Rehashing old ideas will not get Palestinians, Israelis closer to solution

The recent visit of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and his accompanying delegation to Jordan and Israel was some sort of anticlimax, as it seems to have shed little information about what the “deal of the century” is all about.

Kushner is reputed to be the godfather of the “deal”, who was supposed to begin marketing his ideas about ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict once and for all during his recent visit to the region.

For starters, Kushner did not even bother to visit the West Bank to talk to the Palestinians and get a sense of their reaction to his roadmap for the resolution of their crisis. Secondly, Kushner walked out of the region saying that he does not really care about what the Palestinians think of him and his plans, as he is not in a popularity contest to win their blessings. Not only that, Kushner went on to damn and denigrate the Palestinians as incapable of governing themselves, and that they need Israel to help them out in any self-rule scenario! In other words, the Palestinians should be colonised first for much longer before they can attain self-rule and independence.

These incriminating remarks by Kushner are enough to remove him as an honest broker from the process to mediate the differences between the Palestinians and Israel, as his true colours have been exposed for all sides to see it, for what it really is, on Palestinian aspirations for freedom and statehood on their own soil in the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as their capital.

The endgame for the “deal” is, therefore, crystal clear and leaves no doubts about its inevitable demise. The question now is where the Palestinians may hope to go from this point forward. Do the Palestinians still have a glimmer of hope that their inalienable rights can still be attained through diplomatic persuasions, or is it as dead as it can be?

For sure, traditional and worn out peace efforts can no longer be resuscitated from their deathbed during President Donald Trump’s days in the White House. In any case, the Palestinians cannot pin much hope on any fundamental change in the stance of any other US president in the future, judging by the steady pro-Israel policies of all previous US administrations.

There is now a pressing need for a new ingenious way to breathe life into the dying peace process between the Palestinians and Israel, perhaps on an entirely new footing and foundation altogether after the futility of all past efforts conducted over the past decades has been proven beyond doubt.

It is time for new thinking and a new approach with the support, cooperation and coordination of Jordan. Once a proposal for settlement does not pick up traction, it is time to go beyond it and search for new bold ideas to bring the two sides closer to a final solution. Rehashing old ideas will not get the parties any closer to a solution.