Watch: Kushner opens controversial workshop on Middle East peace amidst Palestinian boycott
President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner opened the first day of a controversial peace conference in Bahrain to gain support for the first stage of a US-backed Middle East peace plan. Kushner has been the main driver of the €43 billion euro package ($50 billion). The proposal is to encourage investment in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Kushner talked about creating better lives for Palestinians while discussing how to create investment in the region. "Today is not about the political issues. We'll get to those at the right time," Kushner said, all while admitting that without a political resolution to the conflict, economic prosperity would not be possible. "Some people have mockingly called this effort the deal of the century," Kushner said but "this effort is better referred to as the opportunity of the century". High-level Palestinian officials present in Bahrain and Israeli officials are not attending and many Palestinian business leaders said they would boycott the workshop. The second part of the plan, dealing with tougher political issues, will not be released until later. Protests Palestinian refugees in Ain-el-Hilweh camp demonstrated in Lebanon, and there were demonstrations outside the United Nations headquarters in protest against Washington's Middle East peace plan. Protesters took to the streets in the West Bank and Gaza, decrying the US and Israel. 'Half baked plan' Euronews spoke with Professor Yossi Mekelberg from Regent's University in London and he said, "By the time Israel forms a coalition United States is starting its own election year and the division between Gaza and the West Bank - how is all of this going to be implemented. Who is going to be the guardians of the implementation of this? This is at best not even a half baked plan." Watch the interview with Professor Mekelberg by clicking on the player above.
