US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, has appealed to Palestinians to consider a $50 billion economic support plan, even though it does not include a political resolution to the long-running conflict with the Israelis.
Mr. Kushner, speaking at a conference in Bahrain, defended the proposal as the foundation of any eventual peace plan.
Meanwhile, Palestinians protested against the plan in the streets of the West Bank, Gaza and elsewhere.
“We don’t need money. We are not hungry for bread,” said one of the protesters, Gaza physician Said Jadba, “We are hungry for dignity.”
The president’s son-in-law sought to defend his plan to combine private investment and support from regional governments to transform economically devastated Palestinian communities.
“My direct message to the Palestinians is that despite what those who have let you down in the past have told you, President Trump and America has not given up on you,” Kushner said.
The conference did not include either a Palestinian or an Israeli delegation.
The Palestinians have rejected the proposal – which aims to create a million new jobs, slash unemployment and improve living standards in the West Bank, Gaza and across the Middle East over 10 years – because it does not include a horizon for ending Israel’s occupation and granting independence.
Read the article by Matthew Lee in The Australian.