Which is Palestinian
and which is Jordanian?
On the same day Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, delivered a speech in Tel Aviv where he declared that Jordan is indeed the state of the Palestinians, the Argentinean government also made a declaration, it said it recognized a Palestinian state in pre-1967 borders of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Both statements caused a stir in many places around the world.
PVV Dutch MP, Geert Wilders:
gJordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.h
In light of the far reaching ramifications of both statements, they should be then scrutinized for their veracity and historical factuality. First of all, is Jordan a Palestinian state? When looking at the map of the British mandate for what was known then as gPalestineh, it becomes quite clear what area was originally earmarked for the Jewish homeland.
At the end of the First World War, the division of responsibilities for the administering of the Middle East areas fell to the various Western powers victorious over the Ottoman Turks, as mandates, under the auspices of the League of Nations, it was during that time that the famous Balfour Declaration was made:
November 2nd, 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majestyfs Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
gHis Majestyfs Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.h
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour
The Balfour Declaration was accepted by the British Mandate in 1917, which then became subject to aWhite Paper that many believe reneged on itfs earlier promise, that being a commitment to allowing Jews a homeland. But the paper did insist however that:
gthe Jewish community should know that it is in Palestine as of right and not on the sufferance. That is the reason why it is necessary that the existence of a Jewish National Home in Palestine should be internationally guaranteed, and that it should be formally recognized to rest upon ancient historic connection.h
Palestine Facts states that: gThe area of the Mandate was originally 118,000 square kilometers (about 45,000 square miles). In 1921, Britain took the 91,000 square kilometers of the Palestine Mandate east of the Jordan River, and created Trans-Jordan (later the Arab country of Jordan) as a new Arab protectorate. Jews were barred by law from living or owning property east of the Jordan river, even though that land was over three-fourths of the original Mandate.h
A Jordanian State stamp dating from 1964, bearing the likeness of King Hussein and pictures Mandated Palestine as an undivided territory
The Arab official line before a gtwo state solutionh became stated policy of Israel and the West, was that the people in Trans-Jordan cum Jordan were indivisible from those Arabs inside Israel proper, Judea and Samaria. In fact there are statements by leading Arabs buttressing the notion that indeed: Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.
This is the royal decree and sentiments of two of the kings of Jordan.
gPalestine and Jordan are onech said King Abdullah in 1948.
gThe truth is that Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan,h said King Hussein of Jordan, in 1981.
gPalestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine; there is only one land, with one history and one and the same fate,h Prince Hassan of the Jordanian National Assembly was quoted as saying on February 2, 1970.
Abdul Hamid Sharif, Prime Minister of Jordan declared, in 1980, gThe Palestinians and Jordanians do not belong to different nationalities. They hold the same Jordanian passports, are Arabs and have the same Jordanian culture.h
What are we to conclude from this other than the historical perspective at the time, that being, they (the Arabs) saw themselves as being part of Palestine/Palestinian. Around 70% of the Jordanian population today, still see themselves as Palestinians. Even Yasser Arafat and his PLO thugs looked to Jordan as being a part of their homeland.
Abu Toameh:When the PLO tried to establish a state-within-a-state in the kingdom in the late 60s and early 70s, Jordanfs King Hussein ordered the army to launch a massive assault on the refugee camps in the kingdom, massacring thousands of Palestinians in what has since become to be known as Black September.
The Palestinians who were expelled from Jordan to Lebanon later played a major role in the Lebanese civil war. Over 100,000 people are believed to have been killed in that war, which lasted for more than a decade.
Lets face facts, the three state solution has become an intractable mess, there is no room for budging on the Israeli side, every square centimeter given to these Arabs as a permanent part of a second Palestinian state, spells trouble for the Jewish state as itfs used as a launching pad for further aggression against it.
The Palestinians (which used to mean Jews in Palestine before Israel became a state) are not able to form a state for themselves, because they refuse to accept the responsibility for actually running it. They have proven themselves to be more comfortable in accepting massive amounts of foreign aid, while they continually try to chip away at Israeli legitimacy on the world stage.
Time to end the pretending that these Arabs are really serious about wanting a state of their own, and accept the fact that itfs the massive amounts of foreign aid that really interests them most, as well as the hope of one day getting rid of the highly successful Jewish one. KGS
