tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28806513952116144072024-03-22T21:49:30.727-07:00Resolving the Arab - Jewish conflictArticles by David Singer and archival records retrieved by him calling for and supporting the division of the West Bank and Gaza between Israel, Jordan and Egypt as the key to resolving the 130 years old conflict between Jews and Arabs over the territory once called Palestine.David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.comBlogger837125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-67203109547052716502022-12-25T14:20:00.027-08:002023-09-05T17:24:47.489-07:00Security Council should adopt Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9hmQrDwLaG1aakYtq0Mq9QoEhHEsyxF6RxbSb8Ul2P8yVvlj0fUMBHDMoJSI32z6KzHzS6S-16z6FFXdGD0D4eFvbvtVMqRI4gmUq6EzXXmZqX6pOzGFhQwdvGxiKXegtyfV11DOETQzHMKsAPBIPoBaZTgcw3Blo3Fwvts2cZQkZoep9WT_s9r61fTI/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2026%20December%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9hmQrDwLaG1aakYtq0Mq9QoEhHEsyxF6RxbSb8Ul2P8yVvlj0fUMBHDMoJSI32z6KzHzS6S-16z6FFXdGD0D4eFvbvtVMqRI4gmUq6EzXXmZqX6pOzGFhQwdvGxiKXegtyfV11DOETQzHMKsAPBIPoBaZTgcw3Blo3Fwvts2cZQkZoep9WT_s9r61fTI/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2026%20December%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><div>The United Nations Security Council needs to urgently consider adopting the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution - following the warning delivered on December 19th by Tor Wennesland – UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process. </div><div><br /></div><div>Addressing the Security Council Wennesland advised:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>“Clashes, protests, attacks, Israeli security operations, including in Area A, and settler-related violence have continued. In 2022 to date, over one hundred and fifty Palestinians and more than twenty Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and Israel, the highest numbers of fatalities in years”</blockquote></i></b></div><div>Wennesland was concerned that Security Council Resolution 2334 passed on December 23, 2016 had failed to achieve its objective six years later: the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab State between Israel and Jordan (two-State solution).</div><div><br /></div><div> Wennesland unwisely chose to blame Israel:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>“Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, remains deeply concerning. Settlements constitute a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and international law. They undermine the prospects of achieving a two-State solution by systematically eroding the possibility of establishing a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State.”</blockquote></i></b></div><div>He reminded the Security Council:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"As I told the Council in my briefing last month, seeking to freeze this conflict or manage it in perpetuity are not viable options. There is no substitute for a legitimate political process that will resolve the core issues driving the conflict."</blockquote></i></b></div><div>Wennesland was correct but his proposed recommendation for <b><i>“a legitimate political process”</i></b> fell far short of what is required:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>“In line with the recommendations that I made to this Council in November, I urge the parties, along with regional States and the broader international community to take concrete steps that will change the negative trajectory on the ground and have an immediate impact on Palestinian and Israeli lives, while, at the same time, ensuring these steps are anchored in a political framework that moves the parties forward towards the establishment of two States.”</blockquote></i></b></div><div>Clinging to the failed two-State solution 6 years after its endorsement by Security Council Resolution 2334 and 20 years after first being proposed by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative – is a futile exercise. </div><div><br /></div><div>Wennesland’s recommendation will only see the conflict being indefinitely perpetuated – not ended. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published on June 8, 2022 (Saudi Solution) has amazingly never been mentioned or discussed in the Security Council. </div><div><br /></div><div>It will dramatically <b><i>“change the negative trajectory on the ground “</i></b>:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It challenges the Security Council’s pointless pursuit of the two-State solution by calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine having its capital in Amman and being ruled by Jordan’s current Hashemite ruler – King Abdullah</li><li>The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and 2003 Oslo Accords are superseded.</li><li>Arab populations living in Gaza, the West Bank and the refugee camps in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon will become citizens of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.</li><li>Sovereignty in the West Bank will be divided between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</li><li>Its author – Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister – Mohammed Bin Salman.</li><li>Publication of the plan in the Saudi Government–controlled Al-Arabiya News overrules current Saudi policy - strongly suggesting Mohammed Bin Salman’s approval was first obtained.</li><li>King Abdullah (Jordan), Mahmoud Abbas (Palestinian Authority), Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) Mohammed Bin Salman (Saudi Arabia) and Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel) have not expressly rejected the solution in the six months since its publication.</li><li>Its successful implementation can end the 100 years-old Arab -Jewish conflict.</li></ul></div><div>Adopting the Saudi Solution to replace the failed two-State solution is needed to arrest this worsening humanitarian nightmare. </div><div><br /></div><div>Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”</div><div><br /></div><div><i>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.</i></div></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-50371037306322388682022-12-17T13:57:00.026-08:002023-09-05T16:18:51.047-07:00Bibi forced to move early on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine plan<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHpDBfyD7z_5bHfM8dI2X7jpEqhxX42NUI1AW2DJ8YpS7ifIL3TVYxcyR1qAHXTht4OzdvC_q3gqOiIIosI0ZegYP7cmJr6BdacSvuGaPWiddq6ms3j44DTQiiCkDcU2WfiYKBOtylJbYJeZuabMBeJEUewsPKVtTUxg8qiq6imI_0R0Etq5fTzWhjuYpv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgHpDBfyD7z_5bHfM8dI2X7jpEqhxX42NUI1AW2DJ8YpS7ifIL3TVYxcyR1qAHXTht4OzdvC_q3gqOiIIosI0ZegYP7cmJr6BdacSvuGaPWiddq6ms3j44DTQiiCkDcU2WfiYKBOtylJbYJeZuabMBeJEUewsPKVtTUxg8qiq6imI_0R0Etq5fTzWhjuYpv=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Bibi Netanyahu's time for confirmation as Israel's next Prime Minister runs out on December 21st after six weeks of the tail wagging the dog - parties with few Knesset members using their small but strategic numbers to try to extract concessions from Netanyahu for their support - that Netanyahu has obviously been resisting. </p><p>Faced with this looming reality - Netanyahu has been forced to move early on his election promise made to Israeli voters on October 22nd:</p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>"I think the big prize is peace with Saudi Arabia, which I intend to achieve if I go back into office… The rise of Israeli power facilitated the Abraham Accords, and the continual nurturing of Israeli power will also nurture a broader peace with Saudi Arabia and nearly all of the rest of the Arab world. I intend to bring the Arab-Israeli conflict to a close."</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>In an extraordinary 52 minute interview on Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya TV on 15 December - Netanyahu pointed out for the benefit of those Israeli political party leaders who are his main stumbling blocks to becoming Prime Minister - the opportunity Israel would miss to end the 100 years-old Arab-Jewish conflict - if Netanyahu is not Israel's next Prime Minister. He warned them:</p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>"The other parties are joining me. I'm not joining them"</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Netanyahu –repeating his election promise - told Al Arabiya:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><p><b><i>"I think the peace with Saudi Arabia will serve two purposes: It will be a quantum leap for an overall peace between Israel and the Arab world, it will change our region in ways that are unimaginable and I think it will facilitate, ultimately, a Palestinian-Israeli peace. I believe in that. I intend to pursue it."</i></b></p></blockquote><p>Netanyahu continued: </p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"The reason we've not had an Israeli-Palestinian peace is because the Palestinian… leadership for the last century has refused to do what is finally happening in the rest of the Arab world -- and that is to recognize that the State of Israel is here to stay."</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>A new solution to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace authored by Ali Shihabi - a close confidant of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister -Mohammed Bin Salman - was published by Al Arabiya news on June 8, 2022--but has amazingly received virtually no mention or scrutiny in the international media or at the United Nations in the six months since its release. </p><p>The plan recognises:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted ..."</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The plan calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be called <i><b>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</b></i> with unrestricted citizenship being offered to the Arab populations of Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank and the refugee camps located in Syria and Lebanon.</p><p>Netanyahu - significantly –told Al Arabiya viewers:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"I think coming to a solution with the Palestinians will require out of the box thinking, will require new thinking."</i></b></blockquote> The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution is certainly the most creative plan ever proposed to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--its author declaring:<p></p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"The Palestinian problem can only be solved today if it is redefined. The issue in this day and age for people should be not so much the ownership of ancestral land but more the critical need to have a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world."</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Netanyahu is offering his potential coalition partners a choice: Drop demands Bibi cannot accept and back him in as Prime Minister or miss this best opportunity ever to end the unresolved 100 years-old Jewish-Arab conflict. </p><p>December 21st is Israel's Judgement Day. </p><p><br /></p><p>Please join my Facebook Page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters" </p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-32805836760552845152022-12-11T21:30:00.038-08:002023-08-15T23:53:01.190-07:00Israel set to uncork Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie at UN<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzDd-PyvL6AwzvrkacUbM6tO2PjAQL2jzLy1LsRIfI1pf4uJhCqY-Fwhs1XZR0YPGgNsTfRSEfbC9zEFBY0MCXsMVopHqIrWRXY1oGrNQX2zsNnWUCvRQhhRnw8n_a0jQf5u5inrMBUFH6CLtcmdWS56cp_FgaTDF82EG1CJ9ueTavAYp7zc1ueEGHdfdI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhzDd-PyvL6AwzvrkacUbM6tO2PjAQL2jzLy1LsRIfI1pf4uJhCqY-Fwhs1XZR0YPGgNsTfRSEfbC9zEFBY0MCXsMVopHqIrWRXY1oGrNQX2zsNnWUCvRQhhRnw8n_a0jQf5u5inrMBUFH6CLtcmdWS56cp_FgaTDF82EG1CJ9ueTavAYp7zc1ueEGHdfdI=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Israel is readying to uncork the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie at the United Nations - ending UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process Torr Wennesland’s efforts to keep the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution (Saudi Solution) from being discussed as a replacement for the failed UN 20 years-old two state solution. </p><p>The Saudi Solution was published on 8 June 2022 in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News. Its author - Ali Shihabi - advises Saudi Arabia’s King-designate, Crown Prince and Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman - on the development of Neom - a new $500 billion mega city the size of Israel</p><p>The Saudi Solution calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - having its capital in Amman -not Jerusalem. </p><p>It supersedes the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - spawned by Saudi Arabia and embraced by the UN -which calls for:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital."</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The UN stands to become totally irrelevant if it continues to refuse to discuss the Saudi Solution following Danny Danon - Israel's former ambassador to the United Nations - claiming at the first Abraham Accords Global Leadership Summit - that Saudi Arabia may be one of the next nations to normalize relations with Israel. </p><p>Danon stated:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"We have been in contact with the Saudis for years. I worked personally with them at the United Nations on matters of regional stability and security. It’s just a matter of time before courageous leaders step out of the shadows and full peace is achieved between all the children of Abraham. .. I expect we’ll see an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia this year"</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>This was good news for those seeking an end to the 100 years-old Jewish/Arab conflict - but bad news for the UN which continues to stubbornly support the two-state solution whilst refusing to even acknowledge the existence of the game-changing Saudi Solution since its publication six months ago. </p><p>It beggars belief that on 30 November the UN General Assembly adopted five resolutions on the questions of Palestine and the Middle East without one speaker uttering the words - "<b><i>Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution" </i></b>- whose successful implementation would see the Arab populations in Gaza, part of the West Bank and the wretched UNRWA camps in Lebanon and Syria becoming citizens of that newly-created territorial entity. </p><p>Cheikh Niang (Senegal)- Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People - introduced its annual report containing developments relating to the question of Palestine between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022 - which contained not one reference to the Saudi Solution in its 27 pages. </p><p>Israeli Prime Minister designate Bibi Netanyahu has made his intentions crystal-clear:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"I think the big prize is peace with Saudi Arabia, which I intend to achieve if I go back into office… The rise of Israeli power facilitated the Abraham Accords, and the continual nurturing of Israeli power will also nurture a broader peace with Saudi Arabia and nearly all of the rest of the Arab world. I intend to bring the Arab-Israeli conflict to a close."</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The 2022 Saudi Solution offers Israel:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>sole sovereignty in Jerusalem, </li><li>sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and </li><li>abandonment of the 74 years-old Arab claim to return to Israel</li></ul><p></p><p>The UN must respond to the hope of peace offered by the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine genie. </p><p><i>Please join my Facebook Page: "Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters" 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.