Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated on Saturday his staunch rejection of a US economic peace plan as Washington unveiled details of its long-awaited initiative, saying a political solution must come first.
The $50 billion “peace to prosperity” plan, set to be presented by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at a conference in Bahrain next week, envisions a global investment fund to lift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies.
But the lack of a political solution, which Washington has said would be unveiled later, prompted rejection not only from Palestinians but also in Arab countries.
"We have said that we will not attend the workshop in Bahrain," Abbas told the central committee of his Fatah faction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
"The reason is that the economic situation should not be discussed before the political one. And as long as there is no political (solution), we do not deal with any economic issues," he added.
The Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas had already said it was boycotting the two-day conference -- dubbed the Peace to Prosperity Workshop -- that opens on Tuesday in Bahrain.
The Palestinians charge that US President Donald Trump -- a key ally of Israel -- is seeking to buy them off and deprive them of an independent state.
They say Washington is trying to use the potential offer of billions of dollars in investment to avoid dealing with political issues, notably Israel's occupation of their lands.
Earlier Saturday Abbas's longtime aide Hanan Ashrawi reacted to emerging details of the US plan by saying Washington should first focus on ending the "Israeli theft of our land".
"First lift the siege of Gaza, stop the Israeli theft of our land, resources and funds, give us our freedom of movement and control over our borders, airspace, territorial waters etc. Then watch us build a vibrant prosperous economy as a free and sovereign people," Ashrawi said in a tweet.
From Sudan to Kuwait, prominent commentators and ordinary citizens denounced Kushner’s proposals in strikingly similar terms: “colossal waste of time,” “non-starter,” “dead on arrival.”
“Homelands cannot be sold, even for all the money in the world,” Egyptian analyst Gamal Fahmy said. “This plan is the brainchild of real estate brokers, not politicians. Even Arab states that are described as moderate are not able to openly express support for it.”
Commentator Sarkis Naoum at Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper said, “This economic plan, like others, won’t succeed because it has no political foundation.”
While the precise outline of the political plan has been shrouded with secrecy, officials briefed on it say Kushner has jettisoned the two-state solution - the long-standing worldwide formula that envisages an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
The PLO has dismissed Kushner’s plans as “all abstract promises,” insisting that only a political solution will solve the problem. It said they were an attempt to bribe the Palestinians into accepting Israeli occupation.
Jawad al-Anani, a former senior Jordanian politician, described widespread suspicion after Trump’s decisions to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognize Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.
“This is an unbalanced approach: it assumes the Palestinians are the more vulnerable side and they are the ones who can succumb to pressure more easily,” he said, according to Reuters. “This is a major setback for the whole region.”
Kushner’s economic proposals will be discussed at the US-led gathering on June 25-26. The Palestinian Authority is boycotting and the White House did not invite the Israeli government.
Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, will take part along with officials from Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. Lebanon and Iraq will not attend.
Arab analysts believe the economic plan is an attempt to buy off opposition to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land with a multi-billion dollar bribe to pay off the neighboring hosts of millions of Palestinian refugees to integrate them, said Reuters.
“It is disingenuous to say that this plan is purely economic because it has a political dimension that has implications that are incongruous with the political aspirations,” said Safwan Masri, a Columbia University professor.
“A big part of the $50 billion will go to neighboring states to settle the Palestinian refugees in those countries.”
After Israel’s creation in 1948, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon absorbed the most Palestinian refugees, with some estimates that they now account for around five million.
Mohanad Hage Ali, a fellow at Beirut’s Carnegie Middle East Center, said: “I see it failing miserably while benefiting US adversaries in the region,” a reference to Iran.
Kuwaiti researcher Maitham al-Shakhs predicted Washington would be unable to implement the plan through diplomacy and might have to impose it by force.
“(Trump) gave Israel Jerusalem and the Golan, and every day he gives them gifts at the expense of the Arabs.”
