Jordan Is it or is it not Palestine?

Jordan Is it or is it not Palestine?


The world has been surprised recently by Jordan's King Hussein severing his and his country's involvement with the Palestinian Arabs of Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank") and by thus exacerbating the political vacuum in the area. In the "washing his hands" of the problems of this area and its inhabitants, the king made the statement, "Jordan is not Palestine!"

What are the facts?

What does King Hussein mean by this statement? In order to understand King Hussein's statement, a review of Jordan's history is in order. It is a short one. The country is an artificial creation of the British. Before World War I, the area now known as the "Middle East" was part of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. The French and British defeated the Turks, drove them out of the area, and split it between themselves. The French took what are now Syria and Lebanon as their "sphere of influence;" the British took Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and the Arabian peninsula. Two tribal Arabian chieftains were allied with Britain against the Turks and needed to be rewarded: Ibn Saud of the Saudi tribes, and Abdullah and Feisal of the Hashemites. The Saudis got the Arabian peninsula and made it into the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Hashemites had to be transplanted for their reward. Feisal was given the throne of Iraq -- an established though disarrayed country. But nothing was left for his cousin Abdullah who had also been promised a kingdom. What to do?

In 1917, Britain had issued the Balfour Declaration, a statement expressing Britain's promise for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In 1922, the League of Nations granted Britain the mandate over Palestine, specifically including the requirements of the Balfour Declaration for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Since Biblical times, under the Ottomans and under the British mandate, the country now called "Palestine" always included the area now occupied by Israel (including the "West Bank"), Gaza and Jordan. In order to satisfy the branch of the Hashemites that was left without a kingdom, the British drew a few lines on the map and granted the entire area east of the Jordan River -- close to 80% of mandated Palestine -- as a kingdom to Abdullah. The Jewish homeland, promised in the Balfour Declaration by the same British, was reduced to a mere one-fifth of its original size. Transjordan (as the new country was called), an artificial state with an alien ruling dynasty, attained its independence from Britain in 1946.

In 1947, the British having relinquished the Palestine mandate, the U.N. proposed a plan under which the just over 20% remnant of Palestine was to be further divided between the Arabs living in the area and the Jews. Such was the desire of the Jews to get their homeland, and so great the need to gather what was left of European Jewry after the Holocaust, that they accepted this further partition. The Arabs flatly refused. When Israel declared its independence in 1948, five Arab armies invaded it on the very day of its birth. Transjordan's army, led by British officers, was among them. The Israelis defeated all five armies. Egypt managed to hang on to Gaza, and Transjordan to the "West Bank" and the eastern sector of Jerusalem. Transjordan promptly renamed itself Jordan, proceeded to annex the area and to keep it an integral part of its kingdom. All inhabitants became Jordanian subjects.

Hussein's fatal mistake. In 1967, Hussein made the fatal mistake of his kingly career by allowing himself to be seduced into joining the Six Day War. All Arab armies were devastated. Israel regained the "West Bank." Pending final disposition of the area, Israel has administered it ever since. The inhabitants retained Jordanian citizenship. Israel allowed Jordan to stay in control of the judicial and religious systems, of the schools, and of the local administrative networks.

The Jordanians, of course, are the real Palestinian Arabs. Over 70% of the 2.8 million population of the kingdom are Palestinian Arabs. The Arabs of Jordan are exactly the same people as the Arabs living in the "West Bank" -- as alike as Americans from Iowa and from Wisconsin. There is no difference between them in language, ethnicity or social customs. Before the Six Day war, the concept of a second Palestinian state located in the "West Bank" had never occurred to anybody. Because the Palestinians, whose national identity is acknowledged by the Israelis, do have a country. It's Jordan. Over 2 million Palestinians live in Jordan, and only 800,000 in the territories administered by Israel. Do they need another country? Of course not! The Hungarians living in Rumania don't have another country; neither do the Turks living in Bulgaria, nor do the Swedes living in Finland. Then why should the Jordanians/Palestinians living in the territories administered by Israel have another country, since they have a country of their own right next door? It makes no difference what King Hussein says. Jordan is and always has been Palestine. His saying "it is not so" does not change that at all.  

One wonders why King Hussein would abdicate his "rights" to the area west of the Jordan River, and why he is apparently cutting its 800,000 inhabitants loose and leaving the field open to Israel and the PLO. The King is a clever man and a survivor. He has come to realize that he already has 2 million Palestinians in Jordan. They owe him little loyalty and are in almost constant rebellion. Only recently, thousands of them have been arrested in riots and public disorders and scores have been killed. (In contrast to what happens in Israel, media are not allowed to cover these events.) It's clear now to King Hussein that if 800,000 Arab Palestinians from the "West Bank" were to form an independent PLO state, they would seek union with their brethren in Jordan. But that union would not be under King Hussein — it would be under the PLO. And that would be the end of King Hussein and of the Hashemite dynasty. Whatever statement King Hussein wishes to make: It is clear — historically, socially, and by common sense that — Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.

