John R. Houk, Editor
Intro posted July 12, 2017
British
Mandate for Palestine League of Nation Award 1920
Ted Belman proposes a concept of a Two-State Solution for
Israel and non-people Palestinians. The proposal is actually closer to a
One-State Solution, but you decide.
Belman takes his cue from the Jordanian political opposition
Jordan’s Hashemite Monarch King Abdullah II. Those that oppose their king are
known as Jordanian Opposition Coalition
(JOC) [SEE ALSO HERE]. The JOC suggests that
the people who call themselves Palestinians should abandon their Islamic
terrorist leadership and move to Jordan. Jordan would then take on the aegis as
the Arab State originally set up by the League of Nations way back when Britain was given the Mandate for Palestine
back in 1922. [This should be of interest to the formation of the British
Mandate for Palestine leading to the British shaft of Jews, creation of modern
Israel and Arab hatred of Jewish Israel: HERE, HERE, HERE AND HERE.
The thing that Ted Belman and the JOC don’t specifically
bring up is that it is unlikely that Jordan’s King Abdullah II is unlikely to
allow non-Hashemite supporting Arabs into his nation without a fight. Keep in
mind that in the 1970s the PLO’s Yasser Arafat tried to dethrone Abdullah II’s
father King Hussein in a civil war that the loyal Jordanian army won
and gave Arafat and his PLO Islamic terrorists the boot.
British
Mandate for Palestine 1923
JRH 7/12/17
***************
The Ultimate Alternate Israel-Palestine Solution
By Ted Belman
July 4, 2017
Email Alert Sent 7/11/2017
12:31 PM
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 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
Greenberg, 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 King 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.” [Blog Editor: Bold
Emphasis Mine]
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, Moshe
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 his 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). They
should be induced to emigrate to Jordan. The same goes for all
Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere.
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.
Currently the US gives $370
million to UNRWA, $300 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and $… to Jordan. The EU gives …. These monies
could be redirected to Jordan to kick start this repatriation. Others, including Israel could contribute. In time,
the US and EU subsidies could be phased out.
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).
NOTE:
After publishing this
article, I heard from a reader who had done considerable work on a plan of his
own similar to the Jordan Option described above. I spent many hours with
him discussing his research. We also met with a few movers and shakers in
Israel.
Whereas I merely suggested
the possibility of building a new Jordanian city to house one million people,
he went further and researched a location for such a city and researched the
cost of housing in Jordan.
According to his research, an
800 sq ft apartment in Jordan costs $40,000. Thus if 2 million
Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the camps could be induced to move
to Jordan, 400,000 homes (5 people per family) would be needed costing $16
billion; a far cry from the $200 Billion needed to induce emigration according
to Feiglin and Sherman. These homes can be given to the Palestinians, free of
charge.
Based on the enormous benefit
caused by the plan to the Jordanian economy Abdullah can be convinced to invite
all Palestinians to return to Jordan just as the JOC plans to do if they get
into power. Most people believe that Abdullah would never do it. But due
to the poor Jordanian economy he could be forced to do it
Prof Hillel Frisch, BESA, agrees. He recently wrote, Becoming Part of Jordan and Egypt: A Palestinian Economic Imperative which
included this summary:
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY: Reintegrating into the
Jordanian state is an economic imperative for the Arab inhabitants of the
Palestinian Authority. Only by once again becoming citizens of Jordan will they
be able to challenge the economic stone wall imposed by domestic Jordanian economic
lobby groups barring West Bank exports. A two-state solution would lead, not to
an economy of peace, but to an economy of violence as lobby groups in both
Israel and Jordan shut out the Palestinian state’s exports. The Palestinian
state would inevitably react by threatening and committing violence to extract
the international aid to which the PA has become accustomed.
This reader also makes the
novel suggestion that Israel can offer a water incentive to Jordan tied to the
number of immigrants it absorbs. This would increase the water supply to Jordan
and lower the cost per litre. More on this later.
When presenting this plan to
others, many mention that US Congressmen love King Abdulla. That may be so but
they are ill informed. Recently Edy Cohen of BESA wrote Sorry but Jordan is not a friend?
Gaza and Egypt
Independent of this proposal
or perhaps in tandem with it the same opportunity exists for helping all Gazans
to emigrate to Egypt. There are approximately 1.5 million Gazans living in Gaza
and the average family size is 6. Thus 250,000 apartments are required.
An 800 sq. ft. apartment in
the new cities adjacent to Cairo that would accommodate 15 million people, costs
about $16,000 USD: i.e, half the Jordan cost. This adds up to $4 billion USD.
Thus the Gazans would need
only 10% of those homes. A 10 year plan would mean that 150,000 Gazans would
emigrate there every year. This represents just 0.16% of the population of
Egypt.1.5 million Gazans represent only 1.6% of the Egyptian population.
Other incentives might be
pensions and welfare payments financed by the international community.
Considering how much it costs
the EU and the US to support the current wave of migrants to their shores, this
could well be a model for them to consider, i.e., a “Marshall Plan” for the
Middle East as a means to get the migrants to stay where they are.
The obvious question is why
would al Sisi agree to this, given how much trouble he is now having with Hamas
that rules Gaza and is perceived as a threat to Egypt along with ISIS.
The obvious answer is that al
Sisi needs help to meet its financial obligations and its security threats
emanating from the Sinai and from Libya. The international community could
provide that help.
Given that Saudi Arabia and
other gulf states have started an initiative at Pres Trump’s urging, to stop
the flow of funds to terrorists. They have severed relations with Qatar one of
the biggest funders of terror demanding that it cease and desist.
Specifically, they have demanded that Qatar stop funding
Hamas.
Thus if Hamas is starved for
money they will be less of a threat to Egypt too.
The reader above mentioned,
is currently preparing a report in support of his Plan. It is 25 pages long and
when completed in a few weeks will approach 35 pages. This Plan will make the
case for why this is in the best interest of the US too.
_____________
Intro to ‘The Ultimate Alternate Israel-Palestine Solution’
John R. Houk, Editor
Intro posted July 12, 2017
_______________
The Ultimate Alternate Israel-Palestine Solution
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