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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / ICYMI Foreign Affairs Open Thread: Jared’s Middle East ‘Hot I.P.O.’ ‘Charm Offensive’

ICYMI Foreign Affairs Open Thread: Jared’s Middle East ‘Hot I.P.O.’ ‘Charm Offensive’

by Anne Laurie|  July 4, 20192:20 am| 19 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Trump Crime Cartel, All Too Normal, Nobody could have predicted

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While we were otherwise occupied, Young Prince Jared’s ‘Give Me Your Funding, I Speak MBA’ piece of the action Prosperity to Peace initiative has come and gone. All Very Serious Persons agree: It would be a cakewalk, if only there was a completely different set of Facts On the Ground!

The ever-hopeful NYTimes:

MANAMA, Bahrain — Judged on its own terms, the White House-led conference on improving the lives of Palestinians, staged this week in Bahrain as the first step toward a long-promised American peace plan, was a smashing success.

It proved that the Israel-Palestinian conflict “actually is a solvable problem, economically,” Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, declared proudly — though that proposition was never actually in doubt.

It put the conflict back near the top of the international agenda, at least for a day and a half. And it may have also created a powerful new constituency for a resolution, by bringing together billionaire fund managers and the heads of banks and multinational corporations like AT&T, who seemed to be grappling with the subject for the first time.

Investors expressed such excitement about someday pouring money into projects on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “it’s going to be like a hot I.P.O.”

But if the goal of the two-day conference was to persuade Palestinians to give the Trump administration’s approach to solving the conflict the benefit of the doubt, there were few signs of that.

For all the self-congratulation by Mr. Kushner, Mr. Mnuchin and their guests, the Palestinian Authority government, which deeply mistrusts the Trump administration, boycotted the event. Most Palestinian business leaders shunned it. Hamas, the militant organization that controls Gaza, was not even invited…

… [S]peaker after speaker in Manama — including ministers from several Arab countries of the Persian Gulf — made a point to argue that the Palestinians’ natural entrepreneurship, strong literacy and educational attainment levels could all be unleashed but for the poor “governance” and the absence of “transparency” and of the “rule of law” that they said afflict the West Bank and Gaza…

The ever-irreverent Bess Levin, at Vanity Fair:

Last week, Jared Kushner held his big Peace to Prosperity conference in Bahrain. And if we’re evaluating from a standpoint of actually helping to bring peace to the Middle East, i.e. the stated goal, things did not go well. For starters, Palestinian leadership boycotted the whole thing, saying that the notion of unveiling an economic plan prior to presenting a political one made no sense, as it did not address major points of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, such as control of the West Bank and Palestinian statehood. Kushner, who views this whole thing as just another real estate deal, reportedly gave a speech in which he “envisaged the impoverished Gaza Strip as a tourist destination, omitting mention of Israel and Egypt’s 12-year blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory, as well as Israel’s 52-year-long occupation of the West Bank, which restricts trade and labor movements.” When he did reference politics, it was to offer the sophisticated take that if “there’s not a fear of people doing terrorism”—emphasis ours—it’ll “allow for much faster flow of goods and people,” without offering, y’know, a proposal for how to stop terrorism in the region…

… On Wednesday [Kushner] held a conference call with Arab and Israeli reporters to announce that the White House would provide “new steps” next week regarding his big plan, and, in an apparent effort to convince Palestinian leaders to get on board, he really laid on the charm:

[Kushner] criticized the Palestinian leadership’s behavior around the Bahrain conference and called it “hysterical and stupid.” He stressed that Palestinian leadership has made “a strategic mistake” not participating in the conference and not discussing a plan that is focused on prosperity for the Palestinian people.

Then, trying a little one-man good-cop-bad-cop routine, Kushner insisted that Donald Trump likes Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and wants to work with him—provided Abbas pulls his head out of his ass. “The door is always open for the Palestinian leadership,” Kushner told reporters. “If they stop saying crazy things and engage, they will see there is an opportunity here. We respect President Abbas and we believe he wants to make peace, and we want to give him the opportunity to try and do it.” Answering a question from a Lebanese reporter, Kushner said the political portion of his peace plan would include “a pragmatic, fair, and workable solution to the refugees issue,” without providing any actual details…

Wall Street, we are told, likes predictability. And ya gotta give Kushner full credit — he’s very predictable.

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Reader Interactions

19Comments

  1. 1.

    Redshift

    July 4, 2019 at 2:53 am

    Wall Street, we are told, likes predictability. And ya gotta give Kushner full credit — he’s very predictable.

    Nice…

  2. 2.

    plato

    July 4, 2019 at 3:08 am

    Wanna bet they are already signing no-bid contracts under this ‘aid’ plan?

  3. 3.

    Jay

    July 4, 2019 at 3:08 am

    Cockroaches are becoming resistant to insecticides. In other news, the #Trump campaign & the #RNC took in $105 million in donations this quarter.— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) July 3, 2019

  4. 4.

    Jay

    July 4, 2019 at 3:12 am

    ABC, CBS, and NBC announce they will not air Trump’s July 4th “parade” Thank you @ABC @CBS @nbc https://t.co/KEjFY5y4Ri— The Resistance ?? (@NightlyPolitics) July 3, 2019

  5. 5.

    Jay

    July 4, 2019 at 3:15 am

    @plato:

    There’s no money in the Company for the IPO, and nobody’s promising any.

    It’s the Juiceria of Peace Treaties.

  6. 6.