</i></p><p><br /></p>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-83159734669948727382022-12-05T18:05:00.025-08:002023-08-14T20:27:40.603-07:00NYT needs to end silence on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGxZalVlI1OSQ98DUc3MLX80V595VOHSFE_byuMVWmym4IjxuuL7Nvbyvmo-MTUE9-uOLjny1UMU6MV-7iEAH7yuX3YvzJ9-39QcwvB3txU0iLQjU2M8Y5SzElZ5jK-D0qVtmWFDUgf94Cl-UaDuyLrxuqiPV3xcoUyBDrU1QlVdLZxJvsOtmkbp0eCFi/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%206%20December%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGxZalVlI1OSQ98DUc3MLX80V595VOHSFE_byuMVWmym4IjxuuL7Nvbyvmo-MTUE9-uOLjny1UMU6MV-7iEAH7yuX3YvzJ9-39QcwvB3txU0iLQjU2M8Y5SzElZ5jK-D0qVtmWFDUgf94Cl-UaDuyLrxuqiPV3xcoUyBDrU1QlVdLZxJvsOtmkbp0eCFi/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%206%20December%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><div>The visit to Hebron this week by New York Times (NYT) columnist Thomas Friedman and Kathleen Kingsbury, The New York Times' Opinion Editor could see the NYT finally breaking its silence on the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine proposal published in the Saudi Arabian government-controlled Al Arabiya News on June 8, 2022. </div><div><br /></div><div>This new plan is certainly newsworthy: The merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be named <b><i>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - </i></b>to be governed by the Hashemite dynasty that has ruled Jordan for the last 100 years and will have its capital located in Amman – not Jerusalem (Saudi Plan).</div><div><br /></div><div>The NYT is not on its own. </div><div><br /></div><div>The international media has almost universally ignored the Saudi Plan – which supersedes the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative – originally formulated by Thomas Friedman himself - as his NYT op-ed dated 17 February 2002 reveals:</div><blockquote><div><i><b>"Earlier this month, I wrote a column suggesting that the 22 members of the Arab League, at their summit in Beirut on March 27 and 28, make a simple, clear-cut proposal to Israel to break the Israeli-Palestinian impasse: In return for a total withdrawal by Israel to the June 4, 1967, lines, and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the 22 members of the Arab League would offer Israel full diplomatic relations, normalized trade and security guarantees. Full withdrawal, in accord with U.N. Resolution 242, for full peace between Israel and the entire Arab world. Why not?"</b></i></div></blockquote>Friedman was surprised when he dared mention his idea to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and de facto ruler – Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud - at a dinner a few days later<br /><blockquote><div><i><b>"After I laid out this idea, the crown prince looked at me with mock astonishment and said, ''Have you broken into my desk?'' ''No,'' I said, wondering what he was talking about... ''... I have drafted a speech along those lines. My thinking was to deliver it before the Arab summit and try to mobilize the entire Arab world behind it. The speech is written, and it is in my desk. </b></i> </div></blockquote>Friedman then proffered this advice to the Crown Prince:<br /><blockquote><div><i><b>"I suggested to the crown Prince that if he felt so strongly about this idea, even in draft form, why not put it on the record--only then would anyone take it seriously. He said he would think about it. The next day his office called, reviewed the crown prince's quotations and said, Go ahead, put them on the record. So here they are."</b></i></div></blockquote><div><i><b></b></i></div><div>Thus was born the Friedman-inspired 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - which has gone nowhere in the last 20 years. </div><div><br /></div><div>The 2022 Saudi Plan - authored by Ali Shihabi - a close confidant of Saudi Arabia's current Crown Prince and de facto ruler – Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) –shreds Friedman's 2002 idea – offering in its place a drastically different solution to end the 100 years-old Jewish-Arab conflict - if negotiations to implement it are successfully completed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet Friedman has not written one word about Shihabi's proposal in the six months since its publication--despite my personal request to him to do so. Sour grapes perhaps? </div><div><br /></div><div>However why has the NYT not informed its readers of this Saudi Plan - that also offers Israel sole sovereignty in Jerusalem and in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)? If that's not front page news--what is? </div><div><br /></div><div>Could a well-resourced NYT investigative journalist with Saudi contacts find out whether a plan similar to Shihabi's is in MBS's desk or ask MBS directly whether he endorses Shihabi's plan? </div><div><br /></div><div>Thomas Friedman and Kathleen Kingsbury – some answers and an op-ed please. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>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.</i></div></div><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-18448478628343026232022-11-28T03:31:00.024-08:002023-08-14T06:06:55.208-07:00RIP UN two-State solution, Hello Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEloC0ZseujkgsKjtipgFHcIcAD4vV_OP9VoF9LTF3OfzZQbp0WrigIrv8UW5LQPtq2qAmgkfsz9OlbgIAMKm_xUJn2slmEtxaFpps3GevAHM1b_m35DiPEnBEU0JaN5YTv5pC18uVq0Iz9cBDSEZaYTXOgtvT5cJ9nV7GyADsvWqabSfizWJo2FK6xxvp/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2028%20November%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEloC0ZseujkgsKjtipgFHcIcAD4vV_OP9VoF9LTF3OfzZQbp0WrigIrv8UW5LQPtq2qAmgkfsz9OlbgIAMKm_xUJn2slmEtxaFpps3GevAHM1b_m35DiPEnBEU0JaN5YTv5pC18uVq0Iz9cBDSEZaYTXOgtvT5cJ9nV7GyADsvWqabSfizWJo2FK6xxvp/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2028%20November%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The United Nations two-State solution - first proposed on November 29, 1947 - needs to be finally buried and replaced with the Saudi peace solution proposed on June 8, 2022. <p></p><p>The 1947 UN solution: Creating one Jewish State and one Arab state between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea (UN two-State solution) - was aimed at ending the Arab-Jewish conflict in Western Palestine which had then been raging for the previous 50 years.</p><p>This proposal was accepted by the Jews but rejected by the Arabs - becoming the catalyst for the War that broke out in May 1948. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uIdrVUd4jNhNeWpqy2bitK7X7B9UvOMs1mFATtlbx8HDQFc26SyR4wy2GniNwj56twMNMePSiisGKEf2-v482I_VrGApU0CzL-f4rEduMlOtIA4i0iNowX2Eo6aeguR9zSCjMD3hWe-ba_IdOpnjT3jr6RXr_LYvmaHukk7L6WXTqk9w6tusOUBOAHvt/s2050/1947%20partition%20plan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2050" data-original-width="700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uIdrVUd4jNhNeWpqy2bitK7X7B9UvOMs1mFATtlbx8HDQFc26SyR4wy2GniNwj56twMNMePSiisGKEf2-v482I_VrGApU0CzL-f4rEduMlOtIA4i0iNowX2Eo6aeguR9zSCjMD3hWe-ba_IdOpnjT3jr6RXr_LYvmaHukk7L6WXTqk9w6tusOUBOAHvt/w218-h640/1947%20partition%20plan.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The Arabs ended up controlling some 22% of the territory between the River and the Sea. The major part was unified with Eastern Palestine located east of the Jordan River - (granted independence in 1946 as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan) - and renamed the <i><b>Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan </b></i>in 1950. The balance - the Gaza Strip -was occupied and administered by Egypt. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-PocMa9JHsX-T7nxJMvUNwrk0aOgAjtjkx8BXWgcRIfm_bxLo43xA0EjiHi0DjecP-ZWn3_cS0ImLwyEjLXHlTc7x_TJCsTgxvEfZeBI1u6DqFmTrSiycMtjYPBU4T8YRKo6hsYcNDDNcS6QQqDbtvLzzMx0j1tTptroJvw8jCRGbiX3R91ZUlrDs7d0/s835/Map%201948%20War.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9-PocMa9JHsX-T7nxJMvUNwrk0aOgAjtjkx8BXWgcRIfm_bxLo43xA0EjiHi0DjecP-ZWn3_cS0ImLwyEjLXHlTc7x_TJCsTgxvEfZeBI1u6DqFmTrSiycMtjYPBU4T8YRKo6hsYcNDDNcS6QQqDbtvLzzMx0j1tTptroJvw8jCRGbiX3R91ZUlrDs7d0/w335-h400/Map%201948%20War.jpg" width="335" /></a></div><p>The founding document of the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1964 (PLO) expressly disavowed any claim to sovereignty <b><i>"over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan"</i></b> and <b><i>"the Gaza Strip".</i></b> </p><p>It was only in 1968 - after Jordan and Egypt had lost these lands to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War - that the PLO began to agitate for an independent Arab state west of the Jordan River - employing terrorism to try and achieve it. The PLO strategy failed. However the long-dormant UN two-State solution was resurrected by the international community in:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1980: Venice Declaration </li><li>1993: Oslo Accords</li><li>2002: Arab Peace Initiative.</li><li>2003: President Bush Roadmap </li><li>2011: President Obama </li><li>2020: President Trump </li></ul><p></p><p>Powerful backers indeed - but no such two-State solution has appeared a remote possibility for the last forty years.</p><p>A radically-different proposal however surfaced in Saudi Arabia on June 8, 2022 that was both revolutionary and ground-breaking: Merge Jordan, the Gaza Strip, and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - no new Arab State between the River and the Sea. </p><p>The UN's response has been disgraceful.</p><p>Instead of welcoming this Saudi proposal and the prospects its successful implementation offers for ending the Jewish-Arab conflict - the UN has failed to even acknowledge its existence - denying it any oxygen, exposure or traction in the UN. </p><p>Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Process Torr Wennesland have made no public comments whatsoever on the Saudi proposal or included any reference to it in their monthly reports to the Security Council since its release. </p><p>They need to break their silence. </p><p>Until they do - they remain compromised and conflicted. </p><p>A UN closed forum convened on 8 November by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) with Civil Society Organizations (CSO's) from "Palestine" Israel and the United States <b><i>"Advocating for Accountability in the Occupied Palestinian Territory"</i></b> --asserted that <b><i>"Safeguarding the two-State solution"</i></b> remained their prime objective. </p><p>Not one of them apparently mentioned the Saudi proposal - whose successful implementation would put them all out of business by finally ending a conflict that has defied resolution for more than 100 years. </p><p>Guterres continued parroting the UN's commitment to the two-state solution on November 22 - without mentioning the Saudi solution - which needs to be aired and debated in the UN General Assembly, Security Council and CEIRPP and no longer suppressed. </p><p>The UN's 75 years-old failed two-State solution to end the Jewish-Arab conflict has well and truly passed its use by date. The time has come for the UN to adopt the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution to replace it. </p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-30777283540331488602022-11-21T03:02:00.042-08:002023-08-14T05:28:41.768-07:00Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine key to ending Jew-bashing at UN<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXGmAK_zq7enkMgHecfhDblxkdRTp87EiIVK3ZO493E1UAT2SlkuV0mPsFKYf4PoQI1bfsDRctYXHyPgP1jSZ9OoBGVrglenZqQErTheORiFHdA_9MwzpF8GUy0AXC_u_YA_sk-f-8LThCpB9QMqm7PwYN_rfE89OENSFy7X-QJuuIGmQKmcAD3lUXod4/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2021%20November%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXGmAK_zq7enkMgHecfhDblxkdRTp87EiIVK3ZO493E1UAT2SlkuV0mPsFKYf4PoQI1bfsDRctYXHyPgP1jSZ9OoBGVrglenZqQErTheORiFHdA_9MwzpF8GUy0AXC_u_YA_sk-f-8LThCpB9QMqm7PwYN_rfE89OENSFy7X-QJuuIGmQKmcAD3lUXod4/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2021%20November%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><div>The United Nations favourite sport - Jew bashing - was on full display this past week at the 77th Session of the United Nations Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) - which approved six draft resolutions - all highly critical of Israel. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of these draft resolutions - approved by 98 voting in favour to 17 against, - with 52 abstentions--was titled <b><i>"Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem"</i></b> (document A/C.4/77/L.12/Rev.1).</div><div><br /></div><div>By its terms, the UN General Assembly would demand that Israel cease: </div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><b><i>"all measures that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people, including the killing and injuring of civilians, </i></b><b><i>the arbitrary detention and imprisonment of civilians, </i></b><b><i>the forced displacement of civilians, </i></b><b><i>the transfer of its own population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" </i></b></div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div>and that:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"the General Assembly should request the International Court of Justice to render urgently an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967"</blockquote></i></b></div><div>Vituperative verbal attacks on the Jewish State made by Bangladesh, Venezuela, South Africa, Iran, Libya, Niger, Türkiye, Algeria, Brunei Darussalam, Namibia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Japan, Qatar, Lebanon, Sudan, Malaysia and Yemen ensured Jew-bashing would continue at the United Nations whilst the 100 years-old Arab-Jewish conflict remains unresolved. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet the implementation of a recently-published proposal that could end that conflict and similar future acrimonious debates was never raised or discussed. </div><div><br /></div><div>That proposal - published on June 8, 2022 in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News by Ali Shihabi - a confidant of Crown Prince and Saudi Arabian Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman (Saudi Solution):</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Recognises Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted, however grudgingly, by the region around it.</li><li>Calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - with its capital in Amman - not Jerusalem - to be governed by the current Hashemite dynasty ruling in Jordan</li><li>Supersedes the 2002 Saudi-inspired Arab Peace Initiative</li><li>Ends the 74 years old Palestinian Arab claim to the right of return to live in Israel.</li><li>Grants citizenship and passports to all Arab residents living within the new entity's borders </li><li>Does not require any of the entity's population to pack up and move elsewhere. </li><li>Offers Palestinian Arab refugees the right to resettle there and acquire citizenship</li><li>Recognises sole Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem</li><li>Affirms Jordan's custodianship of the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem</li></ul></div><div>Successful implementation of this Saudi Solution would immeasurably free up the UN's time to deal with other unresolved and emerging world conflicts. </div><div><br /></div><div>The fact that this ground-breaking and - indeed revolutionary - Saudi Solution has never been discussed by the UN General Assembly, Security Council or any of its Committees - its very existence not even being acknowledged by any of them - is a damning indictment on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Torr Wennesland. </div><div><br /></div><div>The UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People - whose 2022 Annual Report fails to mention the Saudi Solution - is also expressly complicit. </div><div><br /></div><div>The UN has become hopelessly conflicted - burying the Saudi Solution rather than considering it to replace its owned failed two-state solution to create an independent Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan that has gone nowhere in the last 20 years. </div><div><br /></div><div>Failure to examine and evaluate the Saudi Solution threatens the UN's relevance and continued existence. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>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.