U.S.-sponsored Economic ‘Workshop’ Kicks Off in Bahrain

Political and business leaders from across the Middle East on Tuesday converged on Manama, Bahrain, for the beginning of a US-sponsored economic “workshop.” The event comes days after the White House revealed the economic portion of its much-anticipated and long-delayed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. The 40-page document outlines in detail how funds raised would be disbursed, with just over half allocated to development and infrastructure projects in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the rest earmarked for Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. According to the proposal, the “Peace to Prosperity” forum “represents the most ambitious and comprehensive international effort for the Palestinian people to date. It has the ability to fundamentally transform the [Palestinian territories] and to open a new chapter in Palestinian history – one defined not by adversity and loss, but by freedom and dignity.” Notably absent from the conference, however, will be Palestinian officials, who have uniformly rejected US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century,” which they view as a bribe geared toward undermining their national aspirations. In response, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction has organized three days of protests, with thousands having gathered in Ramallah Monday carrying signs saying “The Bahrain workshop is a conspiracy to steal the rights of our people” and “Jerusalem is not for sale,” according to Israeli media. Meanwhile, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, who has spearheaded the US peace push, said in an interview with the Aljazeera news network that solving the conflict will require thinking outside the box as opposed to blind adherence to the same failed formula adopted by successive US administrations. “Reaching an Israeli-Palestinian deal along the lines of the Arab Peace Initiative will not be possible, requiring instead a stance between that and the Israeli position,” Kushner said. Presented in 2002 by Saudi Arabia, the Arab Peace Initiative called for the creation of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders – with the eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital – as well as a “just” solution to the Palestinian refugee issue. Israel has rejected that plan out-of-hand.