President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” initiative could rival the United Nations and mediate in other global conflicts, reported Middle East Eye, yesterday based on what it said was the text of the board’s charter, which MEE published separately. The text makes no mention of Gaza, for which it was ostensibly conceived to deal with, and instead calls for a “more nimble and effective international peace-building body,” suggesting its scope could be far broader. “The Board of Peace is an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” the charter says.
The charter gives Trump wide-ranging powers as chair of the Board of Peace, allowing him to appoint as well as remove member states—a decision that can only be overturned by a two-thirds majority of members. Countries that join the board will serve a limited three-year term unless they contribute over $1bn within the first year of its operations, the charter says.
The two executive committees that the White House announced last Friday sit below the peace board. MEE notes that the announcements immediately attracted criticism from Palestinian analysts and rights groups who highlighted that none of its senior members are Palestinian and nearly all of the men were closely aligned with Israel.