“Violence is inherent in Islam – it’s a destructive, nihilistic cult of death. It legitimates murder. The police may foil plots and freeze bank accounts in the short term, but the battle against terrorism will ultimately be lost unless we realize that it’s not just with extremist elements within Islam, but the ideology of Islam itself….Islam is the new fascism” (London Evening Standard, 2-7-07). Rogier van Bakel quotes her as follows: “Jews should be proselytizing about a God that you can quarrel with. Catholics should be proselytizing about a God who is love….Those are lovely concepts of God. They can’t compare to the fire-breathing Allah who inspires jihadism and totalitarianism.” Van Bakel notes religions’ ability to bring about change for good: “Do you think Islam could bring about similar social and political changes?” Ms. Hirsi Ali responds, “Only if Islam is defeated.” Van Bakel asks, “Don’t you mean defeating radical Islam?” To that she responds, “No. Islam, period.” (Reason, 11-07)

Palestinians teach their children that they must sacrifice themselves for “the homeland.”
With this mentality, you can imagine how the entire culture, from small children all the way up to 92 year-old grandmothers, unabashedly praise the massacres against Jews which have taken place in the past, and they pray for more to come. Hating Jews is perfectly normal when they are speaking Arabic. It only changes to “Zionists” when they are speaking English and hoping to gain support from the Western world. Either way, it is a culture where hatred and violence prevail. Calling suicide bombers who killed innocent Israeli civilians “martyrs” and naming streets after them as if they’re some kind of heroes is a perfect example. It should be a wake-up call to the rest of the world that these people are not victims but hate-mongering murderers.
YJ Draiman.

Israel is obligated to protect the safety of its citizens.

The Arab-Palestinian government is “a sadistic terrorist gang.”

The disparate political factions Fatah and Hamas.

Hamas, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, kidnapped the teenagers. Hamas is a jihadist movement recognized by the US State Department and the EU as a foreign terrorist organization.

Its declared goal is the genocide of world Jewry. And to advance its aim, it has murdered Jews, and incited, trained and indoctrinated Palestinians to murder Jews every single day since it was founded in 1988.

As for Fatah, since Frankel, Shaer and Yifrach were taken on Thursday night, Fatah has glorified and celebrated their capture on its official Facebook page and its official newspaper. Fatah’s Facebook page depicted the boys as rats, reeled in by a fishing pole.

The Palestinian Authority’s daily newspaper Al Hayat al Jadida published a mock World Cup logo in which three hands held three people who held their hands up in surrender.

And Fatah activists posted a revealing directive on Facebook after the boys were abducted.

No, Abbas’s “moderate” faction of the Palestinian unity government, so energetically supported by the US, the EU and the western media, did not call for the public to quit celebrating the abduction.

The Fatah activists called for shopkeepers in the vicinity of the kidnapping to destroy any footage their security cameras filmed in the 24 hours following the operation to prevent the IDF from seizing the footage and using it in its efforts to locate the boys.

That makes Fatah an accessory after the fact to the attack. And yes, that means that the PA – which is comprised of Fatah and Hamas – is in fact one great big terrorist organization.

After Security forces finish with Judea and Samaria, It is time to destroy Hamas in Gaza once and for all, enough playing the limited response. Israelis deserve to walk around without fear of missiles or vilence. Israel has an obligation to protect its population at all costs.

Palestinians teach their children that they must sacrifice themselves for “the homeland.”
With this mentality, you can imagine how the entire culture, from small children all the way up to 92 year-old grandmothers, unabashedly praise the massacres against Jews which have taken place in the past, and they pray for more to come. Hating Jews is perfectly normal when they are speaking Arabic. It only changes to “Zionists” when they are speaking English and hoping to gain support from the Western world. Either way, it is a culture where hatred and violence prevail. Calling suicide bombers who killed innocent Israeli civilians “martyrs” and naming streets after them as if they’re some kind of heroes is a perfect example. It should be a wake-up call to the rest of the world that these people are not victims but hate-mongering murderers.

You reap what you saw

“You reap what you sow” means that there is an effect for everything people do or say, and that the effort a person puts into something will be rewarded appropriately.

When the Arabs teach hate and destruction to their kids and adults, this is the result.

The world, not only Israel must eradicate terrorism at all costs.

It is up to the Arab population to rise up and remove its destructive and corrupt leadership.  I feel bad for the innocents.

YJ Draiman

I envy your outlook. I hope you are right against all odds - history has proven otherwise.

Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you have always done evil.

This applies to Hamas, Fattah and all current terrorist organizations.

All they know is terror, abuse, blowing themselves-up in a crowded area, hijacking planes, kidnapping and anything evil.

They would have to prove themselves first, before I would believe it.

It is a known fact that if there was a true and lasting peace in Israel and its Arab neighbors.

There would be one of the most successful economic boom the world has ever seen, This would benefit both sides.

All you have to do is utilize Israeli technology and know-how, combine it with Arab natural resources and labor, and you have the most robust economy in the world and a high standard of living.

YJ Draiman.

You reap what you saw
“You reap what you sow” means that there is an effect for everything people do or say, and that the effort a person puts into something will be rewarded appropriately.

When the Arabs teach hate and destruction to their kids and adults, this is the result.

