By Staff, Agencies

The “Deal of the century” announced by US President Donald Trump envisions the conditions under which a so-called Palestinian state might be recognized. 

The “Vision for Peace, Prosperity and a Brighter Future” bills itself as “the best, most realistic and most achievable outcome for the parties” right from the start. 

Security

“A realistic solution would give the Palestinians all the power to govern themselves but not the powers to threaten “Israel”,” says the Vision at the very beginning. Therefore, any Palestinian state would have to be fully demilitarized.

Palestine would not have any right to “develop military or paramilitary capabilities” without “Israel’s” approval. It would also be barred from any sort of security or diplomatic arrangements with other countries without “Israeli” consent. 

According to Trump’s vision, ““Israel” would retain the right to “dismantle and destroy any facility in the State of Palestine that is used for the production of prohibited weapons or for other hostile purposes,” and maintain control over “all international crossings into the State of Palestine.” 

Also, as a precondition for recognition, the Palestinian Authority would have to drop all pending or planned legal action against “Israel”, the US and their citizens before the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and all other tribunals.

Borders

On page 45, the Vision introduces a “Conceptual Map,” a basis for negotiations.

The map shows a Palestinian state almost entirely enclosed by “Israel” to address “security requirements.” As noted above, “Israel” gets to maintain control over Palestinian borders.

Al-Quds [Jerusalem]

The Deal of the Century treats Al-Quds as the “Israeli” capital and proposes the Palestinian capital to be “in the section of East Jerusalem located in all areas east and north of the existing security barrier, including Kafr Aqab, the eastern part of Shuafat and Abu Dis, and could be named Al Quds” or however else the Palestinian state wishes.

Refugees

One of the most intractable issues has been the question of Palestinian refugees, displaced since 1948. The Trump plan asserts that “There shall be no right of return by, or absorption of, any Palestinian refugee into the ‘State of Israel’.” 

Palestinians will be given a choice to seek citizenship in the Palestinian state, integrate into the countries where they currently live, or resettle in a third country. A “generous trust” will be established to pay for this!

The carrot and the stick

Much of the document is in fact about economic incentives for Palestinians, including the 95-page second half that lays out the proposal masterminded by Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner and presented last year in Bahrain. The detailed presentation envisions how Palestinians should structure their government, society, economy, education, healthcare, etc. 

In sum, Palestinians are promised a million new jobs, billions of dollars in investments to bring them out of poverty, and a state they can call their own – if they agree to a peculiar form of restricted sovereignty that is subordinated to “Israeli” security interests; recognize 'Israel' as the Jewish state and abandon all claims to the land it holds; and reorganize their entire society along the lines of a western liberal democracy.