By David Singer ——Bio and Archives--April 15, 2018
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"the Jordanians and Palestinians are now one people, and no political loyalty, however strong, will separate them permanently."Abbas told the Ramallah Conference:
"In Palestine and Jordan, we are one people in two states and we will never accept an alternative homeland."Abbas's statement mirrored PLO founder Yasser Arafat's in Der Spiegel in 1986:
"Jordanians and Palestinians are indeed one people. No one can divide us. We have the same fate."Farouk Kadoumi - the Head of the Political Department of the PLO - told Newsweek on 14 March 1977:
"Jordanians and Palestinians are considered by the PLO as one people."Alleging flagrant bias towards Israel by the Trump Administration--Abbas defiantly declared:
"We are not expecting anything from them. We won't accept anything from them."Abbas is being incredibly naïve if he believes he can now convince the international community into accepting that one people needs two states--and that pursuing that goal should be internationally supported at the expense of achieving an end to a conflict that originated with the 1917 Balfour Declaration. Abbas's categorical rejection of an American role in ending the conflict by calling on the international community to help create a second Arab state in former Palestine--in addition to Jordan--has little chance of success.
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"the Palestinians should have a sovereign State which includes most of the Palestinians. It should be Jordan with a considerable part of the West Bank and Gaza. East of the Jordan River there is enough room to settle the Palestinian refugees"Such a solution - negotiated between Israel and Jordan under the framework of their 1994 Peace Treaty--would see continuing Hashemite rule in Jordan being backed by Israel and America - stability sadly lacking presently in many failed Arab States such as Syria and Libya. Abbas's Ramallah statement has presented Jordan with a stark choice - negotiate with Israel or continue supporting the PLO and face the prospect of another attempt to overthrow Jordan's ruling Hashemite dynasty. Jordan's decision should be a no-brainer. [Author's note: The cartoon - commissioned exclusively for this article--is by Yaakov Kirschen aka "Dry Bones"- one of Israel's foremost political and social commentators - whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades]
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David Singer is an Australian Lawyer, a Foundation Member of the International Analyst Network and Convenor of Jordan is Palestine International—an organization calling for sovereignty of the West Bank and Gaza to be allocated between Israel and Jordan as the two successor States to the Mandate for Palestine. Previous articles written by him can be found at: jordanispalestine.blogspot.com