Xi joins Biden as a Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine-denier

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping has joined USA President Biden in disqualifying both their countries from playing any mediating role in ending more than 100 years of conflict between Arabs and Jews over the territory once called Palestine.

Both Biden and Xi refuse to jettison the failed - Saudi Arabian-inspired - two-state solution unsuccessfully pursued by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative:

1. Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.
2. Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.
3. The acceptance of 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

Biden made his position clear on December 29, 2022:

“And as we have throughout my Administration, the United States will continue to support the two state solution and to oppose policies that endanger its viability or contradict our mutual interests and values.”

Xi has now joined Biden--according to Chinese state media – stating on June 14, 2023:

“The fundamental solution to the Palestinian issue lies in the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,”

Biden and XI have clearly rejected an alternative solution – The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (HKOPS) – which emanated from Saudi Arabia on 8 June 2022.

HKOPS (as subsequently amended) calls for Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank to be merged into one territorial entity called “The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine”--to be ruled by the Hashemites--with its capital in Amman – not Jerusalem--which will be recognized as Israel’s capital only.

Custodianship of the Islamic Holy sites in Jerusalem will remain vested in the Hashemites as currently exists.

Biden and Xi’s support for the failed Arab Peace Initiative--and not HKOPS--will encourage fellow HKOPS-deniers--the United Nations and the European Union--to continue pushing a solution whose use by date has long expired.

HKOPS author--Ali Shihabi--is a confidant of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and member of the Board advising MBS on building the US$500 billion mega-city Neom.

MBS has not rejected HKOPS since its publication – even though its successful implementation will shred the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

MBS wants the Jewish-Arab conflict ended – as he transforms Saudi Arabia under his Vision 2030 to become an integral driver of international trade connecting three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe

This requires a new solution to replace the failed Arab Peace Initiative – which HKOPS delivers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his position clear on the Arab Peace Initiative and Vision 2030 in Al Arabiya News on 15 December 2022:

“Look, the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 was an indication that there is a willingness, in those days, to think about how to get out of the straitjacket and to get to a comprehensive peace. I think things have changed, things have moved. But the need to have this kind of new thinking is important. And again, if we stick to the old grooves, we’ll be stuck in the old groove. If we think about new ways, then I think the sky’s the limit.”

Current Secret MBS-Netanyahu negotiations could see this decades-old straitjacket cast aside – averting a major humanitarian crisis threatening to envelop the West Bank and Gaza.

HKOPS-deniers – Biden, Xi, UN and EU - should hang their collective heads in shame.

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.

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Saudi US-Embassy tries to bury Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

Saudi Embassy Spokesperson in Washington--Fahad Nazer--has tried to bury the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (Saudi Solution)--first published in the Saudi Government-controlled Al-Arabiya News on June 8, 2022 and then subsequently amended.

The Saudi Solution’s author is Ali Shihabi--a confidant of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS).

Shihabi himself spent two years in Washington--having founded the Arabia Foundation in March 2017--only to abruptly close it on July 30, 2019 in the following dramatic circumstances:

“At 10 a.m. that day, Shihabi seated himself beneath his foundation's banners for a panel discussion hosted alongside the Atlantic Council. He was typically combative throughout the event, and when it ended at 12 p.m. he stood, swiftly shook hands, and exited the stage.

Soon after, a message pinged on the Arabia Foundation's staff WhatsApp group. Everyone was to be back at the L Street office within the hour, Shihabi wrote. The foundation was closing.”

Nazer had been appointed Spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy on January 23, 2019.

Saudi Arabia’s current US Ambassador Princess Reema bint Bandar had been appointed on 23 February 2019—which was immediately welcomed by Shihabi.

Nazer’s attempt to bury the Saudi Solution came during a wide-ranging interview Nazer gave Katie Jensen on June 11, 2023--during which she asked:

“Has there been any change in the Kingdom’s position towards normalization with Israel in recent months?”

Nazer answered Jensen’s question with this response:

“Saudi Arabia’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been clear and has been consistent for many years. In fact, it was the late King Abdullah, who, way back in 2002, introduced what is now known as the Arab Peace Initiative at the Arab League Summit in Beirut in that year. And the proposal, the initiative, does offer Israel normalization with all members of the Arab states in return for a just and comprehensive peace with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution. That offer really still remains on the table. And we’re certainly hopeful that the Israelis and Palestinians do go back to the negotiating table and resolve the core dispute once and for all...”

