Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Trump's Phony Middle East Peace Plan

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Part of the bluster that accompanied Donald Trump into office three years ago was his boast that he would be the President to bring peace to the Middle East, and to do that he and his administration would finally resolve the thorny and deadly issues that divided Israel from its highly disadvantaged Palestinian neighbors.  To show just how serious he was regarding the long-standing conflicts among the Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Middle East, Trump promptly turned the whole matter over to his senior adviser - and son-in-law - Jared Kushner.

And then Trump golfed - and golfed - and golfed.

Trump's good buddy and political supporter, Benjamin Netanyahu, was still in charge in Israel and was ruling with an iron fist.  Problem solved.

But now, a mere three years later, Donald Trump has been impeached by the House of Representatives and is involved in a trial in the US Senate that will determine whether he is allowed to remain in office - and Benjamin Netanyahu is facing corruption charges in Israel and will soon stand for re-election.  Both politicians could use a distraction of the First Order.

And suddenly Trump has a peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians!

The plan is so good - so very good - that Trump shared it with Netanyahu as well as Netanyahu's chief political opponent, Benny Gantz - and today, at noon - just moments away - he will share that plan with the American people and the world.  Netanyahu, for his part in this great charade, will be at Donald's side, wagging his tail like a loyal beagle.

Trump has a plan for peace in the Middle East, or at least for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, a plan that he has thoughtfully shared with the two most important politicians in Israel - and the Palestinians will be able to read about it in tomorrow's newspapers.   What could be more fair and balanced than that?

According to early reports, those leaked by persons traveling with Netanyahu, Trump's plan for peace in the region would:

  • Give most of Jerusalem to Israel;
  • Allow Israel to claim most of the Jewish settlements on the West Bank as part of the country of Israel;
  • Allow Israel to retain control of the Jordan Valley;
  • Ban millions of Palestinian refugees from returning to their homes in Israel;
  • Create a Palestinian state in the remaining broken-up territory - likely demilitarized with no control of its borders or skies;  and,
  • Grant Palestinians a "limited" form of statehood that would be dependent on Hamas giving up its weapons in the Gaza Strip.
In other words there is nothing of substance in the deal for the Palestinians, only more misery and subjugation.  Of course, the Palestinians were not invited to the White House to preview the plan - as the Israelis were, and Trump admitted up front that they probably would not like it, but since the Palestinians are living in misery, he feels they will eventually come around to his vision of what the Middle East needs to look like.

To recap:  Someone in the Trump administration (or the Netanyahu administration) has patched together a "peace" plan that gives Israel everything it desires and nothing of substance to the Palestinians.  And then, to rub more dirt in the wound, no input was sought from the Palestinians.  It wasn't exactly Jimmy Carter at Camp David.

Gather around, America, Donald Trump is about to play at being presidential while Bibi Netanyahu sits at Trump's feet and licks his golf shoes.  Some gas will have been passed in Washington, DC, today, but the Middle East - and particularly Israel and its Palestinian neighbors - will remain in turmoil with all of their issues unresolved and becoming more dangerous by the day.

And Donald John Trump will soon be happily back on the golf course.

1 comment:

Xobekim said...

Trump proposes an erasure plan, not a peace plan. He offers the Palestinians no autonomy, no self governance, and no dignity. Like our Kurdish allies in Northern Syria he offers Palestinians the right to be exterminated.

The man is a monster.