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US’ Kushner: Palestinians foolish for protesting against US ‘peace plan’

Kushner has slated Palestinians protesting against the US 'peace deal'

January 29, 2020 at 4:03 pm

US President Donald Trump’s special adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner slated Palestinians who have gone on strike today in protest against the US “peace deal” for the Middle East which was unveiled yesterday.

In an interview with CNN, Kushner praised the Trump’s plan saying it gives the Palestinians “a pathway to a state, a continuous territory and conditions where they can earn their way to their independence.” He added that it could provide a $50 billion economic plan that could contribute to their prosperity.

“Right now, what’s Palestinian leadership?” he asked. “You’re talking about them like they’re great diplomats — what are they calling for? They’re calling for a day of rage. Who do you know that runs a state that when they don’t get what they want they call for a day of rage?”

“It’s a big opportunity for the Palestinians,” Kushner continued. “And they have a perfect track record of blowing every opportunity they’ve had in their past.”

READ: This is America’s most generous deal ever for Israel 

The so-called “peace plan” allows for broad Israeli annexation and provides for a future Palestinian state which will be subjected to a series of conditions and limitations, with Israel retaining overall security control of the area.

“The Palestinians rejected the plan before they saw it,” Kushner told CNN. “They thought it wasn’t going to be as good as it was so I think they look quite foolish today. Also, one of the great ironies is they keep saying they want to be a state.”

Under the proposal, Trump said Jerusalem “will remain Israel’s undivided capital”, but that a future Palestinian state would also have a “capital in east Jerusalem”, in reference to a neighbourhood of eastern Jerusalem.

When asked why the new “deal of the century” might succeed, Kushner, who previously held the position of co-director of a foundation that funds illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, said: “I’ve studied this now very closely for the last three years. I have not found any maps, from any past negotiations, that have ever been produced, nor has there ever been a map in the history of this that has been accepted by the State of Israel.”

“It’s a big opportunity for the Palestinians and they have a perfect track record of blowing every opportunity they’ve had in their past, but perhaps maybe their leadership will read the details of it, stop posturing and do what’s best to try to make the Palestinians’ lives better,” he added.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the plan saying, “We say a thousand no’s to the Deal of the Century.”

He described the US’ deal for the Middle East as the “smack of the century” that aims to liquidate the Palestinian issue; leaving it unacceptable and saying it will find its way to the dustbin.

READ: Trump’s ‘peace plan’ is simply another round of crumbs being thrown from the Apartheid table