Nazer was being deceptive and misleading:

• The Saudi Solution trashes the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative which calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan for the first time in history (two-state solution)--replacing it with a plan to merge Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine”--to be governed by Jordan’s ruling Hashemite dynasty--with its capital in Amman--not Jerusalem.

• Analyst David Weinberg refutes Nazer’s claim:

“Every serious interlocutor I know who has spent significant time in Riyadh in recent months will tell you that Saudi leaders no longer insist on Palestinian statehood as a condition for movement towards Israel.”

• New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman concluded last December that the Biden-supported two-state solution--unachieved after 20 years of intense diplomatic activity--was “in hospice”.

The Saudi Solution is a potential game-changer.

Abandoning the late King Abdullah’s 2002 initiative--coupled with MBS not uttering one word rejecting or disapproving the Saudi Solution –– represents a major change in Saudi Arabia’s position towards normalization with Israel.

Why did Nazer ignore mentioning these recent highly-significant developments?

The possible answer: Implementing the Saudi Solution could be one of the top agenda items in the current secret negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Keeping everyone in the dark--including President Biden--gives those negotiations the best chance of success.

The Saudi Embassy’s perceived burial of the Saudi Solution is premature.

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

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine on rollercoaster ride to reality

 

The 2022 Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (HKOPS) continues its rollercoaster ride from dream to reality – in spite of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) refusing to acknowledge that such a solution even exists.

These four organizations amazingly continue to call for the creation of the two-state solution: a Palestinian Arab state between Jordan and Israel for the first time in recorded history.

New York Times columnist - Thomas Friedman – sums up the inevitability of the two-state solution’s demise:

“A week of reporting from Israel and the West Bank has left me feeling that the prospect for a two-state solution has all but vanished. But no one wants to formally declare it dead and buried — because categorically ruling it out would have enormous ramifications. So, diplomats, politicians and liberal Jewish organizations pretend that it still has a faint heartbeat. I do as well. But we all know that the two-state option is not in a hospital. It’s in hospice. Only a miracle cure could save it now.”

HKOPS game-changing initiative calls for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be governed by Jordan’s current Hashemite rulers – with its capital being located in Amman – not Jerusalem.

HKOPS will recreate - in a to-be-negotiated reduced area - the territorial entity existing between 1950 and 1967 – following Transjordan and Judea and Samaria being unified - and renamed Jordan - after the expulsion in 1948 of every Jew living in Judea and Samaria and the December 1948 Jericho Congress. 

All Arab residents of the newly-merged entity acquired Jordanian citizenship.

HKOPS:

• Trashes 21 years of Saudi Arabian and Arab League policy unsuccessfully pursuing the two-state solution
• Shreds the European Union two-state solution pushed since the 1980 Venice Declaration
• Negates the UN two-state solution contained in Security Council Resolution 2334 dated 23 December 2016.
• Recognizes Jerusalem as the sole undivided capital of Israel
• Allocates Jewish sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for the first time in 3500 years.
• Grants citizenship in the newly-created Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to all Palestinian Arab refugees no matter where they currently live.

Recent meetings of the Arab League and the Executive Committee of the OIC have confirmed their continued support for the terminal two-state solution.

German diplomat Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff – the European Union’s representative in Judea, Samaria and Gaza defiantly declared: 

“There is no such thing as Area B and C, it’s all Palestine.”

The UN continues its eleven months’ silence on considering HKOPS as an alternative solution to replace its own failed 2016 two-state solution – perpetuating the Arab-Jewish conflict rather than trying to end it.

Yet the following news report on 22 May shows how out of touch these four organisations are:

“Israel and Saudi Arabia have been engaged in negotiations for a potential normalization agreement under Bahraini mediation for the last day, Channel 12 News correspondent Sapir Lipkin reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen are involved in the telephone negotiations. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Manama in Bahrain and is holding the talks from there, mediated by the Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.

