Palestine should be an unexceptionable aim. Zionists and all those still wedded to the idea of two states would inevitably reject it. However, the biggest problem would be its implementation.

So, how can such a concept be accepted by Jewish Israelis, reared on a diet of supremacy and entitlement and conditioned to hate and fear Arabs? Or by Palestinians with lives blighted by Israeli occupation and oppression, convinced they need to separate off into their own state? And what of their understandable fear of becoming second-class citizens in a state that turns out to be equal in theory but not in practice?

It would not be easy, and can only be done in stages. The Palestinian Authority must first be persuaded to convert itself from a pseudo-government of a non-existent state with unrealistic aims into a campaigning body that leads the equal rights project.

A wide-ranging campaign of civic education must be instituted and coordinated with a public-relations drive towards the outside, and especially Western, world. A legal case for equal rights should be made at the international court. A network of connection with like-minded individuals, groups, and organisations, including sympathetic governments - South Africa, for example - should be established.

This action list is not exhaustive, but serves to show what can be done. Creating a system of equal rights in a state like Israel, long based on discrimination in favour of one group over others, is a noble ambition. If it were to happen, it would create a more just society and a way of rectifying the terrible wrong done to Palestinians and also to Jews. Perhaps then the peace that has eluded all who tried to solve this conflict will come about at last.

Plan rejected: June, 27, 2019: The US-led economic workshop in Bahrain closed amid derision and rejection from Palestinian officials on Wednesday, who said its framework for a trade and investment boost ignored their political aspirations for statehood. The two-day workshop, led by White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, began on Tuesday in the capital, Manama, and showcased the economic part of the Trump administration's long-awaited Middle East peace plan.Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump's son-in-law, urged Palestinian leaders boycotting the event to think outside the "traditional box" and consider the $50bn plan to boost the Palestinian and neighbouring economies, which the United States is hoping the wealthy Gulf states will bankroll. But the workshop was criticised by Palestinians and others for not addressing the political core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."The elephant in the room in Manama is obviously the [Israeli] occupation itself," senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Hanan Ashrawi told reporters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, adding that the workshop is "totally divorced from reality".  

The Peace to Prosperity workshop set an ambitious goal of creating one million new Palestinian jobs through $50bn of investment in infrastructure, tourism and education in the territories and Arab neighbours. It also proposes a $5bn transport corridor to connect the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip together     

UAE, Israel normalise ties: All the latest updates

Israel and the United Arab Emirates agree to normalise relations in a deal brokered by US President Donald Trump.

·          

• Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have reached a historic deal that will lead to a full normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern nations.

• The deal came after a phone call between United States President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

• The White House says the agreement will see Israel suspend its plans to annex Palestinian areas of the occupied West Bank.

Here are the latest updates:

Friday, August 14 

20:15 GMT - US officials tried to appeal to 'numerous' countries to make similar agreements

Senior White House officials sought to use the momentum from the deal between Israel and the UAE to appeal to more Arab and Muslim countries to set aside long-standing tensions and make similar agreements.

A senior White House official told Reuters that President Donald Trump's senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and Middle East envoy, Avi Berkowitz, had been in touch with "numerous" countries in the region, trying to see if more agreements would materialise. The official declined to name the countries.

15:48 GMT - Israel-UAE agreement has 'far-reaching implications': Pakistan FM

Following the UAE-Israel normalisation agreement, Pakistan's foreign ministry noted that such a development is "with far-reaching implications".

"Pakistan has an abiding commitment to the full realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination. Peace and stability in the Middle East region is also Pakistan’s key priority," read a statement released by the ministry.

"Pakistan's approach will be guided by our evaluation of how Palestinians' rights and aspirations are upheld and how regional peace, security and stability are preserved."

14:53 GMT - EU welcomes normalisation and 'hopes' for new negotiations

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, welcomed the UAE-Israel agreement, adding that Israel's annexation plans should "now be abandoned altogether".

"I welcome Israel-UAE normalisation; benefits both & is important for regional stability," Borrell said on Twitter.

"Suspending annexation is positive step, plans should now be abandoned altogether. EU hopes for resumed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on 2-state solution based on intl' agreed parameters," he said.

14:30 GMT - How did Israel and the UAE get to normalising relations?

