TRUMP’S BOARD OF PEACE AND WHAT IT COULD MEAN FOR PALESTINE’S FUTURE |
When international initiatives on Palestine are unveiled in places like Davos, they arrive wrapped in the language of inevitability.
Peace is framed as a technical challenge, solvable by panels, frameworks and carefully managed consensus.
The ‘Board of Peace’ launched this week at the World Economic Forum is the latest attempt to impose momentum on a conflict that has outlasted generations.
For Palestinians, such moments are not new. They are familiar episodes in a long history of externally designed “solutions” — many of which promised statehood, stability or prosperity, yet delivered prolonged occupation, fragmented sovereignty and the management of injustice rather than its resolution.
Any serious assessment of the Board of Peace must therefore begin not with its aspirations, but with the political record it inherits.
US President Donald Trump launched the Board of Peace as a body intended to resolve international conflicts, with a reported $1 billion price tag for permanent membership.
The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, yet a draft of its charter does not appear to limit its role to Palestinian territory.
A senior White House official has said that around 35 countries – including Türkiye – have so far committed to joining, out of roughly 50 invitations sent.
These details matter. They clarify that the Board of Peace is not merely a humanitarian mechanism focused narrowly on Gaza, but an emerging political structure with broader ambitions and a membership shaped by power, access and alignment.
Peace by peace
Peace processes are never neutral. They reflect the balance of power and political priorities present at their creation, and this one is no exception.
The composition of the board deepens this concern. Among the states reported to be participating are Israel and several key US allies in the Middle East, alongside other........