</i></div></div><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-28394746667720687752022-11-13T02:43:00.001-08:002023-08-14T05:00:36.173-07:00MBS & King Abdullah keep Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine alive<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpgQzd07uDAtfL-ajv7Gnotcfs7__yuRIPfeEq96Y0q_f0zugd_pvLL0P9CDelh2iskF5u0kSIUUPkncrEZ6rPcD8h05UsgjhDhSjwgkwWHu295MO3xn0PPY8cn62qZpl5Z-oAl357ixkOpuoVMoVarsQjJKHjsVC_HBfQtT97UtRsopg1xVwDEnjZbtpt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpgQzd07uDAtfL-ajv7Gnotcfs7__yuRIPfeEq96Y0q_f0zugd_pvLL0P9CDelh2iskF5u0kSIUUPkncrEZ6rPcD8h05UsgjhDhSjwgkwWHu295MO3xn0PPY8cn62qZpl5Z-oAl357ixkOpuoVMoVarsQjJKHjsVC_HBfQtT97UtRsopg1xVwDEnjZbtpt=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Non-participation by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister – Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) – and Jordan’s King Abdullah at the 31st Summit of the Arab League held in Algiers on 1 and 2 November – even via Zoom - was highly significant – signalling that the Saudi-based plan to merge Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine (HKoP solution) still remains a viable solution to replace the failed 20 years-old two-state solution proposed by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative (API) - endorsed yet again in Algiers. </p><p>Saudi Arabia, the EU, and the Arab League had previously held a closed ministerial meeting on 21 September to activate the API - given the absence of any prospect for a political resolution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p><p>This September meeting followed publication of the HKoP solution in Al Arabiya News on 8 June – amazingly attracting no mention at the UN and scant attention in the international media and more importantly within Israel and Israel’s media. </p><p>The HKoP solution was certainly newsworthy since it offered Israel:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sole sovereignty in Jerusalem</li><li>Abandonment of the right of Palestinian Arabs to return to Israel</li><li>No separate Palestinian State between Israel and Jordan</li><li>The shelving of the API </li><li>Sovereignty in part of the West Bank for the first time in 3000 years.</li></ul><p></p><p>The HKoP solution also offered the Arab populations of Gaza, the West Bank and Palestinian Arab refugees in other locations:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><i>“a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world. Labor in this day and age is mobile and having citizenship in a country that facilitates such mobility is critical to human development.”</i></b></li><li><b><i>“Palestinians in Arab countries like Lebanon can then become citizens of this enlarged kingdom while also getting full residency rights in Lebanon, equivalent to what an EU citizen has in the European Union outside his or her home country. This would allow the Palestinians to gain full civil rights as legal foreign residents without impacting the local political or sectarian balance in these countries. The GCC, the EU, the US, Canada, and others can also help support this solution by granting this Jordanian–Palestinian passport easier access to their labor markets.”</i></b></li></ul><p></p><p>The Saudi proposal’s author - Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of MBS and a member of the Advisory Board appointed by MBS to report to him on the building of a new US$500 billion mega city – Neom - in northern Saudi Arabia bordering Israel. </p><p>Shihabi had lamented on the absence of a response from any Israeli politician to his plan on 14 August. This lack of Israeli interest was ongoing when the 21 September meeting agreed:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“to work with regional and international partners to shed light on the tragic situation of the Palestinians in light of the deadlock in the peace process and the absence of any glimmer of hope and to urge them to take practical steps to support the resumption of dialogue on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, United Nations resolutions and relevant peace references, in addition to reviving the diplomatic track to overcome the despair and lack of a vision toward achieving the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and establishing their state with Jerusalem as its capital.</i></b>”</blockquote><p></p><p>MBS was not at this meeting but was subsequently appointed Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister on 27 September. MBS, </p><p>King Abdullah, PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh have not rejected the HKoP solution. </p><p>MBS and King Abdullah’s non-participation at Algiers offers the glimmer of hope that the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine can soon become a conflict-ending reality. </p><p><i> 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.</i></p>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-13369800229282925942022-11-03T04:52:00.030-07:002023-08-10T06:13:06.710-07:00Netanyahu victory paves way for Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qJMM3NZ_BJILHuikEcCevzLWxxcH2D65PTEuj1-wM0YjjAeMlEV1wxj7h3oKYMlqggImDcNAPpLmg-eNIO1q7yHNmlPJdGhq2rla_T8_WmDS9cBr6eq8egaJjONEVTDOw7mYjt3kiRO0UTZ_B7ufpR0sJHibF_w5EkDQ9n6b9m3ES200B5th4chQ6b56/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%203%20November%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qJMM3NZ_BJILHuikEcCevzLWxxcH2D65PTEuj1-wM0YjjAeMlEV1wxj7h3oKYMlqggImDcNAPpLmg-eNIO1q7yHNmlPJdGhq2rla_T8_WmDS9cBr6eq8egaJjONEVTDOw7mYjt3kiRO0UTZ_B7ufpR0sJHibF_w5EkDQ9n6b9m3ES200B5th4chQ6b56/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%203%20November%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Bibi Netanyahu’s triumphal return as Israel’s next Prime Minister affords him the opportunity to fulfil one of his major election promises: Ending the 100-years old unresolved Arab-Jewish conflict. <p></p><p>It has been a long and arduous road for Netanyahu to travel since he told the United Nations on December 11, 1984:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“Those who accept the notion of a Palestinian people must therefore wonder: how many Palestinian Arab peoples are there? Is there a western Palestinian Arab people and, just across that narrow stream known as the Jordan River an eastern Palestinian Arab people? How many Arab States in Palestine does Palestinian self-determination require? Clearly, in eastern and western Palestine there are only two peoples, the Arabs and the Jews; and, just as clearly, there are only two States in that area, Jordan and Israel. The Arab State of Jordan, containing some 3 million Arabs, does not allow a single Jew 10 live there. It contains four fifths of the territory originally allocated by the predecessor of the United Nations. the League of Nations, for the Jewish national home. The other State, Israel, has a population of a little over 4 million, of which one sixth IS Arab. It contains less than one fifth of the territory originally allocated to the Jews under the Mandate. The claim of self-determination, then, is misleading, for the inhabitants of Jordan which, incidentally, Hussein's grandfather, King Abdullah, wanted originally to call the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - are largely Palestinian Arabs, and within that population, western Palestinian Arabs are the majority. It cannot be said, therefore, that the Arabs of Palestine are lacking a State or their own, the ultimate expression of self-determination. The demand for a second Palestinian Arab State in western Palestine, and the twenty-second Arab State in the world, is merely the latest attempt to push Israel back into the hopelessly vulnerable armistice lines of 1949.”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The United Nations rejected Netanyahu’s warning - pushing ahead instead to try and create that 22nd Arab state between Israel and Jordan in territories allocated to the Jews to reconstitute the Jewish National Home under article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter. </p><p>Both the Security Council and General Assembly subsequently passed a plethora of anti-Israel resolutions using highly-inflammatory language such as <b><i>“Occupied Palestinian Territories”</i></b> and recognising two separate peoples in the process - <b><i>“Jordanians”</i></b> and <b><i>“Palestinians”</i></b> – even granting observer status to the non-existent <b><i>“State of Palestine”</i></b></p><p>This 22nd Arab state still remains a figment of the UN’s warped imagination today – whilst various UN organs seek to delegitimise and isolate Israel as an international pariah. </p><p>A new Saudi-based proposal published on 8 June finally debunks these heinous anti-Israel longstanding UN positions :</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“Jordanians and Palestinians are as similar as any people can be. They are Sunni Arabs from the same neighborhood. Merging them will not create any long-term ethnic or sectarian fault lines.” </i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>This Saudi-based proposal – calling for Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) to be merged into one territorial entity called <b><i>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</i></b> with its capital in Amman – not Jerusalem - shreds the UN’s failed 22nd Arab state solution.</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“The transition to an expanded Palestinian–Jordanian kingdom will then be relatively straightforward since it will simply involve the current kingdom of Jordan’s widening its writ to cover the Palestinian territories and the diaspora in a step recognized by all relevant countries”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Netanyahu’s long trek - begun in 1984 in the face of UN hostility - can hopefully soon be ended with the successful creation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine and an end to a conflict that the UN has shamefully mismanaged.</p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-36158068468074642872022-10-27T22:33:00.021-07:002023-08-09T23:51:46.915-07:00Netanyahu gives nod to Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEuBdBinAB-djW6VZ5llagL0DQqcdrx33gA3F1OmhS1Lu5Jn5V09S1wOkbW32LwERxfX6rc2Mrt_FRNsmD4Vb3w8QojD0tyXS830HmRyoZVwRYnoWcWzQDU9uIEVxTecVSqlIE0rBsbiZqCU1LgIQQIOVCxkBk27hg1jkgICl1Dp-rSgPFo19SSukVsNe/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2028%20October%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEuBdBinAB-djW6VZ5llagL0DQqcdrx33gA3F1OmhS1Lu5Jn5V09S1wOkbW32LwERxfX6rc2Mrt_FRNsmD4Vb3w8QojD0tyXS830HmRyoZVwRYnoWcWzQDU9uIEVxTecVSqlIE0rBsbiZqCU1LgIQQIOVCxkBk27hg1jkgICl1Dp-rSgPFo19SSukVsNe/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2028%20October%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div>Israel's Leader of the Opposition Benjamin Netanyahu has finally broken his silence - giving his nod of approval to adopting the Saudi-proposed Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (Saudi Solution) :</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"I think the big prize is peace with Saudi Arabia, which I intend to achieve if I go back into office… The rise of Israeli power facilitated the Abraham Accords, and the continual nurturing of Israeli power will also nurture a broader peace with Saudi Arabia and nearly all of the rest of the Arab world. I intend to bring the Arab-Israeli conflict to a close."</blockquote></i></b></div><div>Peace with Saudi Arabia and ending the Arab-Israeli conflict will require Netanyahu to successfully implement the Saudi Solution - published in June - that would see:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) being merged into one territorial entity to be called <b><i>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</i></b> - with its capital in Amman - not Jerusalem </li><li>Abandonment of the 74 years-old Palestinian Arab demand to return and live in Israel </li><li>Recognition of Jewish sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for the first time in 3000 years</li><li>No new Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan</li></ul></div><div>Yesh Atid Party Leader - Yair Lapid, Blue and White Party Leader - Benny Gantz - and Labor Party Leader - Merav Michaeli - have all rejected the Saudi Solution - aligning their respective parties policies with President Biden's to continue pursuing the failed two-state solution first dreamt up by the European Union in 1980 and endorsed by the United Nations in 2003. </div><div><br /></div><div>The leaders of all other Israeli political parties have yet to comment on the Saudi Solution.</div><div><br /></div><div>Netanyahu indicated his thinking was clearly in sync with the Saudi Solution's game-changing proposals.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the touchy question of Israeli sovereignty in part only of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)--Netanyahu said:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"The reality is that a third, which includes biblical sites, strategic sites, and Jewish suburbs of our major cities, they're going to stay in Israel no matter what. We'd like more—possibly everything—but that's not the point. The point is everybody recognized this part will stay, so why not recognize it the way Trump recognized Jerusalem as our capital? And it's been that way for 3,000 years since King David; so why not recognize this reality too?" </blockquote></i></b></div><div>On the sensitive issue of Jerusalem remaining solely the capital of Israel - Netanyahu declared:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"As long as [the Palestinians] cling to the unrealistic assumption that we're going to dismantle half of Jerusalem and dismantle these suburbs, you ain't gonna get peace. You're going to get nothing. You cannot build peace in the Middle East on fantasy. Any peace built on lies and fantasy will founder on the rocks of Middle Eastern realities. It's about time to recognize what is going to be. What is [currently] there, and what is going to be."</blockquote></i></b></div><div>The Saudi Solution maintains the current reality of Jerusalem remaining the capital of Israel only. </div><div><br /></div><div>So do Hamas and the PLO - as their four-months self-imposed silence in failing to oppose or reject the Saudi Solution testifies. </div><div><br /></div><div>The main remaining issue to be negotiated is security control over the newly merged entity – where Netanyahu told Ben Shapiro in an earlier interview:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"...West of the Jordan River ... Israel and Israel alone controls security. We control the airspace, we control the ground security, underground security in case they want to do tunnels... We're not going to commit suicide for a favourable op-ed in the New York Times"</blockquote></i></b></div><div>If Netanyahu becomes Israel's next Prime Minister – the end of the 100 years old Arab-Israeli conflict and peace with Saudi Arabia could well be realised.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>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.</i></div></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-74206761392792604472022-10-22T22:09:00.033-07:002023-08-09T23:32:02.031-07:00Roth confounds UN, USA & Australia: Two-State solution 'is gone'<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8rqKtLWYhwkKutsHHCyIjm4y983kFBXBRXWYqWBZsNLkyRFnYpsqTWNbicMQv0TWYvTcC1WnjK-kRSsrkhFkRMTrhVJmZHV_HNq38gJvyUO5eAJL6_1T2x0SvM3OZ1xIPqpobu3B4dZDzUzjBOWTAo7jhgsy9yAcTp57sPLFur55fnwljvg27kXc9f-_C" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8rqKtLWYhwkKutsHHCyIjm4y983kFBXBRXWYqWBZsNLkyRFnYpsqTWNbicMQv0TWYvTcC1WnjK-kRSsrkhFkRMTrhVJmZHV_HNq38gJvyUO5eAJL6_1T2x0SvM3OZ1xIPqpobu3B4dZDzUzjBOWTAo7jhgsy9yAcTp57sPLFur55fnwljvg27kXc9f-_C=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Kenneth Roth – recently retired Executive Director of Human Rights Watch – has undermined the continuation of the policy espoused by the UN, USA and Australia for the last 20 years supporting the the creation of a new Palestinian Arab State between Israel and Jordan for the first time in recorded history (two-state solution). </p><p>Addressing a recent discussion hosted by the Washington-based think-tank - Arab Center - Roth declared:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"The two-state solution is great but it's gone”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Roth’s bombshell admission was followed by this statement made by Hady Amr - US deputy assistant secretary for Israeli and Palestinian affairs: </p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>"We remain committed to rebuilding our bilateral relationship with the Palestinian people, with the US president's goal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict along the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps," </i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>In reversing Australia’s decision to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“Australia is committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist, in peace and security, within internationally recognised borders. We will not support an approach that undermines this prospect.”