Back in October 2018, Israeli Minister of Culture and Sports Miri Regev became the first Israeli to visit Abu Dhabi in an unprecedented official state visit. Her visit to the UAE was a clear sign of the Gulf country working to push its covert relations with Israel out in the open.

Following Regev's visit,  Israeli Communications Minister Ayoub Kara and Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz also travelled to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

From official meetings to clandestine relations - including intelligence sharing and direct and indirect flights - relations between Israel and the UAE have been going on for decades. 

14:22 GMT - Palestinians take to the streets to protest

Palestinians in Gaza and East Jerusalem held demonstrations in protest at the planned establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Demonstrators in Gaza waved Palestinian flags and held placards reading: "Palestine is not for sale" and "Normalisation is treason".

 

Leaders from various Palestinian groups participated in the rally, which was organised by Islamic Jihad.

In East Jerusalem, protesters burned posters with photos of the UAE's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and laid them on the floor for people to trample on.

14:12 GMT - Netanyahu thanks Egypt, Oman, Bahrain for their 'support' 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the leaders of Egypt, Oman and Bahrain for their "support" of the agreement to normalise ties with the UAE.

"I thank Egyptian President al-Sisi, and the governments of Oman and Bahrain, for their support of the historic peace treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which is expanding the circle of peace and will be good for the entire region," Netanyahu said on Twitter.

14:01 GMT - Oman backs UAE-Israel agreement

Oman has become the second Gulf country after Bahrain to declare its support for a UAE-Israeli agreement to normalise ties.

"A spokesman for the Omani Foreign Ministry has expressed the sultanate's backing of the UAE decision on relations with Israel as part of the joint historic declaration between it [UAE], the United States and Israel," Oman's state news agency reported.

The official hoped the agreement will lead to "comprehensive, fair, and lasting peace in the Middle East", according to the agency.

13:43 GMT - Palestinians unanimously reject UAE-Israel deal

Palestinians reacted with shock and dismay after United States President Donald Trump unveiled an agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalise ties.

"The late Sheikh Zayed was a dear brother to me, I knew how much he was proud of his support for Palestine… I never imagined that in my lifetime I would see the day in which the UAE would simply sell the Palestinians out for the sake of normalisation," said former Palestinian Authority minister Munib al-Masri.

"It's very shameful. I can't believe it until now," he said. 

Read Walid Mahmoud and Muhammad Shehada's full story on how Palestinian leadership and public reacted to the deal here.

 

10:20 GMT - Israelis and Palestinians react to UAE deal

"We reject this conspiracy completely," Palestinians criticise, while Israelis offer mixed reactions to the deal that will lead to a full normalisation of diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE.

 

06:54 GMT - Turkey slams UAE's 'hypocritical behaviour'

Turkey condemned the UAE for normalising ties with Israel as a "hypocritical" betrayal of the Palestinian cause.

"While betraying the Palestinian cause to serve its narrow interests, the UAE is trying to present this as a kind of act of self-sacrifice for Palestine. History and the conscience of the people living in the region will not forget and never forgive this hypocritical behaviour," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

  

05:21 GMT - Iran says UAE-Israel deal is 'dangerous'

Iran's foreign ministry condemned the deal normalising ties between Israel and the UAE, calling it a dangerous and "strategic act of idiocy" that will further "invigorate the axis of resistance in the region", according to the official IRNA news agency. 

"The shameful measure of Abu Dhabi to reach an agreement with the fake Zionist regime [Israel] is a dangerous move and the UAE and other states that backed it will be responsible for its consequences," the statement said, according to IRNA.

"This is stabbing the Palestinians in the back and will strengthen the regional unity against the Zionist regime," the foreign ministry said.

03:40 GMT - 'He deceived us': Israeli settler leaders slam Netanyahu

David Elhayani, head of Israel's Yesha Council of settlers, lambasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for suspending plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank as part of the agreement normalising ties with the UAE.

"Netanyahu has repeatedly promised the application of Israeli sovereignty in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley. We had face-to-face meetings. He assured us that he was working on it, that this is the main political issue on which he was running in the election," Elhayani said in a statement.

"He deceived us. He has deceived half a million residents of the area and hundreds of thousands of voters," he added.

Shai Alon, mayor of the Beit El, a settlement near the Palestinian city of Ramallah that is considered illegal by most of the international community, accused Netanyahu of selling out his supporters.

