The much-hyped US vision for Middle East peace has finally been partially unveiled a few days before the opening of the “Peace to Prosperity” economic workshop due to take place in the Bahraini capital, Manama, June 25 and 26. A look at the conference agenda and program details exposes an unprofessional, naive and hypocritical Trump administration that is attempting to resell Israel’s failed economic peace.
The workshop program sent to invitees reinforces the very problem that Palestinians talk about. The agenda of the program is titled “Unlocking economic development and investment in the West Bank, Gaza and the region,” while the larger proposal continuously uses the term “unleashing.” Both unlocking and unleashing point out to the fact that what is holding up Palestinian prosperity is the fact that Israel has a lock on life under occupation and has kept Palestinians on a short leash.