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been repeating this mantra since 2017:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“A two-state solution that will end the occupation and, with the creation of conditions, also the suffering even to the Palestinian people, is in my opinion the only way to guarantee that peace is established and, at the same time, that two states can live together in security and in mutual recognition,”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>This blinkered approach by the UN, USA and Australia has seen each of them refusing to acknowledge – let alone discuss – the merits of a new alternative solution emanating from Saudi Arabia in June: Shredding the failed two-state solution and calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called <b><i>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</i></b> - whose capital will be Amman – not Jerusalem (Saudi Solution). </p><p>The Saudi Solution supersedes the 1981 and 2002 Saudi Peace Plans – subsequently incorporated in the Arab Peace Initiative adopted in Beirut in 2002. </p><p>Significantly – no rejection of the Saudi Solution has been expressed since its release by:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Saudi Arabia’s recently appointed Prime Minister: Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman</li><li>Jordan’s King Abdullah </li><li>PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas</li><li>Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh</li><li>The Arab League</li></ul><p></p><p>Roth’s reality call sees the UN, US and Australia exposed as three Emperors with no clothes – paddling furiously against a growing tide of opinion that is destined to consign the two-state solution to the diplomatic graveyard with other failed plans proposed over the last 74 years.</p><p>The Saudi Solution is the lifeline the UN, US and Australia need to grab if they wish to see the 100-years old conflict between Arabs and Jews finally resolved. </p><p>The Saudi Solution points the new way forward:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“The Palestinian problem can only be solved today if it is redefined. The issue in this day and age for people should be not so much the ownership of ancestral land but more the critical need to have a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world. Labor in this day and age is mobile and having citizenship in a country that facilitates such mobility is critical to human development.”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Israeli Prime Minister – Yair Lapid – continues to support the two-state solution. </p><p>With Israeli elections set for 1 November - no other Israeli politician has yet told Israeli voters whether they:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>agree with Lapid </li><li>would back exploring the Saudi Solution and its implementation or </li><li>what their alternative policy would be for ending the long running conflict.</li></ul><p></p><p>Flogging a dead horse is in no one’s interest.</p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-59539912479839252812022-10-13T21:39:00.046-07:002023-08-09T23:07:24.338-07:00Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine sinks UN failed two-state solution<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSmtKOOqryk-Y0pmL5jXqrNSOHO_uSHS2Ump0dqe0AFJr4P7nXHf9iHEPWHcv5X4MDeFwkP2YNoUOCHXFFs0O4wT_P5jlHDWdV05szT36LYiWVfd47kAusPYzKXzYdYnuN5avQGovgEpOjXDb4GQMgDb1Tsae1sAEG0Eq5pOmvKSa9JKGj3ED8bVy9-d0M" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSmtKOOqryk-Y0pmL5jXqrNSOHO_uSHS2Ump0dqe0AFJr4P7nXHf9iHEPWHcv5X4MDeFwkP2YNoUOCHXFFs0O4wT_P5jlHDWdV05szT36LYiWVfd47kAusPYzKXzYdYnuN5avQGovgEpOjXDb4GQMgDb1Tsae1sAEG0Eq5pOmvKSa9JKGj3ED8bVy9-d0M=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>UK Labour Friends of Israel (UKLFI) has sunk any possibility of a new Palestinian Arab state being created between Israel and Jordan - unsuccessfully promoted by the United Nations for the last 29 years - detailing 30 steps considered necessary before negotiations can even be resumed. </p><p>These steps are:</p><p></p><blockquote>Step 1: Tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza </blockquote><blockquote>Step 2: Freeze settlement building </blockquote><blockquote>Step 3: End the Palestinian Authority's payment of salaries to convicted terrorists and the payment of rewards to the families of “martyrs” </blockquote><blockquote>Step 4: Support the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and re-establish UK support for peace-building work </blockquote><blockquote>Step 5: Encourage Arab states to normalise relations with Israel and deepen the Abraham Accords </blockquote><blockquote>Step 6: Increase work permits for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Jeru</blockquote><blockquote>Step 7: Ensure transportational contiguity for Palestinians </blockquote><blockquote>Step 8: Support Jerusalem as capital of Israel and future Palestinian state </blockquote><blockquote>Step 9: Ensure enforcement of UNSCR 1701, international action to prevent Hezbollah's precision-missile project and attacks on Israel </blockquote><blockquote>Step 10: Demand Hamas renounce the use of violence and terrorism</blockquote><blockquote>Step 11: Demand Hamas releases hostages </blockquote><blockquote>Step 12: Pressure the Palestinian Authority to stop human rights abuses </blockquote><blockquote>Step 13: Support the development of Rawabi </blockquote><blockquote>Step 14: Ensure Palestinians can travel abroad more freely </blockquote><blockquote>Step 15: Support construction of a Gaza seaport </blockquote><blockquote>Step 16: Support steps towards a permanent Gaza ceasefire </blockquote><blockquote>Step 17: International action to curb Iran's malign activities </blockquote><blockquote>Step 18: Oppose unilateral actions by either side </blockquote><blockquote>Step 19: Pressure Egypt to permanently open the Rafah crossing </blockquote><blockquote>Step 20: Support free elections in the West Bank and Gaza </blockquote><blockquote>Step 21: Preserve the Temple Mount status quo </blockquote><blockquote>Step 22: Expand Palestinian autonomous zones and issue building permits for Area C </blockquote><blockquote>Step 23: Support a reformed UNRWA </blockquote><blockquote>Step 24: Support the reunification of the West Bank and Gaza under PA authority </blockquote><blockquote>Step 25: Support Palestinian economic independence </blockquote><blockquote>Step 26: End incitement in the Palestinian school curriculum </blockquote><blockquote>Step 27: Increase exit permits to allow Gaza residents to study abroad </blockquote><blockquote>Step 28: Action by international donors to improve Palestinian governance </blockquote><blockquote>Step 29: Support a Palestinian seaport at Haifa </blockquote><blockquote>Step 30: Allocate territory in Area C for Palestinian economic development“</blockquote><p>Amazingly UKLFI still faithfully continues to repeat the UN's false mantra:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“The two-state solution is the only means by which to guarantee Israel's security and to preserve its identity as a Jewish and democratic state, as well as to satisfy the legitimate demand of the Palestinian people for self-determination and national sovereignty.”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Really? </p><p>Is UKLFI unaware of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution emanating from Saudi Arabia on June 8, 2022 offering a real alternative to replace the failed UN two-state solution? Calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - this Saudi Plan needs only 2 steps - not 30 - for its successful implementation:</p><p></p><blockquote><p><b>Step 1</b>: </p></blockquote><blockquote><p>Redrawing the internationally recognised boundary between Israel and Jordan</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Armed only with pencils and erasers negotiators should be capable of designating the border between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine in a matter of months.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p><b>Step 2:</b> </p></blockquote><blockquote><p>Determining who controls security of the territory of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine west of the Jordan River.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Israel would probably demand total security control over all the territory west of the Jordan River - and if not agreed - the negotiations on this issue could take longer to conclude. </p><p>UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres continues to ignore the existence of the Saudi Solution or call for any discussion of its merits in the Security Council. </p><p>Perpetuating the Jewish-Arab conflict - not trying to end it - has become the UN's shocking agenda. </p><p>The Saudi Plan beckons…</p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-10020541784010636812022-10-03T04:50:00.046-07:002023-08-09T06:19:09.192-07:00Lapid rejects Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9VPqxncUca-lQ4_r6t_eZ05AWcJmPRoSKgjxsZd0OJJZ9rXc09G3MEaTwhGSVUxPrQ9HTMFK2Vh2tP2-SfXunOIpMv5ySSdg8N10xI7es9e54HNYcZZjOo25NESfNkKaPAEZRjVDhjW_iAWT3wUB-LaekWrq2Ut7KLYILTSPY82MHh_YaURZCDC0Vc7v/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%203%20October%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9VPqxncUca-lQ4_r6t_eZ05AWcJmPRoSKgjxsZd0OJJZ9rXc09G3MEaTwhGSVUxPrQ9HTMFK2Vh2tP2-SfXunOIpMv5ySSdg8N10xI7es9e54HNYcZZjOo25NESfNkKaPAEZRjVDhjW_iAWT3wUB-LaekWrq2Ut7KLYILTSPY82MHh_YaURZCDC0Vc7v/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%203%20October%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div>Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has finally emerged from the cocoon of silence that has enveloped all current 120 Knesset members - choosing to reject a solution emanating from Saudi Arabia on 8 June calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the <b><i>Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</i></b> (Saudi Solution). </div><div><br /></div><div>Lapid has opted instead to continue his longstanding support for the United Nations 29 years-old failed solution calling for the creation of a new State of Palestine between Israel and Jordan for the first time in recorded history (United Nations Solution)</div><div><br /></div><div>Lapid's support was however conditional:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"We have only one condition: That a future Palestinian state will be a peaceful one. That it will not become another terror base from which to threaten the well-being, and the very existence of Israel" </blockquote></i></b></div><div>It is unclear whether Lapid had forgotten or had abandoned another condition which he had stipulated -when he told 26 European Union Foreign Ministers at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on July 11, 2022 that:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"It is no secret that I support a two-state solution. Unfortunately, there is no current plan for this. However, there is one thing we all need to remember. If there is eventually a Palestinian State, it must be a peace-loving democracy".</blockquote></i></b></div><div>With conditions such as these - the likelihood of such a Palestinian State ever emerging will be virtually impossible to achieve. </div><div><br /></div><div>Nevertheless Lapid has had the courage of his convictions to finally state the policy he will adopt to try to end a conflict that has defied resolution for the last 100 years.</div><div><br /></div><div>At least voters in the upcoming Israeli elections will know what to expect if Lapid becomes Israel's next Prime Minister on 1 November. </div><div><br /></div><div>The other 119 Knesset members - and those seeking to replace any of them who are retiring - continue to keep voters in the dark on what their policy will be in trying to achieve the long sought for peace to end the Jewish-Arab conflict. </div><div><br /></div><div>The emergence of the Saudi Solution offered these reticent politicians a real choice - yet not one of them has had the intestinal fortitude finally - if belatedly - displayed by Lapid. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Saudi Solution - in distinct contrast to the United Nations Solution - offers Israel the following concessions before negotiations are even commenced on implementing the proposal:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Jerusalem will be the capitol of Israel only</li><li>No new State will be created between Israel and Jordan </li><li>The right of return by Palestinian Arabs to Israel will be abandoned </li><li>Jewish sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) will be recognised for the first time in 3000 years</li><li>Saudi Peace proposals made in 1981 and 2002 that were unacceptable to Israel will be superseded.</li></ul></div><div>The universal silence by Israeli politicians on the Saudi Solution since its publication almost four months ago is shameful. </div><div><br /></div><div>One cannot expect every Israeli politician to embrace the Saudi Solution. They should publicly state the reasons for their opposition. </div><div><br /></div><div>But is there not one Israeli politician - Jew or Arab - other than Lapid - prepared to express his own opinion on conducting negotiations to determine if agreement can be reached on the Saudi Solutions' ground breaking proposals? </div><div><br /></div><div>In particular why have the leaders of seventeen of the eighteeen major Israeli political parties contesting the elections - Netanyahu, Gantz, Sa'ar, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, Deri, Litzman, Gafni, Shehadeh, Odeh, Tibi, Michaeli, Galon, Abbas, Shaked, Liberman and Hendel - refused to comment on the Saudi Solution since its publication? </div><div><br /></div><div>Hopefully these leaders - like Lapid - will break their silence on the Saudi Solution well before November 1. </div><div><br /></div><div>Leaders lead from the front - not cower and huddle silently together behind the voters whose votes they seek.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Author's note: The cartoon--commissioned exclusively for this articl--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.</i></div></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-2793084927705709262022-09-23T05:23:00.053-07:002023-08-09T05:47:16.422-07:00Jordan - PLO - Hamas - UN - EU coy on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdx8CfgFzYmEV9OXnlv8jF6wlliBQ2LNWMC_L7l-Uj5N7Sy4iq0Eu5lyvrzZWt4ji2abLY7vKG6bX6djbVBZ31aynY49_BM_2F1wM62v1GWIbCpN4D96Gzr-LWfHAbF354-0UwXaRqmIZHF5zyYqsAmqy92AVuD2QYcMihTtwoVxMfBuPz608yq9CX9lL/s2845/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2022%20September%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1699" data-original-width="2845" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdx8CfgFzYmEV9OXnlv8jF6wlliBQ2LNWMC_L7l-Uj5N7Sy4iq0Eu5lyvrzZWt4ji2abLY7vKG6bX6djbVBZ31aynY49_BM_2F1wM62v1GWIbCpN4D96Gzr-LWfHAbF354-0UwXaRqmIZHF5zyYqsAmqy92AVuD2QYcMihTtwoVxMfBuPz608yq9CX9lL/w400-h239/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2022%20September%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><div>Jordan, Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Hamas, United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) now have to choose between two very different two-state solutions to end the 100 years old Arab-Jewish conflict.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The first:</b></div><div><b> </b></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Unsuccessfully pursued by the United Nations for the last 19 years – was renewed again at the sidelines of the 77th Annual Meeting of the General Assembly on 21 September:</div></div><div><div></div></div><blockquote><div><div><b><i>"The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan met in New York today in the presence of special guests Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process [UNSCMEP –ed] Tor Wennesland, to consult and coordinate their policies with a view to advancing the Middle East Peace Process towards a just, comprehensive and lasting peace on the basis of the two-state solution..."</i></b></div></div><div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div></div><div><div><b><i>..."We emphasize that the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-state solution is indispensable for comprehensive peace in the region. We remain firmly committed to enabling and supporting all efforts aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on international law, relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and agreed parameters, including the Arab Peace Initiative.</i></b> </div></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote><div><div><b><i>We reiterate our conviction that only a negotiated two-state solution based on June 4, 1967 lines, and consistent with relevant UN Security Council resolution ensuring an independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel, can fulfil the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians."</i></b></div></div></blockquote><div><div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><b>The second:</b></div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">Far murkier in its provenance - was published in Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022:</div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><b><i>"The Palestinian problem can only be solved today if it is redefined. The issue in this day and age for people should be not so much the ownership of ancestral land but more the critical need to have a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world. Labor in this day and age is mobile and having citizenship in a country that facilitates such mobility is critical to human development.</i></b></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><b><i>The most logical vehicle for this redefinition and hence for the solution to the Palestine problem is the kingdom of Jordan. Over the last seventy-five years, Jordan has developed into a relatively well-governed state, although the impact of regional political turmoil has caused it to fail economically and become heavily reliant on foreign aid for its survival. It is this Jordanian governance infrastructure that needs to be captured and put to productive use in integrating the millions of Palestinians and Jordanians into a modern, reasonably well-functioning state that would, in an era of real peace and economic integration with Jordan's neighbors, have a much higher chance of growth and prosperity.</i></b></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><b><i><br /></i></b></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><b><i>This proposed enlarged kingdom would include present-day Jordan, Gaza, and the West Bank (areas populated by Palestinians attached in a contiguous manner and physically connected to Jordan, i.e., not broken up into islands)."</i></b></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div>The author Ali Shihabi is a close confidante of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Zalman – Saudi Arabia's next King designate. Al Arabiya News is reportedly 60% owned by the Saudi Government. </div><div><br /></div><div>This plan shreds the 1981 and 2002 Saudi Peace Plans and 1980 EU Venice Declaration.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jordan's King Abdullah, PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and the EU have not uttered one word rejecting this Saudi alternative plan since its publication.</div><div><br /></div><div>UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UNSCMEP Tor Wennesland have refused to discuss or even acknowledge the Saudi Plan's existence.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Israeli politicians:</b> choose either - or neither. Being coy is no longer an option.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>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.</i></div></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-9396879147556028192022-09-19T05:04:00.037-07:002023-08-09T05:22:02.815-07:00UN must evaluate Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcW1d7RhkMCBS3INLz32hyZWMGP8ehi0CXDGqSSg7nKXV8GlJqaoL5WK_BbjtY00ZGJGCjv3YnpHimXf5AI1AtRMYLMki0gdzfZy3CMpUE-YnL8m3u0kQsqL8milI2PYN4L8bX4ANIicBqmcB5RgPDr3KjWMUqKcUZBU_ekefs4OEymnQKX3ADb-G84XIY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcW1d7RhkMCBS3INLz32hyZWMGP8ehi0CXDGqSSg7nKXV8GlJqaoL5WK_BbjtY00ZGJGCjv3YnpHimXf5AI1AtRMYLMki0gdzfZy3CMpUE-YnL8m3u0kQsqL8milI2PYN4L8bX4ANIicBqmcB5RgPDr3KjWMUqKcUZBU_ekefs4OEymnQKX3ADb-G84XIY=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The General Debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held from 20 to 26 September will not be hearing the words <b><i>“Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine”</i></b> mentioned even once by the Heads of State and Government meeting at the UN Headquarters for their annual talkfest to discuss world issues. </p><p>All these high-powered speakers will continue to bury any discussion of the peace proposal emanating from Saudi Arabia and published in Al-Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 calling for:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Jordan, Gaza, and part of the West Bank to be merged into one separate territorial entity to be called the <b><i>Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine </i></b></li><li>The capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to be Amman – not Jerusalem</li><li>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to grant Citizenship to all stateless Palestinian Arabs </li><li>Jewish sovereignty being established in part of the West Bank for the first time in 3000 years</li></ul><p></p><p>This Saudi proposal offers a new two-State solution: Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine –with Israel sovereign in about 20% of former Palestine and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine sovereign in about the remaining 80%. </p><p>Saudi Plan author – Ali Shihabi – was brutally frank in explaining why it was time to look at this possibly game-changing solution:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“We have seen from recent experience that state building is a virtually impossible task, particularly in a polarized environment so creating a “Palestinian State” from scratch is a fool's errand... Yes, a false separate “Jordanian” identity has developed over the last decades from what is really a people with zero differences, ethnic or religious that have been one people since time immemorial..." </i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The Annual Report of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People highlights the UN's continuing failure to progress its two-State solution:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“Throughout the reporting period, [2 September 2021 to 31 August 2022] the realization of the two-State solution, as per the relevant United Nations and the prevailing international consensus, failed to advance. The Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) did not resume, and the Middle East Quartet did not create opportunities for negotiations between Israel and the State of Palestine”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The Report misleadingly states:</p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>“The stalled MEPP and the lack of new initiatives to benefit the Palestinian people's quest for self-determination have highlighted the need for enhanced global cooperation to reinvigorate negotiations and provide a political horizon leading to a just solution to the Question of Palestine and lasting peace”.</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>A new initiative and political horizon for a just solution to the Question of Palestine has emerged: <b><i>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution. </i></b></p><p>This latest initiative seriously challenges the two-State solution unsuccessfully pursued by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland during their respective tenures - and by the UN for the last 19 years: Creating a brand-new Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan for the first time in recorded history </p><p>Both Guterres and Wennesland have stubbornly refused to present this Saudi initiative to the Security Council for evaluation since its publication. Regrettably hubris has prevented them doing so. It is hard to admit that there might be an alternative solution to the one you have been claiming for years is the only solution.</p><p>Ending the 100 years-old conflict between Jews and Arabs - rather than perpetuating that conflict by continuing to pursue a decades-old failed solution – should be Guterres' and Wennesland's joint mantra. </p><p>Guterres and Wennesland: Relent and recognise that the UN two-State solution is dead – that the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution to replace it needs to be evaluated by the Security Council. </p><p>Doing so could change the course of history. </p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-59661036567486718262022-09-12T04:43:00.001-07:002023-08-09T05:02:36.283-07:00Biden & Blinken silent on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbRXgxPBRsJSU928K09KrWRKsb7sNwJ-dAITDLFdiDuPwdhyKYT6auUcz2LUPbAv_6frqZyVqrcFQTDEtucWIM-DNVBPfxpxFfy8364AyUFLdjUwzh-O9PtvA9FoA3fic40hGqKPAql5-DamnQQtLe7cWWc0f40xGJE1USb66T4Xqj78eY2xU-tkKd_ic-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbRXgxPBRsJSU928K09KrWRKsb7sNwJ-dAITDLFdiDuPwdhyKYT6auUcz2LUPbAv_6frqZyVqrcFQTDEtucWIM-DNVBPfxpxFfy8364AyUFLdjUwzh-O9PtvA9FoA3fic40hGqKPAql5-DamnQQtLe7cWWc0f40xGJE1USb66T4Xqj78eY2xU-tkKd_ic-=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>In the Arab-Israel conflict where every word is dissected and analysed to see whether there could be any change of policy - the use of the words <b><i>“a two state solution”</i></b> instead of <b><i>“the President’s two-state solution” </i></b>could well signal President Biden’s abandonment of his own two-state solution – Israel and Palestine - in favour of a Saudi two-state solution – Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine. </p><p>Such speculation has arisen following this State Department Media Note issued on 4 September:</p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>“The Assistant Secretary will travel to Israel and the West Bank September 1-3 to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials to discuss a range of priorities, including the ... Administration’s continued support for a two-state solution.</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Was the State Department referring to <b><i>“the two-state solution”</i></b> articulated by President Biden on 15 July?</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>“President Biden ... underscored his commitment to a two-state solution on the 1967 lines with land swaps mutually agreed by the Israelis and Palestinians. He also highlighted the importance of direct negotiations leading to an independent, sovereign, viable, and contiguous Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, both enjoying secure and recognized borders, allowing the two peoples to live side-by-side in peace and security."</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Or was the State Department referring to a different two-state solution – Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine – emanating from Saudi Arabia on 8 June 2022 - calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one single territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine? </p><p>The Saudi plan’s author – Ali Shihabi - is a confidante of Saudi Arabia’s next King – Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. Shihabi’s Plan was published in Al Arabiya News – owned 60% by the Saudi Government. This latest Saudi plan supersedes the 1981 and 2002 Saudi Peace Plans. </p><p>The rationale for creating the Saudi-proposed merged state as against the Biden-proposed brand new state was recently explained by Shihabi: </p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>“We have seen from recent experience that state building is a virtually impossible task, particularly in a polarized environment - so creating a “Palestinian State” from scratch is a fool’s errand. At the same time Jordan is a decently run country by regional standards and hence its government infrastructure can be used to incorporate 'Palestine' which will instantly have a globally recognized and respected government with all the basics like security, government bureaucracy etc.”</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Shihabi’s two-state solution – if implemented – would consign Biden’s two-state solution – <b><i>“a fool’s errand”</i></b> says Shihabi - to the diplomatic graveyard. </p><p>Significantly - Palestinian Authority President Abbas, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Hamas leaders have not voiced any objection to the Saudi proposal since its June publication. Rejection by any of them would have stopped the Saudi plan in its tracks. </p><p>I sought State Department clarification on 6 September:</p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>“I refer to the Peace Plan emanating from Saudi Arabia published in the Al Arabiya Times on 8 June 2022 proposing the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine (Saudi Plan): https://english.alarabiya.net/in-translation/2022/06/08/The-Hashemite-Kingdom-of-Palestine</i></b> </blockquote><blockquote><b><i>Could you please advise in relation to Secretary of State Blinken:</i></b> </blockquote><blockquote><b><i>1. When he first became aware of the Saudi plan?</i></b> </blockquote><blockquote><b><i>2. Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on 8 June 2022?</i></b> </blockquote><blockquote><b><i>3. If so – when and where were such comments published?</i></b> </blockquote><blockquote><b><i>4. If he has made no comment – would he like to make any comment on the Saudi plan that I can publish verbatim and attribute to him in an article I am writing on the Saudi Plan?</i></b> </blockquote><blockquote><b><i>I would appreciate a reply within the next 72 hours."</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The State Department has yet to reply. </p><p>Biden and Blinken’s silence is baffling.</p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-41451703192050955482022-09-05T04:22:00.040-07:002023-08-09T04:42:58.837-07:00Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine: Lapid No Guts No Vision<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIUmM0qQOJV7hgq8o9TQdPkGDSS2Pf_u6uBPwz9rgvC1DX2jespC6bcLb9cm2-3waXe6KmAaP7C9kFJx17Z4n0-OOzg_EE8bU9BEj1oZw7rQm5VJ5Ajsc2KzG-EmYLNgGPDH8XZKHBNWO-mNWgTGDhIht_HT6OnS2-YbRXmu3__hBK9ukJFphOt1-1HNKN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIUmM0qQOJV7hgq8o9TQdPkGDSS2Pf_u6uBPwz9rgvC1DX2jespC6bcLb9cm2-3waXe6KmAaP7C9kFJx17Z4n0-OOzg_EE8bU9BEj1oZw7rQm5VJ5Ajsc2KzG-EmYLNgGPDH8XZKHBNWO-mNWgTGDhIht_HT6OnS2-YbRXmu3__hBK9ukJFphOt1-1HNKN=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Israel's Prime Minister and candidate for re-election following the November 1, 2022 elections -Yair Lapid - refuses to make any comment on the Saudi Peace Plan published on June 8, 2022 calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.</p><p>It is unclear whether Lapid had any actual knowledge or appreciation of the Saudi Plan when--as Israel's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister - he told 26 European Union Foreign Ministers at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on 11 July that:</p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>"It is no secret that I support a two-state solution. Unfortunately, there is no current plan for this. However, there is one thing we all need to remember. If there is eventually a Palestinian state, it must be a peace-loving democracy".</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The Saudi Plan clearly consigns the idea of any Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan to the diplomatic graveyard for burial by its sponsors - the United Nations and the European Union - after forty years of failed attempts to see its creation. </p><p>The Saudi plan also promises the following outcomes:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It would supersede two previous Saudi peace proposals in 1981 and 2002 calling for Israel to withdraw completely from the West Bank</li><li>Amman - not Jerusalem - will be the capital of The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</li><li>The right of return to Israel is abandoned.</li><li>Palestinians in the 'West Bank', Gaza and stateless refugees get full citizenship in the merged Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with all the elements of sovereignty applicable to those Territories that belonging to a fully recognized state in the UN entail.</li></ul><p></p><p>It beggars belief that not 1 of the 120 members of Israel's current Parliament has uttered one word that I can find anywhere supporting or rejecting the Saudi Plan.</p><p>The Saudi Plan's author - Ali Shihabi - a confidant of Saudi Arabia's next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman - expressed his own feelings to me at this veil of silence that had descended over every one of Israel's politicians:</p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>"Israel is the key factor. It holds most of the cards and its military, economic and political success since 1948 has made its leaders arrogant and contemptuous of the Arabs generally since the Israelis have imposed their terms on the region despite all Arab efforts and noise made in decades past. This arrogance is clouding Israeli judgement and blinding them to the opportunity that presents itself today for them to drive a sustainable peace process. They can get a lot of what they want but have to give a bit to get a sustainable solution that will integrate them into the region permanently, but this will require an Israeli De Gaulle with guts and vision, and I don't see one on the horizon unfortunately"</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Confident I could meet Shihabi's challenge - I asked Lapid, Defence Minister Gantz and Opposition Leader Netanyahu the following questions:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When he first became aware of the Saudi plan?