"They pulled a fast one on the settlers," Alon was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel newspaper.

Hamas: Israel-UAE deal a 'stab in back of Palestinians' (13:19)

03:01 GMT - Palestine recalls its ambassador to UAE

The Palestinian foreign ministry recalled its ambassador to UAE on the orders of President Mahmoud Abbas.

In a statement, the official Wafa news agency said the move came "in the aftermath of the tripartite US-brokered Israel-UAE deal on full normalisation of the relations between the two countries".

01:23 GMT - Trump to host Israel, UAE leaders at White House

United States President Donald Trump said he plans to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House in the next three weeks.

"I look forward to hosting them at the White House very soon to formally sign the agreement," he said.

"We'll probably be doing it over the next, I would say, three weeks."

Trump hinted that the UAE may not be the last country to strike a deal with Israel, which so far has only had formal diplomatic relations with two other Arab nations, Egypt and Jordan.

"That was a tremendous thing that happened. We have a lot of other interesting things going on with other nations also having to do with peace agreements and a lot of big news is coming over the next few weeks," he said.

"I am sure you will be very impressed and more importantly it's great for our country, a great thing for the world."

Thursday, August 13

20:20 GMT - Jordan says Israel-UAE deal should prod Israel to accept Palestinian state

Jordan has said that the Israel-UAE deal could push forward stalled peace negotiations if it succeeds in prodding Israel to accept a Palestinian state on land that Israel had occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

"If Israel dealt with it as an incentive to end occupation ... it will move the region towards a just peace," Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a statement on state media.

20:02 GMT - Mahmoud Abbas 'rejects and denounces' UAE-Israel deal 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced Israel's accord with the United Arab Emirates in a statement issued by his spokesman.

"The Palestinian leadership rejects and denounces the UAE, Israeli and US trilateral, surprising announcement," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior adviser to Abbas.

Abu Rudeineh, reading from a statement outside Abbas's headquarters in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said the deal was a "betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa and the Palestinian cause."

The statement urged the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to assemble to "reject" the deal, adding "neither the UAE nor any other party has the right to speak in the name of the Palestinian people."

19:30 GMT - Israel-UAE deal 'will not stop Netanyahu's annexation plans' 

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general and co-founder of the Ramallah-based Palestinian National Initiative, said the deal between Israel and the UAE will not stop Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's annexation plans. 

"The Israelis and Emirates had relations already, there was never a struggle between them so I don't know why they need to call it a peace agreement," Barghouti told Al Jazeera. 

"The reality is that the problem is with the Palestinian people, with the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land; the problem is with the Israeli plan of annexation of Palestinian land which Netanyahu has confirmed one more time today that he is proceeding with."

 

18:05 GMT - Joe Biden says Israel-UAE deal 'brave and badly needed'

United States Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden hailed the Israel-UAE deal as an historic step toward a more stable Middle East, warning he would not support Israel's annexation of Jewish settlements if he wins the White House in November.

"The UAE's offer to publicly recognize the State of Israel is a welcome, brave, and badly-needed act of statesmanship," the former Vice President said in a statement. "Annexation would be a body blow to the cause of peace, which is why I oppose it now and would oppose it as president."

 

Israel hailed a United States-brokered peace deal with the United Arab Emirates as a "great day for peace" and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold a news conference at 16:00 GMT to comment further.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/uae-israel-normalise-ties-latest-updates-200813154215455.html

Without Palestine, There is No Arab Unity: Why Normalization with Israel Will Fail

 By Dr Ramzy Baroud 11/08/2022 ;

It seemed all but a done deal: Israel is finally managing to bend the Arabs to its will, and Palestine is becoming a marginal issue that no longer defines Israel’s relations with Arab countries. Indeed, normalization with Israel is afoot, and the Arabs, so it seems, have been finally tamed.

Not so fast. Many events continue to demonstrate the opposite. Take, for example, the Arab League two-day meeting in Cairo on July 31 – August 1. The meeting was largely dominated by discussions on Palestine and concluded with statements that called on Arab countries to reactivate the Arab boycott of Israel, until the latter abides by international law.

The strongest language came from the League’s Assistant Secretary-General who called for solidarity with the Palestinian people by boycotting companies that support the Israeli occupation.

The two-day Conference of the Liaison Officers of the Arab Regional Offices on the Boycott of Israel praised the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which has been under intense western pressures for its unrelenting advocacy of international action against Israel.

