Shhhh! The tailors are working! Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, with the help of David Friedman are working on a new gown for Palestine. According to leaks in the Israeli Maariv daily, it will be called “New Palestine”. This “New Palestine” is the promised “deal of the century”, which only a fool would refuse to buy, let alone see the virtue of.
To those who are not as worldly-wise as Trump’s tailors, this plan might be invisible. When these people start asking whether this really is about a Palestinian state, the tailors say “hush” – “let’s just not say it”. When tailor Greenblatt talks up his fashion at the UN, saying the new gown promises “prosperity”, the UN ambassadors express their concern that if it’s not a real state, the Palestinians shouldn’t be coerced to buy it.
Indeed, this gown is not quite like in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. This time, the Emperor, US President Trump, is actually one of the tailors, and the gown is made for Palestine. It is meant to once and for all completely shut down all talk of Palestinian refugees – the single most essential issue for Palestinians. It is made to shut down talk of an actual Palestinian state, cement Israeli encirclement of Palestinians in Bantustans (including annexation of the Jordan Valley and much of the West Bank), demilitarize Palestine and make Palestinians happy with lots of money from the Gulf.
And if Hamas doesn’t buy this one, it’s bust. The U.S. “will back Israel to personally harm leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad”, the leaked document said.
And what happens if the PLO refuses to buy it? The US will cut all aid and make sure that “no country in the world transfers money” to Palestine. And the Palestinian Authority is already hard pressed, not least due to Israeli blackmailing, which results in the blocking of tax revenues. Palestine is heavily plundered by Israel, which takes about 78% of the international aid to Palestine into its own coffers, and grabs $3.4 billion in resources every year.
So the tailors are hoping that the Palestinians can be compelled to buy this gown. Because although they can’t really see the gown, signing off on it allows them to keep breathing economically, a kind of ‘offer you can’t refuse’.
And the Israelis? Will they buy it? Ostensibly, the Israelis are also threatened with withdrawal of funds if they refuse. But hey, what’s not to like? This gown legitimizes Israeli annexations of large swaths of the West Bank, just like Prime Minister Netanyahu promised in his recent election campaign; it consolidates Israeli control of Palestinian Bantustans, encircling them from all directions; it keeps Jerusalem in Israel’s hands, so Trump won’t have to move the embassy again; it kills the refugee issue by simply not incorporating it, simply silencing it to death. A great solution for the Israelis. Like in 1947 – it was fine for the Zionists to endorse the UN Partition Plan, as a means of obtaining more. As David Ben-Gurion once expressed himself concerning partition to his son Amos:
“My assumption (which is why I am a fervent proponent of a state, even though it is now linked to partition) is that a Jewish state on only part of the land is not the end but the beginning. When we acquire one thousand or 10,000 dunams, we feel elated. It does not hurt our feelings that by this acquisition we are not in possession of the whole land. This is because this increase in possession is of consequence not only in itself, but because through it we increase our strength, and every increase in strength helps in the possession of the land as a whole. The establishment of a state, even if only on a portion of the land, is the maximal reinforcement of our strength at the present time and a powerful boost to our historical endeavors to liberate the entire country.”
The gown that these royal tailors are sewing is nothing new really, although it’s called “New Palestine”. It is really nothing at all. It is the same prison, the same occupation, with a new name. Its real name is “Greater Israel”, and it is just another step in the long continuum of the Israeli colonization of Palestine.
The deal of the former century was the Balfour Declaration of 1917, and Trump wants to be the next Balfour. Trump wants to make not only America great, but also Israel – great and greater. Because as his ambassador-cum-tailor David Friedman says, “Israel is on the side of God”. The “New Palestine” gown is a servant’s garb, and Palestine finally signs off on being Israel’s subservient maid. The invisible gown leaves Palestine completely naked, with the promise of cash.
Who wouldn’t want a deal like that. It’s a great deal. The deal of the century. Believe me.
Super piece, Jonathan!
Brilliant how you wove H. C. Andersen’s tale, ‘Kejserens Nye Klæder’, into the very real blackmail/bribery and collusion between the US and Israel toward the Palestinians. I am quite sure that others are involved with this attempted swindle.
THE TRUTH ia beyond Kafka: Most Americans don’t give a shit about Israel or Palestine, but they fund Israel nevertheless.
This gown will be like the Emperor’s new clothes. Kushner will put down in paper what his buddy Netanyahu demands for the occupiers, and after already handing over the best nuggets for Bibi and the Israelis`, the Palestinians will be left naked, and expected to be very grateful that many of them are still alive.
Does anyone think for one minute Slimy Jared will challenge his dear evil friend, Bibi, and demand for anything on behalf of the Palestinians? Nah, no chance.
What I fear is, the lunatic in the WH, will be manipulated into allowing the zionist killers to attack Gaza at the pretext of “getting rid of Hamas” and we will see a very high number of casualties, higher than all the previous attacks by the IDF, when the Palestinians turn down Jared fake gift.
