Ted Belman has a solution for the Israel/(fake)Palestine
conflict that I find appealing. However, it’s solution that the Arabs
pretending to non-existent Palestinians and the Jordanian royal family will not
jump on board.
Belman joins the Jordan Opposition Coalition (JOC)
to propose allowing Arab Palestinians to emigrate to Jordan with full
citizenship making Jordan a Palestinian homeland and eliminate the governance
of the Hashemite Royal Family (Wikipedia [neutral], Family Security Matters [hostile],
Correct Islamic Faith International
Association [or CIFIA – Conspiracy]) and HistoryFile.co.uk
[Favorable History] that purports a family tree traced back to pseudo-prophet
Muhammad.
JRH 4/1/17
****************
The Ultimate
Alternate Israel-Palestine Solution
By Ted Belman
April 1, 2017 1:15 am ET
With a new U.S. president,
new ideas are emerging on how to resolve the Israel-Palestine debacle. One of
the most promising comes from the Jordanian Opposition Council who favor a new
Palestinian state — in Jordan.
The GOP unanimously approved a pro-Israel platform at their
convention in July 2016 which stipulated:
“The U.S. seeks to assist in the establishment of
comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, to be negotiated among
those living in the region,”
David Friedman and Jason Greenblatt, representing Donald
Trump, participated in the drafting and were in complete agreement with the
final text.
Gone was any reference to the Palestinian people or to a
two-state solution. In addition, the platform included the words “We
reject the false notion that Israel is an occupier.” If not an “occupier,” then
presumably Israel is a sovereign.
Accordingly, the search is on for an alternate solution.
Such a solution could take inspiration from the short-lived Feisal/Weizmann Agreement of 1919.
The essence of this agreement was that Palestine as it then was, was to be
divided into two states, one for the Arabs and one for the Jews. Chaim Weizmann
on behalf of the Jews agreed to help develop the Arab state and Emir Feisal
agreed to welcome Jewish settlement in the Jewish state and favored friendly
cooperative relations.
Although the British didn’t breathe life into this
agreement, they did separate Trans-Jordan from Palestine in 1922 with the
Jordan River being the boundary between them. Trans-Jordan (Jordan) thus got
78% of the lands promised to the Jews. The remaining 22% consisting of the land
between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean was to be the Jewish state. This
was enshrined in the Palestine Mandate signed by the League of Nations in 1922.
On June 30, 1922, a joint resolution of both Houses of Congress of
the United States unanimously endorsed the “Mandate for Palestine,” confirming
the irrevocable right of Jews to settle in Palestine—anywhere between the
Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
With respect to the Arabs living in Jewish Palestine, the Congressional Record contained
the following:
“(2) That if they will not consent
to Jewish government and domination, they shall be required to sell their lands
at a just valuation and retire into the Arab territory which has been assigned
to them by the League of Nations in the general reconstruction of the countries
of the east.
(3) That if they will not consent
to Jewish government and domination, under conditions of right and justice, or
to sell their lands at a just valuation and to retire into their own countries,
they shall be driven from Palestine by force.”
The US was not a member of the League of Nations at this
time. In order to be able to protect American interests in Palestine, she
entered into the 1924 Anglo-American Convention in
which the U.S. bound itself to the terms of the Mandate. This of course meant
the recognition of Jewish right to close settlement of Palestine and that all
of Palestine was to be the Jewish homeland.
Since then, there were a number of unsuccessful attempts,
contrary to the terms of the Mandate, to further divide Jewish Palestine into
two states. UN General Assembly Resolution 181, passed in 1947,
recommended partition, but was rejected by the Arabs. The Jews on the other
hand took advantage of it and declared their independence in 1948. Israel owes
its independence to that declaration and not to Resolution 181, which was only
a recommendation, precipitating the move.
Nothing has happened of any legal consequence since, to
cancel the right of the Jews to settle and be sovereign over all the land to
the Jordan River.
