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Palestinians and take part at ceremony honoring participants in the hunger strike with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in Gaza city on 21 May, 2012.
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Reintegrating Jordan and West Bank
15-11-2011,09:35
By Khalid Amayreh
It is widely hoped that the upcoming visit of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to Amman will open a new page in Jordanian-Palestinian relations. Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II, have repeatedly voiced of late their frustration and despair with regard to Israel's intransigence and anti-peace policies.
Israel, Jordanian leaders argue rather candidly, has already killed whatever remaining possibility for the creation of a viable and territorially contiguous Palestinian state on the West Bank.
Hence, the uneasy, shaky and inauthentic peace between Jordan and the Zionist regime is likely to suffer tremendously, if not fatally, as a result of the seemingly natural death of the overall moribund peace process.
Some observers and pundits, who want to retain the hope for a peaceful Middle East, might argue that it is too premature to issue a death certificate for the peace process.
These day-dreamers might argue that the world community is unlikely to allow a further deterioration of the already incendiary situation in the region, which would endanger global peace and security.
However nothing is further from the truth. The world community, including Israel's guardian-ally, the United States, is utterly unable to pressure Israel to return to the pre-1967 borders.
The same thing can, of course, be said about Europe. Indeed, if the world community is totally powerless to pressure Israel to freeze settlement expansion in the occupied territories for a few months, it will be futile to expect the international community to be able to force Israel to give up the occupied territories and dismantle the numerous Jewish colonies established on the West Bank since 1967.
This is not to mention other paramount issues such as the right of return for millions of Palestinians expelled from their ancestral homeland at the hands of Jewish invaders from Eastern Europe in 1948.
More to the point, Israel itself is becoming a full-fledged fascist, Talmudic state that resembles very much Nazi Germany in the early and mid 1930. This is quite clear from the newly-promulgated racist laws replacing some of the more liberal laws that have existed in the Jewish state.
Civil liberties and other freedoms are gradually but definitely being suffocated and liquidated in favor of draconian and discriminatory laws targeting liberals, human rights organizations and especially non-Jewish communities, e.g. Palestinians.
The current Israeli government, which is undoubtedly the most hawkish and fascist in Israel's history, is therefore an accurate reflection of the socio-political and religious currents in the Jewish state.
Hence, it is unlikely that a moderate or relatively moderate government will appear in Israel in the foreseeable future, e.g. a government that would agree to return to the 4th of June, 1967, and therefore make the establishment of a viable Palestinian state possible.
Therefore, it is extremely likely that Israel will continue to covet and threaten Jordan by promoting the false mantra that Jordan is Palestine and that the Palestinian question would have to be resolved at Jordan's expense.
There is no doubt that Jordan is extremely sensitive to Zionist whims in this regard. The late King Hussein probably thought that signing the Wadi Araba peace treaty with Israel would put an end to Israel's ambitions in Jordan.
However, he apparently was mistaken as these ambitions are deeply ingrained in the collective Zionist mindset.
Now, as Jordan's very existence and survival is being targeted by Israel, if only by effectively liquidating the Palestinian issue by way of expanding settlements and narrowing Palestinian horizons, Jordan must seek effective salvation strategies with clear-cut goals.
The Jordanian state and Palestinian people must therefore reintegrate themselves in a renewed common relationship based on steadfastness which would form a hard, insurmountable barrier impeding and repulsing any Zionist encroachment.
Some might think that the re-integration of Jordan and Palestinians would further vindicate Zionist propaganda that Jordan was a Palestinian state and that a second Palestinian state was therefore unneeded. But this is more of a defensive reflex in reaction to Zionist propaganda and disinformation than a rational, cool analysis of what ought to be done or not be done to counter the never-ending Jewish lebensraum ambitions.
The reintegration of Jordan and the Palestinian people would actually strengthen both sides rather than weaken them. In any case, both Jordanian and Palestinian nationalisms are parochial territorial nationalism that can and should be contained within the wider Arab-Islamic circle.
Disunity and chauvinism on both sides of the River will not bring about immunity against Zionist ambitions or any lasting strategic benefits to either Jordan or occupied Palestine. I believe the opposite is true.
Perhaps an initial step toward the rebuilding of Palestinian-Jordanian unity should take the form of re-granting Palestinians west of the river the Jordanian citizenship.
Such an audacious feat would be a huge asset for the Palestinian cause as it would show Israel that peace with any Arab state is impossible in the absence of a just and dignified resolution of the Palestinian issue.
With the Arab Spring creating new strategic formulas in this region, it is time Jordan explored new policies to replace the old policies of placating Israel .
Hence, we do hope that Mashaal's visit to Amman will go beyond pleasantries and protocol ceremonies and lay the foundation for a new strategic relations between the brothers on both sides of the river.
In any case, Jordan would have to seriously rethink having active relations with Israel , the Nazi-like state that is trying to liquidate the Palestinian cause at Jordan 's expense and obliterate the Arab-Islamic identity of Jerusalem .
