Bizarre Response

There's a conference in Bahrain at the moment discussing the economic needs of the Palestinians.  For years, we've heard that the poor economic conditions in Gaza and on the West Bank have led to the ongoing terrorism sprouting from these people.  In Gaza, conditions are poor, but, in reality, on the West Bank, that is not true.  Most people in Egypt, Syria, Iraq or Jordan would gladly exchange their economic situation for that of the Palestinians in the West Bank.  Nevertheless, there is much room for improvement.  That is why one logically would think that the Palestinian Authority that governs much of the West Bank would happily participate in the conference.  As is usual with the Palestinians, however, thinking logically about the conference is a mistake.

The Palestinians are boycotting the conference.  Here's what President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority had to say: 

“As for the Manama workshop in Bahrain, we said that we will not attend this workshop. The reason is that the economic situation should not be discussed before the political one,  As long as there is no political [solution], we do not deal with any economic [solution]"

The conference in Bahrain was organized by the United States as part of the peace plan being proposed by the Trump administration for Israel and the Palestinians.  The rest of the plan has not yet been unveiled, but President Abbas has already rejected it.  That's right; Abbas won't talk about economic development for his people unless there's a political solution and he rejects the American proposal for a political solution before he even knows what it contains.

You could call this a bizarre response from the Palestinians, but it is actually just business as usual.  The USA, you see, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  From that moment forward, Abbas has rejected every move the USA has made.  He just stomps his foot and shouts NO to every action.  That may work for the average two-year-old, but for a head of a country, it really isn't a good strategy for success.  

The key here is that Abbas doesn't seem to understand Trump.  He thinks he is still dealing with Obama.  When Obama was in office, the Palestinians relied on Obama to always react to issues between the Palestinians and the Israelis by putting more pressure on Israel to make concessions.  It didn't work, but it did poison the US-Israel relationship.  Trump, on the other hand, has decided to recognize reality rather than fiction in the region.  Jerusalem has been Israel's capital since 1948.  Trump recognized that fact.  Israel has possession of the Golan Heights since 1967 when it took that land from Syria after the Syrians launched an attack on Israel.  Trump recognized that fact.  Trump isn't putting pressure on Israel to make concessions that will not be reciprocated by the Palestinians.  It's a terrible disappointment for Abbas; for there to be any movement towards peace, Abbas would actually have to compromise.  

What this switch in the US attitude toward the conflict means is simple.  If Abbas rejects the peace plan and won't even attend a meeting designed to help the Palestinian economy, Trump won't waste the time trying to make a deal here where none is possible.  Abbas will kill chances for any deal.