Bahrain was chosen as a mediator for the negotiations at the request of the Saudis. A source involved in the talks told Channel 12 News that "the negotiations are very complex" and are being conducted under pressure exerted by the Biden Administration.”

RIP: two-state solution.

Welcome: Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution whose successful implementation could end 100 years of conflict between Arabs and Jews.

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

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution: Alive or Dead?

 

Two seemingly contradictory news reports within the space of 48 hours have thrown into doubt the possible implementation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine Solution (HKOPS) to end the unresolved 100-year conflict between Jews and Arabs.

HKOPS emanated in Saudi Arabia and was published in the Saudi-Government controlled Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 – and was subsequently amended – but the amended version was not published by Al Arabiya.

HKOPS called for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity - to be governed by Jordan’s current Hashemite rulers – with its capital located in Amman – not Jerusalem.

The plan’s author - Ali Shihabi – a confidant of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) – is a member of the advisory board set up by MBS to advise MBS on building a US$500 billion mega city – Neom - the size of Israel - in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

HKOPS is a potential game changer and circuit breaker since its features include:

• Trashing 21 years of Saudi Arabian and Arab League policy since 2002 calling for the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan on all of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) - with its capital in East Jerusalem
• Recognition of Jerusalem as the sole undivided capital of Israel
• Recognition of Jewish sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for the first time in 3500 years.
• Citizenship in the newly-created entity for all Palestinian Arab refugees no matter where they currently live.

HKOPS has not been rejected in the eleven months since it was published by:

• MBS
• Jordan’s King Abdullah
• PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas
• Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
• Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Back-channel secret talks between Israel and the PLO have fueled speculation that implementing HKOPS was included in their meetings.

On 18 May an article headlined “Biden admin pushing for Saudi-Israeli peace deal by end of year, officials say” - came as a bolt from the blue with Biden’s bold call.

The article claimed:

“Two senior U.S. officials said it's in Saudi Arabia's interest to get a normalization agreement with Israel while President Biden is in office because it would receive more bipartisan political support and legitimacy in Washington, especially when it is likely to include U.S. steps toward Saudi Arabia that would be unpopular.”

The article however contained a caveat:

“Any deal will likely include a “Palestinian component” that Israel will have to agree to. The Saudis said publicly that normalization with Israel will take place only if there is progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It is unclear what the Saudis and the U.S. will ask for and how far Netanyahu’s far-right government will go to secure a deal.”

Successfully implementing HKOPS seemed the obvious deal that Israel would be asked to negotiate to gain a full peace with Saudi Arabia.

48 hours later that expectation was dashed when the 32nd Regular Session of the Arab League Council - held in Jeddah at the Summit Level under the Chairmanship of MBS - repeated its failed 21 years- old mantra:

“We stress the importance of intensifying efforts to achieve a comprehensive and just settlement to the Palestinian issue and find real grounds for achieving peace based on the two-state solution in accordance with international references, mainly the Arab Peace Initiative, relevant international resolutions and the principles of international law, to ensure the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on Palestinian territory on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Ditching HKOPS will only serve to perpetuate the Jewish-Arab conflict – not end it.

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

Biden needs to back Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

 

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s visit to Saudi Arabia this weekend for talks with Saudi leaders - including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – will offer Sullivan an excellent opportunity to discuss with the Crown Prince the Saudi –based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published on June 8, 2022.

Sullivan told the Washington Institute the US was still working toward a deal to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

“Ultimately, getting to full normalization is a declared national security interest of the United States. We have been clear about that. Now as a sign of my seriousness about how much we’re focused on this, and how seriously we are taking this, I am not going to say anything further lest I upset the efforts we are undertaking on this issue.”

The pathway to such full normalization involves a resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

However this does not necessarily involve the creation of a new State between Israel and Jordan – as the New York Times reported on March 9th:

“Saudi officials have said they cannot forge normal relations with Israel — a step that would include formal diplomatic interactions and likely also trade and travel agreements — before a Palestinian state is established. But some people familiar with the discussions said they believe the Saudis, who have been building closer unofficial ties to Israel, would settle for less than that. “

The “less than that” could involve implementing the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published in the Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya News 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” – to be ruled by the Hashemites – with its capital being in Amman – not Jerusalem (Saudi Solution).