To date Israel has been reluctant to claim sovereignty over
these lands as the Arabs living there would then demand citizenship resulting
in a binational state. This is unacceptable to most Israelis. They also reject
the two-state solution.
So what is the alternative?
Consider for a moment, that if Jordan agrees to grant
citizenship to all Palestinians, as their law currently provides, and invites
the return of all of them to live and work in Jordan, the conflict would soon
be ended. While King Abdullah isn’t about to do so, the Jordan Opposition Coalition (JOC)
would. This coalition represents all opposition groups in Jordan that back a
secular state. The JOC since its creation six years ago has supported good
relations with Israel. It does not include groups that support terrorism. This
alliance has agreed to work together in order to form the government of Jordan
should King Abdullah abdicate. Although at least 75% of Jordanians are
Palestinians, the King has disenfranchised them to a great extent in favor of
the ethnic Hashemites and Bedouins.
The JOC has produced a detailed plan, Operation
“Jordan in Palestine,” which clearly identifies their goals and the
operational steps needed to implement their plan. Copies are available
upon request.
All that is necessary for this to come to pass is for the
U.S. to instruct the king, who currently spends most of his time outside
Jordan, to not return home. Then it would arrange for the Jordanian army, which
it controls, to support the next popular Palestinian uprising, and to designate
who among them would form the interim government.
The JOC, puts it this way:
This plan seeks to execute a
feasible two-state solution where Jordan is the natural homeland for all
Palestinians, and Israel becomes sovereign over all soil west to the River
Jordan. This could only happen if the corrupt, terror-supporting and
double-speaking Hashemite royal family leaves Jordan. The Palestinians often
revolt against the regime but the king’s police force puts them down. The
American media ignore this solution to the unrest in Jordan.
What is needed is for the U.S. to
influence the Jordanian army and security agency to stand with the revolution
the next time it breaks out. The security agencies and army are
already securing the country without any influence from the king who is mostly abroad. Under
these conditions, the king would not return. Once that happens an interim
government of secular Palestinians who want peace with Israel could be
appointed.
Once the interim government is
installed, it will strengthen the economy by stopping theft of government money
and ending corruption. It will fully enfranchise the Palestinians. All
Palestinians around the world would be welcomed to return to Jordan pursuant
the current Jordanian citizenship act, which already recognizes all Palestinians
as citizens of Jordan. Many Palestinians will emigrate to Jordan in part
because many have family members and friends living in Jordan. Work
opportunities as well as a rewarding benefits/welfare system will be made
available to them by the new interim government as further inducement.
Israel, with many international partners, including the
U.S., could finance the building of a new Jordanian city of 1 million people.
This would greatly stimulate the Jordanian economy and would provide work for
the returning Palestinians. The new homes could be made available to the
returnees and locals at subsidized prices further incentivizing people to
return. The ending of King Abdullah’s discrimination against Palestinians
living in Jordan, would also contribute to making Jordan a desired immigration
destination.
Michael Ross, a Republican, wrote after the election of
Donald Trump, “Trump Must Speak to Mudar Zahran” because
Zahran offers the alternate solution that Pres Trump is looking for.
As part of this solution, all Palestinian refugees enrolled
with UN Relief And Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East could
be repatriated to Jordan and given citizenship. Thus UNRWA could be wound up
and the current UNRWA funding could be transferred to Jordan to assist in the
resettlement.
According to Moshe Feiglin, the head of the Zehut Party in
Israel, the Oslo Accords have cost Israel over 1 trillion shekels since they
were signed. In addition, Israel has borne the cost of three military campaigns
in Gaza. Finally, Israel supplies to the Palestinians their energy, water and
sewage treatment for free or at greatly subsidized prices.