One of the recommendations by Arab officials was to support Arab boycott initiatives in accordance with the Tunis Arab Summit in March 2019, which resolved that “boycott of the Israeli occupation and its colonial regime is one of the effective and legitimate means to resist.”

Though one may rightly cast doubts on the significance of such statements in terms of dissuading Israel from its ongoing colonization schemes in Palestine, at least, it demonstrates that in terms of political discourse, the collective Arab position remains unchanged. This was also expressed clearly to US President Joe Biden during his latest visit to the Middle East. Biden may have expected to leave the region with major Arab concession to Israel – which would be considered a significant political victory for the pro-Israel members of his Democratic Party prior to the defining November midterm elections – but he received none.

What American officials do not understand is that Palestine is a deeply rooted emotional, cultural and spiritual issue for Arabs – and Muslims. Neither Biden, nor Donald Trump and Jared Kushner before him, could easily – or possibly – alter that.

Indeed, anyone who is familiar with the history of the centrality of Palestine in the Arab discourse understands that Palestine is not a mere political question that is governed by opportunism, and immediate political or geopolitical interests. Modern Arab history is a testament to the fact that no matter how great US-Western-Israeli pressures and however weak or divided the Arabs are, Palestine will continue to reign supreme as the cause of all Arabs. Political platitudes aside, the Palestinian struggle for freedom remains a recurring theme in Arab poetry, art, sports, religion, and culture in all its manifestations.

This is not an opinion, but a demonstrable fact.

The latest Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) public opinion poll examined the views of 28,288 Arabs in 13 different countries. Majority of the 350 million Arabs continue to hold the same view as previous generations of Arabs did: Palestine is an Arab cause and Israel is the main threat.

The Arab Opinion Index (AOI) of late 2020 is not the first of its kind. In fact, it is the seventh such study to be conducted since 2011. The trend remains stable. All the US-Israeli plots – and bribes – to sideline Palestine and the Palestinians have failed and, despite purported diplomatic ‘successes’, they will continue to fail.

According to the poll: Vast majority of Arabs – 81 percent – oppose US policy towards Palestine; 89 percent and 81 percent believe that Israel and the US respectively are “the largest threat” to their individual countries’ national security. Particularly important, majority of Arab respondents insist that the “Palestinian cause concerns all Arabs and not simply the Palestinians.” This includes 89 percent of Saudis and 88 percent of Qataris.

Arabs may disagree on many issues, and they do. They might stand at opposite sides of regional and international conflicts, and they do. They might even go to war against one another and, sadly, they often do. But Palestine remains the exception. Historically, it has been the Arabs’ most compelling case for unity. When governments forget that, and they often do, the Arab streets constantly remind them of why Palestine is not for sale and is not a subject for self-serving compromises.

For Arabs, Palestine is also a personal and intimate subject. Numerous Arab households have framed photos of Arab martyrs who were killed by Israel during previous wars or were killed fighting for Palestine. This means that no amount of normalization or even outright recognition of Israel by an Arab country can wash away Israel’s sordid past or menacing image in the eyes of ordinary Arabs.

A most telling example of this is how Egyptians and Jordanians answered the AOI question “Would you support or oppose diplomatic recognition of Israel by your country?” The interesting thing about this question is that both Cairo and Amman already recognized Israel and have diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv since 1979 and 1994, respectively. Still, to this day, 93 percent of Jordanians and 85 percent of Egyptians still oppose that recognition as if it never took place.

The argument that Arab public opinion carries no weight in non-democratic societies neglects the fact that every form of government is predicated on some form of legitimacy, if not through a direct vote, it is through other means. Considering the degree of involvement the cause of Palestine carries in every aspect of Arab societies – on the street, in the mosque and church, in universities, sports, civil society organizations and much more – disowning Palestine would be a major delegitimizing factor and a risky political move.

American politicians, who are constantly angling for quick political victories on behalf of Israel in the Middle East do not understand, or simply do not care that marginalizing Palestine and incorporating Israel into the Arab body politic is not simply unethical, but also a major destabilizing factor in an already unstable region.

Historically, such attempts have failed, and often miserably so, as apartheid Israel remains as hated by those who normalized as much as it is hated by those who have not. Nothing will ever change that, as long as Palestine remains an occupied country