Stephen Lendman

Prospects for resolving decades of Israeli/Palestinian conflict are nil - because Washington and Tel Aviv reject an equitable solution.

Peace and stability defeat their agenda. Endless violence and confrontation further it. Neither country negotiates. They demand.

Trump’s Zionist son-in-law/senior advisor/geopolitical know-nothing is back in Israel.

He arrived along with Zionist administration international negotiator Jason Greenblat and Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell - another futile trip to restart peace talks, dead-on-arrival each time initiated.

Ahead of his arrival, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert dampened prospects for anything equitable for Palestinians, saying:

“We are not going to state what the outcome has to be. It has to be workable to both sides. That’s the best view as to not really bias one side over the other, to make sure that they can work through it.”

Bias is one-sided for Israel at all times, disingenuous lip service alone addressing Palestinian rights. Virtually no one in Washington or any Israeli coalition partners give a damn about them.

It shows in daily viciousness toward their people - held hostage under occupation harshness, two million besieged Gazans virtually imprisoned.

Abbas earlier said he met with Trump administration officials numerous times - still with no idea where they stand on fundamental issues.

During Kushner’s last visit in June, Abbas aide Ahmad Majdalani asked him where the Trump administration stands on Palestinian self-determination and illegal Israeli settlements.

No acceptable answer was given, no follow-up until now. The closest indication of where Trump stands was his comment last February, saying “I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like.”

Nauert said it’s “up to them to…work” things out, Palestinians powerless to have Israel accept anything equitable - never before, for sure not now with Islamophobic fascists and religious fundamentalist zealots in charge.

Netanyahu’s disdain for peace and stability is longstanding. On Thursday, he lied saying peace is “within our reach.” He means unconditional Palestinian surrender if Abbas is willing to go that far.

After meeting with Netanyahu, Kushner said “the relationship between Israel and America is stronger than ever and we really thank Prime Minister Netanyahu for his leadership and his partnership.”

On Thursday evening, dozens of Palestinians protested in Ramallah, chanting Kushner “is not welcome, the dog that serves Tel Aviv.”

On Tuesday, PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said decades of peace talks with Israel achieved “nothing.” He called on the international community to declare an independent Palestinian state - within pre-June 1967 borders, the only equitable solution.

As for prospects ahead from talks, Palestinian political analyst Omar al-Ghoul likely spoke for many others in the Territories, saying “(t)he level of optimism from the Palestinian leadership and people towards the Trump administration is zero. There is not a glimmer of hope the administration will change its politics and positions.”

Separately, in response to a report about the Trump administration and Israel blocking publication of a UN blacklist of companies with operations on stolen Palestinian land in illegal Israeli settlements, PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi called the action “morally repugnant,” adding:

It “exposes the complicity of Israeli and international businesses in Israel’s military occupation and the colonization of Palestinian land.”

“This is a clear indication of Israel’s persistent impunity and sense of entitlement and privilege.”

She called settlements on stolen Palestinian land a “war crime,” stressing “(a)ny company that chooses to do business in the illegal settlements becomes complicit in the crime and therefore liable to judicial accountability.”

A UN database of companies operating in Israeli settlements was prepared last year. The Trump administration and Israel want them not identified in a published report.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman)

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."