And in case Jordan views relations with the Zio-Nazi entity as a paramount national Jordanian interest, this should never be at the expense of the umbilical ties with the Palestinian people and their enduring just cause.
In the final analysis, the Palestinian cause is and must always be a pan-Arab, pan-Islamic cause.
Israel, Jordanian leaders argue rather candidly, has already killed whatever remaining possibility for the creation of a viable and territorially contiguous Palestinian state on the West Bank.
Hence, the uneasy, shaky and inauthentic peace between Jordan and the Zionist regime is likely to suffer tremendously, if not fatally, as a result of the seemingly natural death of the overall moribund peace process.
Some observers and pundits, who want to retain the hope for a peaceful Middle East, might argue that it is too premature to issue a death certificate for the peace process.
These day-dreamers might argue that the world community is unlikely to allow a further deterioration of the already incendiary situation in the region, which would endanger global peace and security.
However nothing is further from the truth. The world community, including Israel's guardian-ally, the United States, is utterly unable to pressure Israel to return to the pre-1967 borders.
The same thing can, of course, be said about Europe. Indeed, if the world community is totally powerless to pressure Israel to freeze settlement expansion in the occupied territories for a few months, it will be futile to expect the international community to be able to force Israel to give up the occupied territories and dismantle the numerous Jewish colonies established on the West Bank since 1967.
This is not to mention other paramount issues such as the right of return for millions of Palestinians expelled from their ancestral homeland at the hands of Jewish invaders from Eastern Europe in 1948.
More to the point, Israel itself is becoming a full-fledged fascist, Talmudic state that resembles very much Nazi Germany in the early and mid 1930. This is quite clear from the newly-promulgated racist laws replacing some of the more liberal laws that have existed in the Jewish state.
Civil liberties and other freedoms are gradually but definitely being suffocated and liquidated in favor of draconian and discriminatory laws targeting liberals, human rights organizations and especially non-Jewish communities, e.g. Palestinians.
The current Israeli government, which is undoubtedly the most hawkish and fascist in Israel's history, is therefore an accurate reflection of the socio-political and religious currents in the Jewish state.
Hence, it is unlikely that a moderate or relatively moderate government will appear in Israel in the foreseeable future, e.g. a government that would agree to return to the 4th of June, 1967, and therefore make the establishment of a viable Palestinian state possible.
Therefore, it is extremely likely that Israel will continue to covet and threaten Jordan by promoting the false mantra that Jordan is Palestine and that the Palestinian question would have to be resolved at Jordan's expense.
There is no doubt that Jordan is extremely sensitive to Zionist whims in this regard. The late King Hussein probably thought that signing the Wadi Araba peace treaty with Israel would put an end to Israel's ambitions in Jordan.
However, he apparently was mistaken as these ambitions are deeply ingrained in the collective Zionist mindset.
Now, as Jordan's very existence and survival is being targeted by Israel, if only by effectively liquidating the Palestinian issue by way of expanding settlements and narrowing Palestinian horizons, Jordan must seek effective salvation strategies with clear-cut goals.
The Jordanian state and Palestinian people must therefore reintegrate themselves in a renewed common relationship based on steadfastness which would form a hard, insurmountable barrier impeding and repulsing any Zionist encroachment.
Some might think that the re-integration of Jordan and Palestinians would further vindicate Zionist propaganda that Jordan was a Palestinian state and that a second Palestinian state was therefore unneeded. But this is more of a defensive reflex in reaction to Zionist propaganda and disinformation than a rational, cool analysis of what ought to be done or not be done to counter the never-ending Jewish lebensraum ambitions.
The reintegration of Jordan and the Palestinian people would actually strengthen both sides rather than weaken them. In any case, both Jordanian and Palestinian nationalisms are parochial territorial nationalism that can and should be contained within the wider Arab-Islamic circle.
Disunity and chauvinism on both sides of the River will not bring about immunity against Zionist ambitions or any lasting strategic benefits to either Jordan or occupied Palestine. I believe the opposite is true.
Perhaps an initial step toward the rebuilding of Palestinian-Jordanian unity should take the form of re-granting Palestinians west of the river the Jordanian citizenship.
Such an audacious feat would be a huge asset for the Palestinian cause as it would show Israel that peace with any Arab state is impossible in the absence of a just and dignified resolution of the Palestinian issue.
With the Arab Spring creating new strategic formulas in this region, it is time Jordan explored new policies to replace the old policies of placating Israel .
Hence, we do hope that Mashaal's visit to Amman will go beyond pleasantries and protocol ceremonies and lay the foundation for a new strategic relations between the brothers on both sides of the river.
In any case, Jordan would have to seriously rethink having active relations with Israel , the Nazi-like state that is trying to liquidate the Palestinian cause at Jordan 's expense and obliterate the Arab-Islamic identity of Jerusalem .
And in case Jordan views relations with the Zio-Nazi entity as a paramount national Jordanian interest, this should never be at the expense of the umbilical ties with the Palestinian people and their enduring just cause.
In the final analysis, the Palestinian cause is and must always be a pan-Arab, pan-Islamic cause.
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