Qatar says U.S. needs Palestinians on board for ME Peace Plan

T. Belman. I think Trump is making a mistake by talking about a peace plan or any other plan for that matter. Even though he is abandoning a two-state solution, he can’t escape the baggage such a solution carries. By doing so he is inviting opposition and controversy.

As an alternative, he should not allude to any plan at all. He should merely nudge things along in the desired direction. Just as he has been doing with undercutting UNRWA and the PA financially. Thus he should allow Mudar Zahran to become the leader of Jordan. Then his policies should be to stabelize the new regime. Israel could do its part by helping Jordan’s economy. With Jordan and Israel cooperating in all matters, they will set the standard for all Arab countries to follow. Perhaps, Saudi Arabia could finance Jordan’s moves to naturalize the 2.2 million Palestinian refugees living in Jordan. Perhaps Trump could guide the refugees in Gaza and the West Bank to emigrate to Jordan for citizenship and a normal life.

In short it was a big mistake to talk about the Deal of the Century rather than to simply put facts on the ground.

“Our position remains very firm: We are going to support any plan that the Palestinians are willing to accept.”

BY REUTERS

Qatar said on Sunday that there was a disconnect between the Palestinians and the United States over a U.S. blueprint aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, warning that a solution could not be imposed on Palestinians.

The U.S. blueprint, driven by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, is seen by Palestinians, and by some Arab officials and politicians, as a plan to finish off the Palestinian cause.

“As far as we see, right now there is a disconnect between the Palestinians and the U.S.,” Qatar Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said told reporters in London.

“Our position remains very firm: We are going to support any plan that the Palestinians are willing to accept.”

Kushner, who has been trying to put together a peace plan, said in an interview broadcast last week that the Palestinians deserve “self-determination,” but stopped short of backing Palestinian statehood and expressed uncertainty over their ability to govern themselves.

While its precise outlines have yet to be revealed, Palestinian and Arab sources who have been briefed on the draft plan say Kushner has jettisoned the two-state solution – the long-standing U.S. and international formula that envisages an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza.

“It cannot be a solution like, sort of, imposed on the Palestinians – no country in the Arab world can accept that,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

“If the plan is rejected by one of the parties it means the plan is either unfair or just not realistic,” he said. “The best scenario is either that both parties accept it or that both parties reject it.”

Sheik Mohammed said there would not be a pledging conference. He praised the economic part of the Kushner plan as being “wonderful” but said it needed a sound political foundation.