</li><li>Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on 8 June 2022?</li><li>If so--when and where were such comments published?</li><li>If he has made no comment - would he like to make any comment on the Saudi plan that I can publish verbatim and attribute to him?</li><li>Is he prepared to promise Israeli voters that he will use his best endeavours to implement the Saudi plan if he becomes Israel's next Prime Minister?</li></ul><p></p><p>Lapid - like Gantz – failed to respond. </p><p>Netanyahu wants an assurance of complete Israeli security control west of the Jordan River - not presently promised in Shihabi's plan. </p><p>Over to you for your considered response Mr. Shihabi </p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-75405479056601244862022-08-30T06:07:00.030-07:002023-03-26T05:36:15.817-07:00Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine: Gantz - de Gaulle or de Goose?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZYpamEkQvj95DM95ZhDhOp9j-s5l18Vp-MbNdKY3BexIdKQ2lpinIq0h_SRozKtFJjPrLlfj_3okyDntyGZhy_c3vY95QNl8jPM3Af3cCWjTxcMQZZvk7tvtKriCYAgbx_-0uvgbdfi0Ph1K9xiNSntRvvXjJCWErTSOS-9gQE4afCiPGqmEpEw0ug/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2030%20August%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZYpamEkQvj95DM95ZhDhOp9j-s5l18Vp-MbNdKY3BexIdKQ2lpinIq0h_SRozKtFJjPrLlfj_3okyDntyGZhy_c3vY95QNl8jPM3Af3cCWjTxcMQZZvk7tvtKriCYAgbx_-0uvgbdfi0Ph1K9xiNSntRvvXjJCWErTSOS-9gQE4afCiPGqmEpEw0ug/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2030%20August%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div>Two statements made this past week by Israel’s current Defence Minister – Benny Gantz - could see his run for Israel’s next Prime Minister ended after it has just started. </div><div><br /></div><div>Gantz told Kan Reshet Bet:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"Those who, in a clear left-wing position, consider 'two states for two peoples' as a solution are living in an illusion, and those who, in a radical right-wing position, think of a state without Arabs in the West Bank, are living in a greater illusion," </blockquote></i></b></div><div>Gantz has apparently not heard of or read the 2022 Saudi Peace Plan published on June 8th - which provides for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and parts of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called <b><i>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</i></b>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Implementation of the Saudi plan in the West Bank could possibly see:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The State of Israel - sovereign in about 30% (designated green and yellow) on this leaked map -where 1% of the West Bank Arab population live.</li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtCrVc2d--Wrvc0QmhFww_MAvwkQ1EkgTsXad2V08OqLdIUVhFlETcrsyLmx-MLXEbK4zN2vMrxVl7TM6pZIeo43Jl5R4RyVBPL90Y0RQNui_dFDmnCX3pAI5IaEnfnX6vKjqkFsBBiwUKpK98TgsYvEYbeRgo83RIFz6DBLWyAbpOKtTyEbDEtYS-Q/s456/HKOP%20-%20Leaked%20map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="336" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtCrVc2d--Wrvc0QmhFww_MAvwkQ1EkgTsXad2V08OqLdIUVhFlETcrsyLmx-MLXEbK4zN2vMrxVl7TM6pZIeo43Jl5R4RyVBPL90Y0RQNui_dFDmnCX3pAI5IaEnfnX6vKjqkFsBBiwUKpK98TgsYvEYbeRgo83RIFz6DBLWyAbpOKtTyEbDEtYS-Q/w295-h400/HKOP%20-%20Leaked%20map.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - sovereign in about the remaining 70% (designated red) -where 99% of the West Bank Arab population resides.</li></ul></div><div>Constructing a network of tunnels and roads will enable this subdivision. </div><div><br /></div><div>Gantz committed an even bigger gaffe--telling 103 FM Radio:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"I repeat and insist that Jerusalem is the unified capital of the State of Israel ... And I do not see how we can continue towards an arrangement [with the Palestinians] in the coming years, but we must begin by initiating processes to reduce the conflict and strengthen security ... There are villages in the east that the Palestinians call Jerusalem, and they are not in the metropolitan area of Jerusalem. It is possible to define them as a capital."</blockquote></i></b></div><div>These comments indicate that Gantz is totally clueless about the Saudi Plan’s following features:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine will be Amman - not Jerusalem</li><li>Implementing the Saudi plan can be successfully concluded in months - not years – requiring negotiations to determine:</li><ul><li>who exercises security control in the territory of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine west of the Jordan River </li><li>the demarcation line between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</li><li>custodianship of the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem</li></ul></ul></div></div><div><div>Gantz is ignorant of the Saudi Plan’s promised further outcomes:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Abandonment of the 74 years-old claim to the right of return </li><li>Consigning a separate Palestinian Arab State between Jordan and Israel to the diplomatic graveyard - promoted unsuccessfully by the United Nations for the last 29 years </li><li>Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and stateless refugees get full citizenship in the merged Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with all the elements of sovereignty applicable to those Territories that belonging to a fully recognized state in the UN entail.</li></ul></div><div>I have written to Gantz asking him to answer 5 questions for inclusion in this article:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>When he first became aware of the Saudi plan?</li><li>Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on June 8, 2022?</li><li>If so - when and where were such comments published?</li><li>If he has made no comment - would he like to make any comment on the Saudi plan that I can publish verbatim and attribute to him?</li><li>Is he prepared to promise Israeli voters that he will use his best endeavours to implement the Saudi plan if he becomes Israel's next Prime Minister?</li></ol></div><div>No response has been received. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Saudi Plan’s author - Ali Shihabi - sees no Israeli politician with the guts and vision of General de Gaulle to implement the Saudi Plan. </div><div><br /></div><div>Gantz is certainly not that de Gaulle - he is de Goose - a fool.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>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.</i></div></div><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-81605652348763893882022-08-16T04:05:00.038-07:002023-03-26T05:04:02.757-07:00Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - Interviewing author Ali Shihabi<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_GZgJ2e-v8wZYIMzmud5rOa4_S0SWGVaeOf2aZ2KxUcER-xXxYy-PigsmB3iiDBctB_mRTMoq8bo3HSC3h5HTF_8WsRKyM25j1ERRRosCSjB896PD_E4-SuIaJo2Hp3GF7VEV5ISTdWLl0Xpk37RCcAeA6olFkr3Z-GF2AL9dvd94ygmWre4dqwm3w/s700/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2016%20August%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_GZgJ2e-v8wZYIMzmud5rOa4_S0SWGVaeOf2aZ2KxUcER-xXxYy-PigsmB3iiDBctB_mRTMoq8bo3HSC3h5HTF_8WsRKyM25j1ERRRosCSjB896PD_E4-SuIaJo2Hp3GF7VEV5ISTdWLl0Xpk37RCcAeA6olFkr3Z-GF2AL9dvd94ygmWre4dqwm3w/w400-h200/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2016%20August%202022.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div>A plan proposed by Ali Shihabi - a Saudi author and commentator on Middle Eastern Politics -proposing the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one single territorial entity to be called <b><i>"The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine"</i></b> - has received little attention in the Israeli media or been commented on by Israeli politicians since its release on 8 June.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet the plan contains the following features which should excite Israel’s reluctant media to be seeking responses from its political leaders:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It would supersede two previous Saudi peace proposals in 1981 and 2002 calling for Israel to withdraw completely from the West Bank</li><li>The two-state solution – the creation of a separate Palestinian Arab State between Jordan and Israel - promoted unsuccessfully by the United Nations for the last 29 years – is consigned to the diplomatic graveyard </li><li>Amman – not Jerusalem - will be the capital of The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</li><li>The right of return to Israel is abandoned. </li><li>Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and stateless refugees get full citizenship in the merged Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with all the elements of sovereignty applicable to those Territories that belonging to a fully recognized state in the UN entail.</li></ul></div><div>I reached out to the author Ali Shihabi – who kindly gave me the following interview: </div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><i style="font-weight: bold;">What was your idea behind this paper?</i>:<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>I see a failure of Israeli imagination in looking for a solution to the Palestine tragedy. This combined with a lack of realism dominating Palestinian thinking has provided multiple opportunities for political entrepreneurs like the Iranians to use and misuse the cause. Israelis want to perpetuate this inertia by kicking the can continuously down the road while looking for every excuse to do nothing substantive to solve this problem. Israel sees time to be on its side (and so far it has been proven right) but fundamentals like 7 million Arabs living between the river and the sea are a time bomb that eventually will blow up in their face one way or another</li><li><b><i>Why Jordan?</i></b>: We have seen from recent experience that state building is a virtually impossible task, particularly in a polarized environment so creating a "<i>Palestinian State" </i>from scratch is a fool’s errand. At the same time Jordan is a decently run country by regional standards and hence its government infrastructure can be used to incorporate Palestine which will instantly have a globally recognized and respected government with all the basics like security, government bureaucracy etc. </li><li><b><i>But many Jordanians don’t want anything to do with this?</i>:</b> Yes, a false separate <b><i>"Jordanian"</i></b> identity has developed over the last decades from what is really a people with zero differences, ethnic or religious that have been one people since time immemorial so that is a problem. That difference has been pushed by some Jordanian elites in a quest to perpetuate their dominance. This formula however does not eliminate Jordanian elites and preserves the monarchy and all its institutions and makes Jordan/Palestine a much more viable and strategically important state with a substantial footprint on the Mediterranean and a state critically important for regional stability, so it is really in their long-term interest. In any event if a consensus among the powers that be decides on this formula Jordanian elites can be convinced. They are a minor obstacle once you separate the noise from the substance.</li><li><b><i>Well, many Palestinians don’t want it also it seems</i></b><b>: </b>That is the million-dollar question and is one that should be decided by extensive polling and then confirmed by a plebiscite. My guess is that a majority of Palestinians defined as those that are paying the price daily for the status quo, i.e. those in Gaza, West Bank and the refugee camps in Lebanon Syria and Jordan would vote for it once it is explained clearly to them. It is important that only they should decide and not Palestinians comfortable in the diaspora with citizenships in other countries or other Arabs and Muslims who pay no price for taking an absolutist position. It easy to sit sipping your cappuccino at a Starbucks in Dubai or L.A and demand unrealistic solutions since its no skin off your and your family’s back while the people suffering from the status quo continue to pay the heavy price.</li><li><i><b>So, what is required here to get this process going?</b></i><b>:</b><b> </b>Israel is the key factor. It holds most of the cards and its military, economic and political success since 1948 has made its leaders arrogant and contemptuous of the Arabs generally since the Israelis have imposed their terms on the region despite all Arab efforts and noise made in decades past. This arrogance is clouding Israeli judgement and blinding them to the opportunity that presents itself today for them to drive a sustainable peace process. They can get a lot of what they want but have to give a bit to get a sustainable solution that will integrate them into the region permanently, but this will require an Israeli De Gaulle with guts and vision, and I don’t see one on the horizon unfortunately,</li></ol>Will an Israeli De Gaulle emerge to endorse Mr Shihabi’s plan as part of his platform in the upcoming Israeli elections on 1 November? </div><div><br /></div><div>I hope the media ask the politicians for their answers before Election Day. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>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.</i></div></div><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-85566881370001023712022-08-12T03:45:00.030-07:002023-03-26T03:05:42.994-07:00Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine vote winner for Lapid, Gantz, Bibi<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdeaLjrRMUNcwVSXIkf4cgT1OWD2L-_jnQ-Z4_JgV2fo83P_Dpf6AeTTvVdpTG0b8dP1Ourz3hZIV0vx3vLGm_ZK_zy0lBgin3yjOEDTbzFT-z4Vj2MQaGxBRd9spUZZBxrWP02q4FsyqA1S9SoPv_F9Hi0rPHsuiE-CbxKG6g7A7C905nDk_bN9ysVQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdeaLjrRMUNcwVSXIkf4cgT1OWD2L-_jnQ-Z4_JgV2fo83P_Dpf6AeTTvVdpTG0b8dP1Ourz3hZIV0vx3vLGm_ZK_zy0lBgin3yjOEDTbzFT-z4Vj2MQaGxBRd9spUZZBxrWP02q4FsyqA1S9SoPv_F9Hi0rPHsuiE-CbxKG6g7A7C905nDk_bN9ysVQ=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>With Israeli elections due in October--the major players vying to become Israel's next Prime Minister--current caretaker PM -Yair Lapid, current Minister of Defence - Benny Gantz and current Opposition Leader - Bibi Netanyahu have yet to issue any statement on the Saudi plan released on June 8, 2022 to merge Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into a single territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine. </p><p>The Plan's author - Ali Shihabi - is a confidante of Saudi Arabia's next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and a member of the Advisory Council appointed by Bin Salman advising him on his personally-driven initiative - a $500 billion development called NEOM - a megacity of the future like none other on this planet - to be built in Northern Saudi Arabia on an expanse of land equal to the size of Israel.</p><p>The Saudi Solution offers a lot to excite Lapid, Gantz, Netanyahu and their respective political parties with these game-changing features:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The plan reverses two previous Saudi peace proposals in 1981 and 2002 calling for Israel to withdraw completely from the West Bank.</li><li>The two-state solution - the creation of a separate Palestinian Arab State between Jordan and Israel - pushed unsuccessfully by the United Nations for the last 29 years and by the European Union since 1980- is consigned to the diplomatic graveyard</li><li>Jerusalem will not be claimed as the capital of The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - whose capital would be Amman.</li><li>The right of return to Israel is abandoned</li><li>Citizenship would be offered in the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to Palestinian Arab refugees living outside the boundaries of the new entity.