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Source: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1520141/middle-east
Kushner: Palestinians Let Down by Their Leaders
(Arab News-Saudi Arabia) Ray Hanania - White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner on Wednesday cautioned against "misunderstandings" about the purpose of the "Peace to Prosperity" conference last week in Bahrain. During a teleconference with Arab journalists, Kushner stressed that the "economic plan" was an incentive and a foundation for a "political plan" to be outlined later in the year. "This is a big plan and we don't want to start until there is an actual peace understanding that is fair and viable," he said. "There is no plan to make these investments before achieving political progress." "With regards to the Palestinian leadership...I think they made a strategic mistake by not engaging on this. They looked very foolish by trying to fight against this....Their natural response is to attack and say crazy things and, quite frankly, we don't find that to be terribly constructive....Our door is always open to the Palestinian people and to the Palestinian leadership. Whether they are willing to take that opportunity will be up to them." Kushner explained that the Arab world "failed" by not absorbing the nearly 800,000 Palestinian refugees following the 1948 war, while Israel absorbed 800,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries. He added that African-American leaders have approached him asking that if the Palestinians reject the $50 billion laid out in the Peace to Prosperity plan, that the money be given to African nations to address their economic concerns.