translated from Spanish: Palestinian businessman rejects taboos and welcomes US plan

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian businessman who ignores political taboos by working with Israeli settlers in the West Bank could soon play a role in American President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. Although the authorities Palestinians have refused to attend the Middle East Conference scheduled for next month in Bahrain, Ashraf Jabari says he will be delighted to go. Jabari has forged close relations with American diplomats, but is seen with deep distrust by the Palestinians. This has raised questions about America’s attempts to use it and other employers as alternatives to the Palestinian Authority, which is internationally recognized. So far, the United States has not published an official list of people attending the June 25th and 26th Conference, which seeks to use economic development to lure Palestinians into negotiations. The US authorities have said that counting on the presence of business leaders would be desirable, including some Palestinians living outside the territory.

“Our economic plan is an ambitious but attainable vision. It presents an alternative path with the potential to unlock a prosperous future for Palestinians if they choose to follow it, “said Jason Greenblatt, the envoy in the Middle East of the Government of Trump.La Palestinian Authority has said that any plan that is approached In economic development at the expense of political aspirations is unacceptable. The well-known Palestinian tycoon Bashar Masri, for example, declined the invitation to the Conference and promised that he will not attend any event that goes against the “Palestinian national consensus.” Palestinians seek to form an independent state in territories captured by Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, including the West Bank and Israel. The international community continues to support the proposed two-state solution. But Jabari said it’s time for another kind of thought and pointed to the failed negotiations of the last quarter of a century. ” No Israeli prime minister is going to meet Palestinian demands or vice versa, “the employer commented to The Associated Press. “We can’t keep waiting for a state. We have to think of this area as an entity, not as two entities and two realities. ”

Original source in Spanish