</li></ul><p></p><p>Promising voters to negotiate with Jordan on implementing this Saudi Plan is an assured vote winner. </p><p>The most contentious issues in such Israel-Jordan negotiations would be:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Israel's security concerns in relation to the territory of the new entity West of the Jordan River -where demilitarization and responsibility for maintaining security control would be issues on the negotiating table </li><li>the carve up of the West Bank and Gaza - where Israel and Jordan would have a good map to focus on for starters: President Trump's 2020 Conceptual Maps "Vision for Peace" (See following diagrams)</li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHYLz6bxu_xMfJqwTd2hZY1Q8NJI8VRFklAIISXcHYivOxRdJevB8mPR5hOx8Q_orpom7CSbUamqe4Hb4HrVvo0Ea8autbkm48_3lWkcreESZS866dqu5UjLD-9CpmjSU5Ila5WwbSsjZfCHqoG3-19KU0mO8UWDz_w7Y3BjvpkZtnp4AygMk7W8BjqQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="700" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHYLz6bxu_xMfJqwTd2hZY1Q8NJI8VRFklAIISXcHYivOxRdJevB8mPR5hOx8Q_orpom7CSbUamqe4Hb4HrVvo0Ea8autbkm48_3lWkcreESZS866dqu5UjLD-9CpmjSU5Ila5WwbSsjZfCHqoG3-19KU0mO8UWDz_w7Y3BjvpkZtnp4AygMk7W8BjqQ=w400-h328" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>The areas designated as <b><i>"A future State of Palestine"</i></b> would be the starting point for Jordan's negotiators. </p><p>The areas designated as <b><i>"The State of Israel"</i></b> would be the starting point for Israel's negotiators. </p><p>Armed only with sharp pencils, erasers and liquid paper - and motivated to emulate the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty - these negotiators could agree on the new international border between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine in literally a matter of months as well as the terms of the new peace treaty that would replace the 1994 one. </p><p>Netanyahu and Gantz have already agreed to Israel's starting point - having approved the Trump subdivision in 2020 and the formation of a joint Mapping Committee comprising three members each from Israel and America to define the new border with greater precision. </p><p>One could reasonably assume this would also be Lapid's starting point.</p><p> With Operation Breaking Dawn still fresh in their minds - Lapid, Gantz and Netanyahu need to get off their high horses and break their months-long silence by:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>commenting on the Saudi Plan </li><li>announcing without any further delay whether negotiations with Jordan on this Saudi plan will be part of each of their parties' election platforms.</li></ul><p></p><p>Making the Saudi Plan an election issue should not be missed by Lapid, Gantz and Netanyahu. </p><p>If they think otherwise - they risk seeing their party being thrashed at the polling booths. </p><p>Israel's media army needs to confront them for their urgent response. </p><p><br /></p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-71552258721784718092022-08-07T00:08:00.029-07:002023-03-21T23:26:37.329-07:00Wennesland in La-La Land ignoring Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOfTAnb_sDOFTlgJ0uEDYvoyUzTFufrVZhai2BtfEK-AwMPjkHOdNYRmvsmcHvpRB76nn_Di2MUY2B0ibLfvUfKj04BWF44BcKQWyiIImEtvgsxe4NPQtmzgghwwoT1brd4dvQr1HTMZaTTJolcezTWbRWfHK-oLa9IYSNp8hVcekmzaHvD8b2JhpF6w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiOfTAnb_sDOFTlgJ0uEDYvoyUzTFufrVZhai2BtfEK-AwMPjkHOdNYRmvsmcHvpRB76nn_Di2MUY2B0ibLfvUfKj04BWF44BcKQWyiIImEtvgsxe4NPQtmzgghwwoT1brd4dvQr1HTMZaTTJolcezTWbRWfHK-oLa9IYSNp8hVcekmzaHvD8b2JhpF6w=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It is amazing to think that one of the highest ranking United Nations officials dealing with the Palestine question - Tor Wennesland - could address the Security Council on the current situation without telling that august body of a significant new proposal that could finally end this 100-years old unresolved Jewish-Arab conflict. </p><p>That proposal - emanating from Saudi Arabia - calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one single territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.</p><p>Its author Ali Shihabi is a confidant and staunch defender of Saudi Arabia's next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Shihabi is a member of the Advisory Board of NEOM - Bin Salman's proposed US$500 billion megacity of the future to be built from the ground up in Northern Saudi Arabia strategically-located on an area of land equal to the size of Israel.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBAveEO8HX7Z3MRiRNAG9v28COpd5uq5R0o1VChbAtek4970otWjuoOBvTu5xRN9xRanTVeGO7DaDpy4Xa5pY8hZSMUZBsnpZu-MpSPLL7zsKREzsc1peAWp0cHxWBZc_SkN1ONU96t4TC-Umb9nGpi6aG2nHv_UNHDxnCjsEvphAJgp0vIGRsok3V1Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="700" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBAveEO8HX7Z3MRiRNAG9v28COpd5uq5R0o1VChbAtek4970otWjuoOBvTu5xRN9xRanTVeGO7DaDpy4Xa5pY8hZSMUZBsnpZu-MpSPLL7zsKREzsc1peAWp0cHxWBZc_SkN1ONU96t4TC-Umb9nGpi6aG2nHv_UNHDxnCjsEvphAJgp0vIGRsok3V1Q=w400-h375" width="400" /></a></div><br />Shihabi's solution was published in Al Arabiya News - reportedly 60% majority owned by the Saudi Government. <p></p><p>According to MEMRI - the political editor of the Jordanian news outlet jo24.net has written: </p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>"This article must not be seen as a mere opinion piece published by media, since that happens [only] in democratic countries. In contrast, on the [Saudi] Al-Arabiya channel, not one letter is published without a minute examination, and therefore the article necessarily expresses Al-Arabiya's [position]"</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Wennesland:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Is the most credentialed and best informed official in the UN on developments affecting the peace process in former Palestine.</li><li>Possesses the longest title at the UN: <i>United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General's Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Quartet</i></li><li>Is the focal point on the ground for UN support in all political and diplomatic efforts related to the peace process</li><li>Heads The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) that employs 65 people - established in June 1994 following the signing of the Oslo Accords. </li></ul><p></p><p>Yet Wennesland addressed the Security Council on June 27, 2022 and made not one reference to the Saudi Plan which Shihabi had released just 19 days earlier. </p><p>It seems inconceivable that Wennesland was then unaware of this Saudi plan. </p><p>Why didn't he inform the Security Council of its existence and direct his Deputy Special Coordinator Lynn Hastings to do so one month later? </p><p>Wennesland simply continued to trot out the old shibboleths - part of the UN's patter since 1994:</p><p></p><blockquote><p><b><i>"It is crucial that all parties take immediate steps to lower tensions and reverse negative trends that undermine prospects for a peaceful two-State resolution of the conflict, with a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State."</i></b></p><p><b><i>"Settlements constitute a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and international law. They undermine the prospect of achieving a two-State solution by systematically eroding the possibility of establishing a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State."</i></b></p></blockquote><p></p><p>Why not add:</p><p></p><blockquote><b><i>"I bring to your attention a new two-state solution emanating from Saudi Arabia on 8 June that should be considered by the Security Council to replace the two-state solution unsuccessfully pursued by the Security Council for the last 29 years." </i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>The Saudi plan would be finalised in direct negotiations between Israel and Jordan that would delineate the international border between The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine and Israel and resolve Israel's security concerns. </p><p>Suffering by both Jews and Arabs meticulously recorded at length by Wennesland in his monthly reports and escalating right now would end - as would the conflict and any further need for UNSCO. </p><p>Wennesland is in la-la land and needs to return to the real world. </p><p><br /></p><p><i>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</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-6246738961257036432022-08-02T02:25:00.033-07:002023-03-20T01:42:37.049-07:00UN will rue burying debate on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCEPdEiX99BcXRQtVqTPetahfTHs_zMs-dNbYt-KGY3gZ69KsODRZ4Yy9u5vAJsCG1lT2Kmb1p-scUX7-yaS8GSFmlyGX1dqsotzcySAQ5C5ngHraVtcm8C7ZGoBPxMXUVD9ZmsA3qvu3T8uPlI36cSKWcSZncIxCoNb2vb4JpITCvAmXuo9g0RMguow" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCEPdEiX99BcXRQtVqTPetahfTHs_zMs-dNbYt-KGY3gZ69KsODRZ4Yy9u5vAJsCG1lT2Kmb1p-scUX7-yaS8GSFmlyGX1dqsotzcySAQ5C5ngHraVtcm8C7ZGoBPxMXUVD9ZmsA3qvu3T8uPlI36cSKWcSZncIxCoNb2vb4JpITCvAmXuo9g0RMguow=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br />The United Nations Security Council has lost any authority to broker an end to the Jewish-Arab conflict - after its July 26th Quarterly Open Debate: <b><i>"The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question"</i></b> proceeded for 5 hours without any speaker making reference to a new solution emanating from Saudi Arabia to resolve the 100 years-old conflict. <p></p><p>That Saudi solution – the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one separate territorial entity to be called <b><i>"The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine"</i></b>- had been published on 8 June in Al Arabiya News.</p><p>The article was written by Ali Shihabi – a confidante of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – Saudi Arabia's next King and driving force behind NEOM – a $500 billion megacity of the future to be erected in Saudi Arabia on an expanse of land the size of Israel. </p><p>The Security Council's silence in commenting on this Saudi solution ever since its publication has been arrogant and breathtaking. </p><p>This solution offers an alternative to the solution unsuccessfully pressed by the UN for the last 29 years: The creation of a new Arab State between Israel and Jordan. </p><p>The Security Council had an obligation to notify UN member States of the emergence of this new solution since its last Quarterly Debate and encourage the members to consider its pros and cons as a replacement for the UN plan that was clearly dead in the water. </p><p>The Security Council and its vast bureaucracy could certainly not claim ignorance of this Saudi proposal. </p><p>I myself had written to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres representative Stephane Dujarric on June 30th enclosing a copy of the Al Arabiya article - inviting the Secretary-General to comment on the solution for inclusion in an article I was writing. No reply was received - so my article was published on July 4</p><p>A reminder letter sent to Dujarric on July 19 for a comment to use in future articles met the same fate. </p><p>The roll call of those speaking at the Security Council debate without mentioning the Saudi solution is mind-boggling:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt): Lynn Hastings </li><li>The observer for the State of Palestine </li><li>Representatives of Israel, United States, China, Algeria Cuba, Malaysia, South Africa, Lebanon, Japan, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Russian Federation, Albania ,Ghana, Gabon, Kenya, India, Norway, Mexico, Brazil, Iran, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, Türkiye, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Azerbaijan (speaking for the Non-Aligned Movement), Argentina, Republic of Korea.</li><li>A representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer </li><li>The Permanent Observers for the Holy See, the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.</li><li>The Vice Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People</li></ul><p></p><p>Representatives of the State of Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – the parties most affected by the proposed Saudi solution - can be excused for not discussing the Saudi Plan - as they had been engaging in secret back-channel negotiations almost from the day the Saudi Plan was made public. </p><p>By the time this Security Council debate was held, significant agreement had already been reached on acceptable starting points for those negotiations to continue. </p><p>This debate marks one of the lowest points in United Nations history – one when it abdicated its obligation to prevent conflict and acted instead to ensure its perpetuation.</p><p>The Security Council's attempt to bury the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution rather than encourage its serious consideration - will fail. </p><p>The Security Council has sown the seeds for its own demise.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>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.</i></p>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-60580325725975629172022-07-29T00:58:00.034-07:002023-03-20T00:25:20.419-07:00Israel, Jordan, PLO pave way for Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<div><br /></div><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBpzjoGPNX0X006mHWOIlKAPEGyT_h02dXQtuOm5x2U0grWthzHafeM3Ijxva92Yj_VrCEFJADrYOHiunqKTAoluZJx1pOdxjRrGO1yKaIKi2MwoyJ7rmlIYpcwEXddAUcR4zE847lkIGS8Hr-18wexj3l-Bo2eQIkPdBXppkWRgVwRTW8BpJSSZ4ieg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBpzjoGPNX0X006mHWOIlKAPEGyT_h02dXQtuOm5x2U0grWthzHafeM3Ijxva92Yj_VrCEFJADrYOHiunqKTAoluZJx1pOdxjRrGO1yKaIKi2MwoyJ7rmlIYpcwEXddAUcR4zE847lkIGS8Hr-18wexj3l-Bo2eQIkPdBXppkWRgVwRTW8BpJSSZ4ieg=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s meeting with King Abdullah on July 27th could see negotiations being announced shortly between Israel and Jordan to create a single territorial entity encompassing Jordan, Gaza and parts of the West Bank. </p><p>This newly created entity - designated <b><i>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</i></b> – together with Israel – will constitute the elusive and previously unattainable two-state solution – pursued by:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>the Mandate for Palestine (1922)</li><li>The Peel Commission (1937)</li><li>UN Resolution 181 (III) (1947)</li><li>Venice Declaration (1980)</li><li>Oslo Accords (1993)</li><li>Saudi Peace Plan (1982)</li><li>Revised Saudi Peace Plan (2002)</li><li>Bush Roadmap (2002)</li><li>The UN (2016)</li><li>Trump Peace Plan (2020)</li></ul><p></p><p>- finally ending the conflict over the division of former Palestine between Arabs and Jews begun with the defeat of Turkey in World War I. </p><p>The plan to create <b><i>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine</i></b> was first announced in Al-Arabiya news –owned by the Saudi Royal family – on June 8, 2022 in an article written by Ali Shihabi – a close confidante of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – Saudi Arabia’s heir apparent to the Saudi throne and the driving force behind Neom – a $500 billion megacity of the future to be built from the ground up in an area of northern Saudi Arabia equal to the size of Israel. </p><p>A tweet issued by King Abdullah’s Palace (see below) confirms that the King and Lapid discussed the subject of a two-state solution and it seems inconceivable that they would have discussed any plan other than this Saudi solution.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbql4tMD8K8iUkNnDeShGbUrVn_IqGFFm0nsMNCO9VtFcbM1SQDBsB-NCaGTi3GDgvhas-hB_WZA1UOOxKsMUwdiOqg1E-tub5edq17jF-O91sAh3ylMjgJ7k2P-14-tZhmCgNIp6ooc1PpERN-caxj-I6UFGlcmVpvIkvrEtf6tjJsLOIqwgx0yjqpQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="700" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbql4tMD8K8iUkNnDeShGbUrVn_IqGFFm0nsMNCO9VtFcbM1SQDBsB-NCaGTi3GDgvhas-hB_WZA1UOOxKsMUwdiOqg1E-tub5edq17jF-O91sAh3ylMjgJ7k2P-14-tZhmCgNIp6ooc1PpERN-caxj-I6UFGlcmVpvIkvrEtf6tjJsLOIqwgx0yjqpQ=w400-h398" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It would appear that back channel negotiations have been going on since the release of the Saudi plan on 8 June to refine it to reflect - with more precision - the starting positions of Jordan, Israel and the PLO in any negotiations. </p><p>Those agreed starting positions include:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine will be ruled by Jordan’s current Hashemite ruler King Abdullah – which Hashemite dynasty has ruled Jordan for the last 100 years.</li><li>The right of return to Israel by Palestinian Arab refugees will not be pursued. Instead The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine will integrate those refugees within its borders</li><li>The borders of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan will include:</li></ol><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Jordan with its current borders</li><li>The Gaza Strip</li><li>Areas of the West Bank inhabited by Palestinian Arabs and bordering Jordan that are contiguous and not divided into islandsThe retention by Israel of the Jordan Valley and other areas of the West Bank will be resolved in the negotiations</li></ul></blockquote><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">4. Neither the Arabs nor the Muslims will seek to expel Israel from Jerusalem. However it remains as a bargaining chip in the hands of the Palestinian Arabs in securing any agreement and giving the Holy Places in Jerusalem a special status. </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">5. Any agreement will need to be ratified by a free popular referendum by all Jordanians and residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and those who are stateless such as the residents of the refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria. Palestinian Arabs who are settled in other countries and who enjoy full citizenship will have no vote.