The Plan was authored by Ali Shihabi – a confidant of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and a member of the Crown Prince’s advisory board on Neom – a $500 billion megacity of the future being constructed in north-western Saudi Arabia on an area of land the size of Israel.

This Saudi Solution:

• Trashes the creation of a new state between Israel and Jordan – pursued by both the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Hamas for decades – and still by the Biden administration
• Shreds Saudi Foreign Policy adopted for the last 20 years – and adopted by the Arab Peace Initiative - calling for Israel to totally withdraw from Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and enable the creation of a Palestinian state there - with its capital being in Jerusalem
• Involves the Hashemites – not the PLO or Hamas - returning to govern part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – as the Hashemites did between 1950 and 1967.
• Recognizes Israeli sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for the first time in 3500 years.

Remarkably Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Arab League Secretary Ahmed Aboul Gheit have not rejected this Saudi-solution in the eleven months since its publication – despite its reversal of their respective long-pursued policies.

Sullivan told the Washington Institute:

“And we are working to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords, supporting Israel’s ultimate, final, complete integration into the Middle East region and the world. And this will be an area of continuing emphasis and focus for us over the coming period as we look to add more countries and to bring Israel even more deeply into the web of relationships in the Middle East and beyond.”

Biden’s backing for the Saudi Solution could be the circuit breaker and game changer needed to make this happen.

@IsraeliPM,@special_royal,@SecBlinken,@UN_Spokesperson, @alishihabi, @JosepBorrellF #israel, #palestine, #jordan, #saudiarabia, #middleeast

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

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine key to end conflict in Middle East

 

Visits to Saudi Arabia this past week by Jordan’s King Abdullah, PLO President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh could be the prelude to negotiations with Israel to implement the Saudi-based 2022 Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (Saudi Solution) and end 100 years of unresolved conflict between Jews and Arabs.

These three visits - coming within days of each other - have taken place amidst dizzying diplomatic and economic activity over the last six weeks that have seen an easing of tension in the Middle East - including:

• Saudi Arabia and Iran agreeing in March to re-establish diplomatic relations after a 7 years break - promising:

“keenness to exert all efforts towards enhancing regional and international peace and security”

• Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on April 18  - coming days after Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad visited Saudi Arabia on the first such trip since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011.

• Qatar and Bahrain announcing on April 12 that they would resume diplomatic relations

• Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launching four new special economic zones in Saudi Arabia on April 14 - offering opportunities for knowledge-sharing and creating tens of thousands of jobs.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu believes these Abbas and Haniyeh visits to Saudi Arabia and the rapprochement with Syria and Iran are:

“Maybe to tell them they are going to have to prepare themselves - maybe to try to tell them to stop doing the kind of terror they foment”

The Saudi Solution achieves that outcome - calling for:

• The merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial unit under Hashemite rule to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - with its capital to be Amman - not Jerusalem.

• Citizenship in the new entity being granted to all stateless Palestinian Arabs no matter where they presently reside.

• Jerusalem being recognised as Israel’s sole capital and

• Sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) being vested in the Jewish people for the first time in 3500 years.

The common denominator existing between King Abdullah, Abbas, Haniyeh and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) since the publication of the Saudi Solution on June 8, 2022 has been their failure to expressly reject the Saudi Solution - even though it trashes separate policies and agendas espoused by each one of them for decades.

For MBS in particular - the Saudi Solution:

• Shreds Saudi policy pursued since 2002 and adopted as the Arab Peace Initiative: Creating an independent Palestinian State between Israel and Jordan with its capital located in East Jerusalem (two-state solution)

• Terminates Saudi Arabia’s endorsement of United Nations Security Council resolution 2334 in 2016 seeking a two-state solution.

Successfully implementing the Saudi Solution will establish a conflict-free zone in Israel, Gaza and Judea and Samaria (West Bank)  - complementing MBS’s amazing economic plans for Saudi Arabia -dubbed Vision 2030 - including trillion-dollar investments in mega-developments Neom and Diriyah.

King Abdullah, Abbas and Haniyeh have also unsuccessfully pursued the two-state solution since the 1993 Oslo Accords. Implementing the Saudi solution offers them a return to what actually existed  - and worked - between 1950 and 1967.