Last summer, Feiglin proposed a Solution in which Israel
extends Israeli law from the Mediterranean to the Jordan:
We will give the Arab population in
those territories three options: The first is voluntary emigration with the aid
of a generous emigration grant. The second is permanent residency, similar to
the “Green Card” status in the US – not like what is currently the practice in
East Jerusalem. This status will be offered to those Arabs who publicly declare
their loyalty to the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish Nation. We will
safeguard their human rights and will not do anything like we did to ourselves
in Gush Katif. The third option will be reserved for relatively few Arabs, and
only in accordance with Israeli interests. Those who tie their fate to the fate
of the Jewish Nation, like the Druze, can enter a long-term process of
attaining citizenship.
Martin Sherman has published a similar plan which he calls
the “Humanitarian Solution” as opposed to a strictly political solution. He
summarized all his writings in support of such a plan and published them here.
With an estimated $300,000 per family grant, both he and
Feiglin have estimated that incentivized compensated emigration will cost
Israel over $200 billion USD but both argue it is feasible and worth doing.
The repatriation of Palestinians to Jordan, as proposed by
JOC, would greatly facilitate the Palestinian emigration and greatly reduce the
grants needed to incentivize it. UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority would both
be wound up.
1.75 million Palestinians live in
Judea and Samaria (West Bank). The 800,000 Arabs in Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah,
and Bethlehem could remain there as Jorandian citizens. Ramallah is only 42
miles from Amman, the capital of Jordan. A new highway could be built
connecting all these cities to Amman. The rest would have to be transferred to
Jordan.
The 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, of which 1.3
million are registered as refugees, would be incentivized to emigrate to
Jordan. After enough leave, Israel could extend its sovereignty to Gaza thereby
ending that perennial problem.
Considering the subsidies that the West provides to UNRWA,
Gaza and the PA, this would be a bargain. Given that JOC has tied its fate to
Israel, Israel would be happy to contribute to such a solution as the present
conflict costs her hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
It really is that simple. There is much more that can
be said in support of it.
Prof. Hillel Frisch, a senior research associate at the
Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and Yitzhak Sokoloff, a fellow of the
Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies at Bar-Ilan University recently
wrote Trump and the Jordanian Option.
The inauguration of an American
administration uncommitted to the principle of an independent Palestinian state
provides Israel with the opportunity to advocate a long-term strategic vision
of building up a prosperous Jordan that could provide an alternative to the
model of a two-state solution based on the Palestinian Authority.
They are wrong to suggest that this can be done with King
Abdullah. I believe, as does the JOC, that the king is part of the problem and
must be replaced by Palestinians.
Gideon Saar, a touted future Prime Minister of Israel, in
his recent article, Goodbye Two-State Solution, wrote:
A Jordanian-Palestinian federative
solution would offer the Palestinians space in addition to their autonomy. We
could also consider adopting a joint Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian economic
framework. And there are many other ideas that could be constructed as a result
of quiet, serious work with the backing of a supportive US administration.
He is right but the ultimate alternate solution is the one
put forward by the JOC.
If anyone wants more information or can help this solution
get traction, please write me (tbelman3@gmail.com).
Addendum
David Singer suggested drawing a new border in the Israel
Jordan peace agreement. I suggest it should be here.
Shiloh and Beit El must remain in Israel yet they lie east
of the new road. In some place the new road can be moved a little to the west
if there are significant Arab populations to be included. And look at
Ariel. It too must be kept on the Israeli side. A very crooked road.
That’s why I came to the conclusion that maybe it’s better to move them all
out.
On second thought I have an alternate suggestion:
Rather than draw a new border,
transfer the 1.7 million Arabs in J&S and perhaps 100,000 from Jerusalem to
Jordan.
But leave the Arabs in Gaza.
Israel should put Jordan in power there even if she has to defeat Hamas to do
so.
Thus only 1.8 million Arabs from
J&S and east Jerusalem would have to move.
One more thing. We could build a
highway from Gaza to Jordan. This highway could be open to Egyptian traffic and
thus Egypt would finally have a land bridge to Jordan which they want. Jordan
would thus gain a port on the Mediterranean.
_____________________
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