This week, Bahrain is expected to host the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian “Peace to Prosperity” economic conference, where the White House plans to put forth its “economic vision” for Palestinian-Arabs living in the Palestinian territories. U.S. Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt expressed hope that the conference would facilitate an exchange of ideas about how to expand the struggling Palestinian economy.
The White House’s plan includes a $50 billion Palestinian investment and infrastructure proposal, which is projected to create at least 1 million new jobs for Palestinians. The investments are directed at Palestinians living both inside and outside the territories, including those in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan. The White House hopes to encourage Arab donor nations to invest in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Despite the economic aims of the conference, Palestinian officials have dismissed it, expressing that they will not attend what they believe to be a bribery scheme to force Palestinians to stop seeking self-determination through a Palestinian state. What is ironic about Palestinian demands for statehood is that Article I of the Palestinian Liberation Organization charter (the governing document of Palestinian leadership) makes no assertion of an actual state in Palestine, instead just of an “Arab homeland,” indicating a pan-Arab nationalism, not a distinctly Palestinian nationalism.
The charter states, “Palestine is an Arab homeland bound by strong Arab national ties to the rest of the Arab Countries and which together form the great Arab homeland.” Furthermore, there is none of the requisite “quid pro quo” that typically defines a bribery scheme. In other words, the United States expects nothing from the Palestinian-Arabs in return for our investments.
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See Also:
(1) Palestinians and the Bahrain Conference: Condemning Arabs While Asking for Arab Money
