Trump’s Board of Peace scraps United Nations two-state solution

President Trump’s Board of Peace at its first meeting in Washington this week scrapped the United Nations (UN) Security Council proposal for the creation of a new Palestinian Arab State in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (two-state solution).

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had confirmed the UN’s continuing support for this solution at a press conference held as recently as 29 January:

“... we believe that conditions must be created to make sure that Gaza, that will have now its new governance model, that that governance model progressively is linked to the Palestinian Authority, and that Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, will be the future state of Palestine.”

It did not take very long for Guterres and the UN to learn that the Board of Peace had a very different solution in mind for Gaza.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary Di Carlo also ended up with egg on her face after telling the Security Council on 18 February:

“We have a responsibility to work collectively to implement Phase II of the Gaza ceasefire and advance efforts toward a credible political path leading to a negotiated two-State solution.”

So did Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations - Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil - who on 18 February underscored the need to advance a just and lasting peace through the implementation of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.

Their pronouncements were consigned to the diplomatic shredder on 19 February when the inaugural Board of Peace meeting announced:

“In Rafah, Gazans will build their first new city. The NCAG [National Committee for the administration of Gaza – ed] with the Board of Peace will expand development across the entire Strip, employing hundreds of thousands in reconstruction and business activity. Transportation, water, and energy systems will be restored and a modern economy will begin to emerge. Children will return to classrooms with a curriculum that promotes tolerance, dignity, and peace. Our goal by year three, Rafah fully rebuilt unemployment, curbed and Gaza connected to the world through an Abrahamic gateway, linking it with Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and extending to India and Europe. By year 10, Gaza will be self-governed, integrated into the region with thriving industries and housing for all. This is the framework for Gaza's, rebirth. Secure, prosperous, and peaceful.”

The Board of Peace had apparently not considered an alternative, far cheaper and more immediate solution to end the suffering of Gaza’s current population of 2.3 million inhabitants: Offering them financial incentives to relocate to any of the 27 countries that have so far signed up as members of the Board of Peace.

The two-state solution was always doomed to failure ever since it was first proposed in 2002 by Saudi Arabia and adopted as the Arab Peace Initiative - because it did not recognise the legal right of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in Gaza and Judea and Samaria (West Bank) under articles 6 and 25 of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN’s own Charter.

Trump has now unleashed his 3 year Rafah Road Map that could end 130 years of unresolved conflict between Jews and Arabs.

Board of Peace Director-General Nickolay Mladenov noted one problem:

“There is no other option except the full demilitarization and decommissioning of all weapons in Gaza, for reconstruction to begin, and for people to have a new way of life going forward.”

Direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan to divide sovereignty of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) between their two respective States now becomes an attainable solution.