    Jay

    July 4, 2019 at 3:19 am

    A federal judge has ruled that it is unconstitutional to keep asylum-seeking migrants in custody indefinitely as they await immigration proceedings, reversing a Trump administration order.#BigotPresidenthttps://t.co/5eNf9BIYFa— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) July 3, 2019

  7. 7.

    Jay

    July 4, 2019 at 3:21 am

    BEST. NEWS. EVER.Giant robot of Trump tweeting on toilet is coming to DC on July 4 to protest his "Salute to America" celebration. https://t.co/NCaOTo0J8j— The Hummingbird ? (@SaysHummingbird) July 4, 2019

  8. 8.

    Jay

    July 4, 2019 at 3:29 am

    Happening NOW in Washington, DC:@HawknDove_DC 329 Pennsylvania Ave SEPick up your free USS John S. McCain shirt for the Fourth of July. Spread the word. Hundreds are now available at this location! pic.twitter.com/FrEOELxn73— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) July 4, 2019

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    July 4, 2019 at 3:33 am

    I read a hilarious tweet thread by an Arab reporter who attended and it sounded like one of those scams where you get a free weekend in Vegas if you’ll just listen to a 48-hour pitch for a time share.

  10. 10.

    hells littlest angel

    July 4, 2019 at 3:42 am

    What his charm offensive lacks in charm it makes up for in offensiveness.

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    July 4, 2019 at 3:50 am

    Yes, he actually said this:

    “Today is not about the political issues. We’ll get to those at the right time.” Source

    Also this timeless gem.

    “This situation exists because it exists.” Source

    From that same last link:

    A poll released yesterday found that an overwhelming 90% of Palestinians do not trust the Trump administration in its stated goal in Bahrain of helping the Palestinian economy.

    Seventy-nine percent backed the leadership’s boycott and a similar number called the participation of Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia an abandonment of the Palestinian cause, said the survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research of 1,200 adults across the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

  12. 12.

    Rmirth

    July 4, 2019 at 3:50 am

    @Jay:

    I don’t trust the networks any more than I trust the administration. Will wait till the end of the day before giving them any kudos.

  13. 13.

    Jay

    July 4, 2019 at 4:01 am

    @Rmirth:

    They are going to cover it on the News segments, if there’s any “news” involved. Failing a MAGA riot, a meltdown, a pouting Drumph stalking off stage because of rain, a rape on statge or a direct lightning strike, expect some short scenery footage and short blather segment of world salad.

  14. 14.

    Shalimar

    July 4, 2019 at 5:47 am

    Who would want to build an expensive comnercial project in Gaza knowing the Israelis will bomb it to hell the first time a Hamas leader steps inside? This is beyond insane.

  15. 15.

    Amir Khalid

    July 4, 2019 at 7:09 am

    @Jay:
    I can assure Bette Midler that a cockroach will still not survive being smote with the sole of a flip-flop. If only getting rid of Trump were as simple.

  16. 16.

    Just One More Canuck

    July 4, 2019 at 7:20 am

    @NotMax:

    “This situation exists because it exists.” Source

    Hard to argue with that kind of logic

  17. 17.

    Another Scott

    July 4, 2019 at 9:54 am

    @Shalimar: It’s just a stupid scam. From way downstairs:

    Reuters:

    More than half of the $50 billion would be spent in the economically troubled Palestinian territories over 10 years while the rest would be split between Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. Some of the projects would be in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, where investments could benefit Palestinians living in adjacent Gaza, a crowded and impoverished coastal enclave.

    The plan also proposes nearly a billion dollars to build up the Palestinians’ tourism sector, a seemingly impractical notion for now given the frequent flareups between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas-ruled Gaza, and the tenuous security in the occupied West Bank.

    It’s a scam. $2.5B/yr for Palestine is nothing. Paying off her neighbors is stupid and won’t help the Palestinians.

    Donnie and Javanka apparently want the oil-rich Arab states (or at least the ones that they’re friendly with) to set up a slush fund for real-estate developments which no doubt would include some sort of Trump-branded thing. Which, no doubt, would be in area outside Gaza and the West Bank.

    Why they think anyone in the region who has an actual stake in the future of Palestine (and Israel) would be fooled by this is (yet another) example of how dangerous hubris and narcissism is.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  18. 18.

    FlipYrWhig

    July 4, 2019 at 10:21 am

    “The door is always open for the Palestinian leadership,” Kushner told reporters. “If they stop saying crazy things and engage, they will see there is an opportunity here.[“]

    Imagine the frustration of being led by people who say crazy things.

  19. 19.

    Another Scott

    July 4, 2019 at 10:53 am

    @FlipYrWhig: Inorite?

    :-/

    “The door’s always open, except for crazy people like those dudes…” Quite the diplomat, Jared.

    (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)

    Ibrahim Fraihat:

    […]

    All in all, it is quite clear that Kushner’s “deal of the century” was never really meant as a serious proposal to resolve the conflict or provide a vision for how to move forward. Rather all this time, it has been a useful distraction from the implementation of another plan that aims to further entrench the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Trump administration has already made a few major steps in this direction, including recognising Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

    While the world’s attention was focused on the preparations for the Bahrain Workshop, national security adviser John Bolton visited Israel and toured the occupied Jordan Valley. It is quite likely that next step will be US recognition of Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank, where over 600,000 illegal Israeli settlers currently live.

    In this sense, waiting for the announcement of the “deal of the century” is a waste of time and paying attention to Kushner’s theatrics means falling into his trap set up to distract the public from what is really going on. All those who care for the Palestinian cause should mobilise now and prevent Kushner, Trump and their Israeli partners from establishing irreversible “facts on the ground” that could see Palestinian hopes for self-determination destroyed.

    Yup.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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