The world, not only Israel must eradicate terrorism at all costs.

It is up to the Arab population to rise up and remove its destructive and corrupt leadership. I feel bad for the innocents.

YJ Draiman.

Where is the lack of response from the international community re: Palestine? Seriously? There is no possible way to dignify that statement. While I continue to pray for the safe return of our boys, I am encouraged that at least Israel (perhaps the only country in the entire world right now) is doing exactly what is needed to eradicate terrorism in the region. It has not gone far enough or wide enough yet, i Dr. Jacques Gauthier: Sovereignty over Jerusalem and Its Old City

The central point of the lecture was to distinguish between political rights and legal rights. Legal rights are binding, and Gauthier's thesis claims that the Jewish people were given legal rights to Jerusalem through the formalization of the Balfour Declaration of the San Remo Conference by the Supreme Council of Nations, which was the precursor to the League of Nations, and the United Nations. Gauthier invoked the legal principle of "la chose jugée" (judged issue) in his discussion of how all legal rights and claims recognized by the Supreme Council became irreversible, binding forever in a "sacred trust", and could not be changed with further legislation by the creation of the League of Nations that followed, and the UN after that.

• A solution to the issue of sovereignty over Jerusalem must be made in order for peace to be achieved
• Israel has claimed sovereignty over all of Jerusalem; the Palestinian Authority has claimed sovereignty over East Jerusalem (including the Old City)
• The Green Line is from a 1949 Armistice Agreement between Israel and Jordan
• Based on the Green Line, if Israel were divided today, the western part of Jerusalem would go to Israel, and East Jerusalem and the Old City would go to Palestine
• Maps from the 1^st Century CE and onward show that the borders of Jerusalem have remained almost identical up to today
• It is important to distinguish between legal and non-legal claims
• Herzl, 1896
• Published his thesis, The Jewish State
• In 1897, organized the first Zionist Conference in Basil

• Balfour Declaration, 1917
• Turning point of legal rights of Jews over Palestine
• Approved by the British War Cabinet during World War I
• Britain was reaching out for Jewish support and made a binding commitment to help establish a Jewish state in Palestine

• Paris Peace Conference, 1919
• Five nations formed the Supreme Council of Allied Powers – United States, Britain, Italy, France, Japan
• Listened to different country claims over the defeated nations
• Zionist organization presented their statement of claim (political document), stating what they wanted recognized by the Supreme Council
• The Jews wanted a state, a home, and independence in due course
• Wanted Britain as their trustee, to help them until they were in a position to declare independence
• Weizman presented at the conference an request for recognition of the Jewish title to Palestine and the right of the Jews to reconstitute their national home in Palestine

• Arab delegation
• Represented by the Hashemite family (controlled Mecca)

• The Arab and Jewish delegations met before the conference. The Arabs agreed to support the Jewish claim to Palestine if the Jews helped the Arabs achieve independence

• Article 22 of the League of Nations
• Refers to territories that are not ready to govern themselves
• Victors of the war set up mandates (trusts) over these territories

• Every treaty signed at the Paris conference dealt with rights and titles; the defeated nations had to renounce their rights and title to the victors
• This was binding by international law

• San Remo, Italy, 1920
• The Supreme Council did not have time at the Paris conference to make a decision regarding the Ottoman territories
• Came to San Remo to make this decision
• April 25, 1920: Decided to give recognition to the title of the Jewish claim over Palestine and to the Arab claim over Mesopotamia (Iraq)
• Mandate for Palestine – political rights given to the Jewish people, and civil rights were given to the current inhabitants
• Preamble recognizes the Jewish connection to Palestine and the grounds for the Jews to reconstitute their national homeland in Palestine
• This turns the political claim of the Balfour Declaration into a legal claim
• 14 million Jews were deemed to have rights in Palestine if they chose to immigrate

• 1921: The Hashemites became angered by the French. To appease them, the British give the Hashemites the throne over Iraq and the throne of Trans-Jordan.
• The land that had been granted to the Jews was divided up, the western portion became Trans-Jordan
• Britain pledges support in establishing a Jewish state with the remaining land

• Partition Resolution, 1947, by the General Assembly of the UN
• Not binding
• The Jews accept the Partition Resolution (West Palestine would become an Arab state, Jerusalem would be an international city)
• As part of the Resolution, a referendum would occur after 10 years to modify the rights to Jerusalem

• The Jewish people are not occupiers of Jerusalem because they were given the right to establish themselves there
• Conclusion: From the perspective of international law, there are binding decisions from the League of Nations that have been reneged and forgotten

See also: The Executive Summary of: Foundations of the International Legal Rights of the Jewish People & the State of Israel: Implications for the Current Debate

Technorati Tag: Jacques Gauthier and Jerusalem and International Law.n my opinion, but this is long overdue. And if "innocent" Palestinian children are caught in the cross-hairs, thank Hamas for that too. One reason the international community might be more quiet than usual is EMBARRASSMENT that no other country has the chutzpah to deal with these savages the way they should be dealt with. If the PA is so worried about its refugee state then release our boys. Until then, stop the kindergarten whining and man up...if that's possible.

What is the problem with the Israeli