The final blow to get rid of the Arabs, and take over everything their evil hearts desire.
Evil always prevails.
John great piece but not sure how you arrive at your conclusions when you have no knowledge of the facts.Your opinion is based on the vague press releases.Tell me something,how much exactly will the Palestinians be getting in handouts.a billion or a trillion.You don’t know do you, well lets wait and see.Just imagine if it was a million dollars for each palestinian.Do you think that would be fair.I certainly think so and why not.Lets say a million dollars for each person displaced in 1948.would that be ok with you.
Well worth reading:
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-bisharat-one-state-palestinian-israel-trump-netanyahu-20190523-story.html
“The case for a democratic one-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians” By George Bisharat, L.A. Times, May 23/19
“President Donald Trump has promised he will soon unveil his ‘Deal of the Century’ for Palestinians and Israelis. But it is unlikely to do much more than consecrate a reality that has prevailed for decades: Israelis living within the borders of historic Palestine will enjoy full freedoms and political rights, while a majority of Palestinians living within the same space will remain largely disenfranchised and voiceless.
“One thing the deal will make apparent, however, is that the two-state solution is dead, laid low by a thousand cuts – or, more precisely, by the hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, whose immovable presence ensures that no genuinely sovereign Palestinian state will ever emerge there. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have both played a role in delivering the final blows: Trump with his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and Netanyahu by promising voters prior to his recent reelection to begin annexation of the West Bank.
“It is time to face some undeniable facts:
“First, despite Israel’s every effort to establish and maintain a Jewish majority, the two peoples living under Israeli rule hover at near parity, at approximately 6.5 million Jews and 6.5 million Palestinians.
“Second, Jewish Israelis and Palestinian Arabs are destined to live together in Israel/Palestine in perpetuity. Neither people can or should be forced to leave the land in which they reside and to which they are passionately committed.
“Third, segregation, of which the two-state solution was a form, is not the answer. As Americans know from our own historical experience, separate is never equal.
“Finally, it is only equal rights and justice that can provide the foundation for a durable peace for Israelis and Palestinians.
“The way forward will be difficult, but it could start with a compassionate declaration from Palestinians, along the lines of South Africa’s Freedom Charter, committing to a just society that includes both Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Such a declaration should embrace a broad, multi-faceted and contemporary vision of justice for this troubled land.
“For example, a Freedom Charter would address the rights of the Israeli Jews who currently inhabit homes of Palestinians seized in 1948, and fear eviction when Palestinian refugees return, as we are legally and morally due. My family, like survivors of the Nazi Holocaust seeking return of their seized works of art, insists that ownership of our grandfather’s Villa Harun ar-Rashid in West Jerusalem should be restored to us. But we have no need nor desire to evict its current Jewish residents. In a similar vein, Israelis living in Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank should not lose their homes, but the settlements should be desegregated by permitting Palestinian families to move in.
“The charter should also address rights for women and members of the LGBTQ community, which some Palestinians as well as some Jewish Israelis have been slow to embrace. And it should address environmental issues that will be crucial as global warming puts increasing pressure on the Middle East.
“Although some would argue a single state is unrealistic, there is a growing constituency for such a solution, particularly among young people. About one-third of Palestinians support a one-state solution, and that’s without any major Palestinian political party or faction advocating for it. Meanwhile, in the U.S., polls show that about an equal number of Americans support one state with equality as support a two-state solution, with young people leading the way. According to a poll released by the University of Maryland in December 2018, 42% of Americans ages 18 to 35 support a single state, versus 33% for two states. And if a two-state solution is no longer possible, a majority of all Americans support one state with equal rights.
“Of course, an Israel founded on equal rights for all will no longer be a ‘Jewish state’ — just as South Africa, after the fall of apartheid, was no longer a state that institutionalized white supremacy. It was a fundamental misperception of Israel’s founders that a homeland privileging Jews could be accepted in another people’s land.
“Israeli Jews will not surrender their advantages easily. Privileged groups never do. A 2018 poll showed, however, that more Israeli Jews (19%) supported a single state with equal rights than supported either apartheid (15%) or expulsion of Palestinians (8%).
“Israeli Jews must recognize the equal rights of the Palestinians with whom they cohabit the land to secure a peaceful future. Doing so would certainly come with benefits for Israel, including regional acceptance. What would it be worth to Israeli Jews to travel safely throughout the Middle East, or to do business not just with the tyrants of the Arab world but with its people?
“Trump, Netanyahu, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Hungary’s Viktor Orban and the other ethno-chauvinistic leaders of the world are having their moment now. Yet hope is a powerful motivator, and the prospect of building a just and genuinely free and democratic society — a true beacon of progress for the region if not the world — can inspire heroism in both Israelis and Palestinians.”
George Bisharat is a professor at UC Hastings College of the Law and writes frequently on the Middle East.