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">6. The rationale for creating The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine is based on the fact that Jordanians and Palestinians are Sunni Arabs from the same region and integrating them will not cause any ethnic or sectarian fault lines in the long run. </p></blockquote><p>Jordan has received a flurry of visits from Mohammed Bin Salman, PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israel’s President Herzog, since the Saudi Plan was published. </p><p>Lapid’s visit now when he is only caretaker Prime Minister is highly significant. It could indicate the commencement of negotiations is supported by the majority of Israel’s political parties. </p><p>Let the negotiations begin.</p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-47776459986450709302022-07-24T20:19:00.037-07:002023-03-19T19:43:12.718-07:00Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to end Mandate for Palestine saga<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPuYMnBxscDBrkF0B3jmnU-M7XyvX8-n4B3V-BttXum0BVx9TPiA2SKpgyC9oxsou5Ds0ooGqZdTJi51JxwmuW7z1Skj_Qws0B4tjynFBpyejUKMA5-XundhyBCorrOv7oOXg3e0HK0JCJI7iHk1tSV6qiDTWmfJwBGTP0ez7_lb-04s9BOKjrmXvj3Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPuYMnBxscDBrkF0B3jmnU-M7XyvX8-n4B3V-BttXum0BVx9TPiA2SKpgyC9oxsou5Ds0ooGqZdTJi51JxwmuW7z1Skj_Qws0B4tjynFBpyejUKMA5-XundhyBCorrOv7oOXg3e0HK0JCJI7iHk1tSV6qiDTWmfJwBGTP0ez7_lb-04s9BOKjrmXvj3Q=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The creation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine –the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one single territorial entity comprising about 80% of the territory of the Mandate for Palestine (Mandate) - will be a fitting end to the Mandate saga which began on July 24, 1922 with the unanimous approval of its terms by all 51 Members of the League of Nations. </p><p>The remaining 20% of the Mandate territory will mark the final internationally recognised boundaries of Israel -3000 years after the loss of the Jewish ancient and biblical homeland to the Roman General -Pompey - following his conquest of Jerusalem and its surroundings in 63 BC.</p><p>This two-state solution in Palestine - one Arab the other Jewish - had not been that originally planned by the Principal Allied Powers at the San Remo Conference in April 1920 and confirmed by the Treaty of Sevres in August that year. </p><p>San Remo had provided for: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Arab self-determination within the territory comprised in the Mandate for Syria and Lebanon and the Mandate for Mesopotamia - comprising 99.99% of the territory formerly part of the 400 years old Ottoman Empire liberated after World War 1</li><li>Jewish self-determination within the territory comprised in the Mandate for Palestine located on both sides of the Jordan River - the remaining 0.01% of the liberated Ottoman Empire </li></ul><p></p><p>Two and a half of the 12 Tribes of Israel had settled East of the Jordan River after reaching the Promised Land - as recorded in the Old Testament. The other nine and a half tribes had continued on to settle West of the Jordan River. </p><p>However the arrival of Abdullah - a member of the Hashemite dynasty - in Transjordan on 21 November 1920 accompanied by a band of armed troops en route to help his brother Faisal fight the French to retain Faisal's crown in Syria - resulted in:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Great Britain - at the Cairo Conference held on March 12, 1921 - stopping Abdullah by creating the Emirate of Transjordan for Abdullah in 78% of Mandatory Palestine East of the Jordan River. The Emirate remained part of the Mandate until granted independence by Great Britain in 1946 - changing its name to the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan.</li><li>Article 25 being inserted into the Mandate document on July 24, 1922--restricting the right of the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in 22% of Mandatory Palestine West of the Jordan River</li><li>The Council of the League of Nations approving these changed arrangements on September 16, 1922.</li></ul><p></p><p>These changes have been preserved until today under article 80 of the United Nations Charter. </p><p>The United Nations failure to observe the terms of its own Charter has been the greatest obstacle to achieving the Mandate-contemplated two-state solution. </p><p>That two-state solution has however become politically attainable following a detailed plan for its creation in an article dated 8 June - written by Ali Shihabi a close confidante of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman the next King of Saudi Arabia - and published in Al-Arabiya News – owned by the Saudi Royal Family. </p><p>Successful negotiations between Israel and Jordan to implement Shihabi's plan would result in:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The merger of Mandate territory located East and West of the Jordan River into one Arab State and</li><li>the recognition of a Jewish State in the remaining Mandate territory West of the Jordan River </li></ul><p></p><p>The last chapter of the Mandate saga begun on July 24, 1922 is on the diplomatic horizon. </p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>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.</i></p><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-83184970659609914712022-07-17T06:35:00.018-07:002023-03-19T05:58:20.057-07:00Biden rejects Saudi plan for Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvRqQf7g9kH2MeSFvGodjL0NO37Ikpsr5eo4Yj6l7Zzz7TcwYtp2nrQRwk4Fk671Xw3QfeJ7HoZan7Tr94Kvgcyb8rEuVeqOqIv-XlWrss0MJhs2CNjVr1Hz1W4Yo_LfagN-__qkppr_5QjLk31pOTG1GtXiRLx8p9LOdKH8b7-93TccijIcT-MSYRoQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="700" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvRqQf7g9kH2MeSFvGodjL0NO37Ikpsr5eo4Yj6l7Zzz7TcwYtp2nrQRwk4Fk671Xw3QfeJ7HoZan7Tr94Kvgcyb8rEuVeqOqIv-XlWrss0MJhs2CNjVr1Hz1W4Yo_LfagN-__qkppr_5QjLk31pOTG1GtXiRLx8p9LOdKH8b7-93TccijIcT-MSYRoQ=w400-h200" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div><div>President Biden's support for the creation of an additional Arab State between Israel and Jordan constitutes his clear rejection of a Saudi plan to merge Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called "The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine" ("Saudi Solution").</div><div><br /></div><div>Biden's decision to pursue the failed policy adopted by President Obama and Biden as Vice President between 2011 and 2016 ("Obama/Biden two-state solution") was confirmed in Bethlehem on July 15, 2022:</div><div><blockquote><b><i>"Today, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. President Biden reaffirmed the enduring ties between the Palestinian and American peoples and underscored his commitment to a two-state solution on the 1967 lines with land swaps mutually agreed by the Israelis and Palestinians. He also highlighted the importance of direct negotiations leading to an independent, sovereign, viable, and contiguous Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel, both enjoying secure and recognized borders, allowing the two peoples to live side-by-side in peace and security."</i></b></blockquote></div><div>Biden made this specific commitment even though admitting on arriving in Israel two days earlier:</div><div><blockquote><b><i>"The two-state solution is still the best way to ensure peace and democracy for Israelis and Palestinians; however, I don't see a near horizon for this solution."</i></b></blockquote></div><div>Biden's refusal to consider or even comment on the Saudi Solution since its publication six weeks ago in a Saudi Royal Family-owned news outlet - was replicated when Biden held meetings on July 16, 2022 with:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Saudi Arabia's King Salman </li><li>King Salman's son and successor Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in what was described as an <i>"extended working session"</i> and </li><li>The leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)</li></ul></div><div>In none of those meetings was the Saudi Solution raised or discussed - as the White House: </div><div>Detailed Fact Sheet and Joint Statement by Biden and the GCC make very clear. </div><div><br /></div><div>Biden's return to the Obama/Biden two-state solution enunciated by President Obama on 19 May 2011 is unfathomable:</div><div><b><i><blockquote>"What America and the international community can do is to state frankly what everyone knows--a lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples: Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people, each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace. So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the basis of those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine, a secure Israel. The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their full potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state."</blockquote></i></b></div><div>With no horizon in sight for achieving this solution - Biden is ensuring the 100-years-old unresolved conflict between Jews and Arabs will indefinitely continue to exact its toll of human lives and suffering as the following diagram so graphically illustrates:</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGWzkJSSL5cEyMsCAYUGbkgm4YrlNWJM7-hV3uNdk4dITs7ogoeo6Oh06QJrGa7NUBU-qaNaPfbL3BDlX9pvYOK0tNBuqA8dlQdJWe5NAvaCF2QHlOOHOSDer1kgeLXm3WbfHnfADT1oDSXKnt6HjihJz453mF989KT2hwzJHIVEliY8N7spmA5h11cQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGWzkJSSL5cEyMsCAYUGbkgm4YrlNWJM7-hV3uNdk4dITs7ogoeo6Oh06QJrGa7NUBU-qaNaPfbL3BDlX9pvYOK0tNBuqA8dlQdJWe5NAvaCF2QHlOOHOSDer1kgeLXm3WbfHnfADT1oDSXKnt6HjihJz453mF989KT2hwzJHIVEliY8N7spmA5h11cQ=w496-h640" width="496" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Jordan-Israel negotiations on the other hand could see the Saudi Solution successfully achieved in six months by redrawing the existing international border between Jordan and Israel - finally completing the original two-state solution first contemplated by the League of Nations when adopting the Mandate for Palestine on July 24, 1922: </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine: exercising sovereignty in about 80% of Mandatory Palestine and </li><li>Israel: exercising sovereignty in the remaining 20%.</li></ul></div><div>Rejecting the Saudi Solution will have unpleasant consequences for the US-Saudi relationship and the US economy during Biden's remaining term as President. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>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</i></div></div><div><br /></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2880651395211614407.post-62605323960446520332022-07-11T04:03:00.034-07:002023-03-14T03:52:39.325-07:00PLO & Hamas give silent nod to Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisxDUw25F7Vf-ZcBzrW9io-5vCntDS_wz-vqEw1v2n1JSv_5oyrNhSz3iBLsA5SAhZ3v0s6KzWcH-445i1TeAFzp1uCxzFDuaiA-6qXTOcJetuEV2lmAUxMEFRoB4Gkp_2f9fe19Z3yAgJ7jPK1nhfQMbFoQkiMUZbDWvzYzlf38pHLkSi5DqG4JHVYA/s336/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2011%20July%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="263" data-original-width="336" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisxDUw25F7Vf-ZcBzrW9io-5vCntDS_wz-vqEw1v2n1JSv_5oyrNhSz3iBLsA5SAhZ3v0s6KzWcH-445i1TeAFzp1uCxzFDuaiA-6qXTOcJetuEV2lmAUxMEFRoB4Gkp_2f9fe19Z3yAgJ7jPK1nhfQMbFoQkiMUZbDWvzYzlf38pHLkSi5DqG4JHVYA/s320/Dry%20Bones%20Cartoon%2011%20July%202022.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The first meeting in six years between PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Algeria this week saw these two protagonists for leadership of the Palestinian Arabs failing to take the opportunity to condemn a Saudi Arabian proposal to unify Jordan, Gaza and parts of the West Bank into one territorial entity.</div><div><br /></div><div> The justification for this ground- breaking merger was eloquently expressed by its author – Ali Shihabi – a close confidante of Saudi Arabia's next King – Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman – in a recent article headlined <b><i>" The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine"</i></b> published in Al Arabiya News - owned by the Saudi Royal Family:</div><div><blockquote><i><b>"Jordanians and Palestinians are as similar as any people can be. They are Sunni Arabs from the same neighbourhood. Merging them will not create any long-term ethnic or sectarian fault lines."</b></i></blockquote></div><div>The Saudi proposal made the following hard-hitting truths that would have previously attracted outright condemnation and rejection by both the PLO and Hamas:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b><i>"Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted, however grudgingly, by the region around it</i></b></li><li><b><i>Justice, however, does not make history; hard power does—and Palestinians must reconcile themselves to this painful reality and move forward with their lives without being held back by false hopes and illusions.</i></b></li><li><b><i>[The] illusion of "return" has served some Arab regimes' interests by giving them a powerful excuse to avoid integrating Palestinian refugees as citizens, particularly in Lebanon and even Jordan, both of which have millions of disenfranchised Palestinians in their camps. These regimes feared that these refugees-cum-citizens would alter their demographics and threaten their ruling order. Consequently, the excuse given was that since the Palestinians would eventually return to Palestine, giving them citizenship would technically undermine their "right of return" and hence they should be denied citizenship. Palestinian leaders actively colluded in perpetuating this tragedy.</i></b></li><li><b><i>The Palestinian problem can only be solved today if it is redefined. The issue in this day and age for people should be not so much the ownership of ancestral land but more the critical need to have a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world. Labor in this day and age is mobile and having citizenship in a country that facilitates such mobility is critical to human development."</i></b></li></ul></div><div>It seems truly amazing that such accusations pulling out the rug from under both the PLO and Hamas should have been allowed to pass unmentioned and unchallenged by both Abbas and Haniyeh in Algeria. </div><div><br /></div><div>Their silence was indeed palpable and can – in the absence of any express denials - be construed as PLO and Hamas acceptance of the Saudi way forward - that could see any newly-created Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine: </div><blockquote><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Being demilitarized west of the Jordan River and in Gaza – adopting similar parliamentary and governance systems there used by Jordan when it occupied the West Bank between 1950 and 1967.</li><li>The PLO and Hamas Charters calling for Israel's destruction revoked and their organisations being disarmed under international supervision </li><li>A new peace treaty with Israel replacing the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty</li><li>The tunnels under Gaza leading into Israel being redirected to unite Gaza with other parts of the new State</li><li>All citizens of the newly-created State enjoying common citizenship and freedom of movement within the State</li><li>The refugee camps in Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza and neighbouring Arab States being closed and their occupants offered citizenship in the new State or other host Arab states.</li></ul></blockquote><div>Abbas and Haniyeh's silence could indeed be the catalyst for the commencement of Jordan-Israel negotiations to make the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine a reality.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Author's note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — was hand-drawn from his COVID sick bed 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.</i></div>David Singer -http://www.blogger.com/profile/18281274914728257734noreply@blogger.com0