Three major hurdles to implementing the Saudi Solution have been resolved in principle in the Saudi Solution:

• Who governs the newly-merged entity
• Where the capital of that new entity will be located
• Recognition of Israeli sovereignty claims to part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)

Security control of all the territory west of the Jordan River is the last major issue requiring resolution.

Ending conflict in the Middle East - not perpetuating it - has become Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic agenda.

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

An analyst discusses Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

 

An analyst has finally surfaced to break 10 months of silence by analysts worldwide refusing to analyse or discuss the 2022 Saudi-based conversation:

Me: You need to consider the Saudi-based plan dispassionately on its merits. The whole world is concerned with the Palestinian issue and many solutions have been proposed from around the world in the past 100 years - all of which have not resulted in ending the conflict. This latest Saudi solution could be the solution to succeed where all others have failed. Shihabi [the solution’s author -ed] is a confidant of Crown Prince and Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman - and a member of the Board advising the Crown Prince on Neom - a US $500 billion mega city being developed in north-west Saudi Arabia. Bin Salman has not rejected Shihabi's plan in the ten months since its publication - even though it reverses Saudi foreign policy for the last 20 years. I urge you once again to look at the Saudi plan objectively as the circuit breaker to end this long-running and tragic conflict between Arabs and Jews.

Ismail: The last advice Palestinians need is from a fascist psycho dictator MBS and his fantasy Neom team. You have cynically said the proposal would be circuit breaker, but for who? For Israel of course because that would be on the terms of a war criminal fascist settler state Israel, certainly never for oppressed Palestinians. It’s shocking to see shills like you advocating for something that is way out of line from the UN simply because it’s on the terms of oppressor state Israel. Would you apply the same logic to Ukraine under occupation, treading over the main stakeholders—the natives under brutal occupation—by adopting a proposal from the illegal oppressor occupier state’s new found friend; or go back even further, back German Nazi state and use a proposal that is “circuit breaker” acceptable to Nazi state? History shows, as far as natives and the colonised people is concerned, while coexistence within one state solution with natives living alongside the settler generation may be acceptable, nothing would be acceptable to colonised natives if it means they are being transferred over or bundled up together and removed to form a separate entity. Israel may have the best weapons on its side for now; nothing lasts forever.

Me: Your profile describes you as a Middle East strategic advisor & compliance professional. You continue to refuse to discuss the Saudi-solution - attacking its origin, its author and its next King. This is a plan that needs to be considered seriously by you. It is in my opinion a circuit breaker that is beneficial to both Jews and Arabs - whilst requiring both of them to make compromises which is what usually happens in conflicts such as this one. The Plan states: "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." That is what this plan promises if implemented. Reject it if you will - and perpetuate the conflict. Accept it - and end the conflict. Which choice as a strategic advisor would you advise the Palestinians to accept?

Ismail abruptly ended our discussion when asked why he thought PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh have not similarly denounced and rejected the Saudi-based plan for the last ten months.

Next analyst please...

@IsraeliPM,@special_royal,@SecBlinken,@UN_Spokesperson, @alishihabi, @JosepBorrellF #israel, #palestine, #jordan, #saudiarabia, #middleeast

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

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine threatens conflict industry

 

Ten months have passed since the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution was published in Al-Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 (Saudi Solution) – yet not one word has appeared in the major international or any other news services – my publishers excepted – scarcely subjected to any analysis by the multiple think tanks, non-Government organisations [NGOs] and analysts around the world or been mentioned at the United Nations even once.

The perplexing question that needs to be answered is: 

Why this silence worldwide about a solution whose implementation promises:

• The merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one territorial entity to be named the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine – to be ruled by the Hashemites with its capital in Amman – not Jerusalem
• Jerusalem to be the undivided capital of Israel only
• The Hashemites to retain control over the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem
• Israel to regain sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) after 3500 years
• Stateless Palestinian Arabs living anywhere in the world gaining citizenship in the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
• An end to the 100 years-old unresolved Arab-Jewish conflict

Not newsworthy enough to report for 400 foreign media representatives from 32 countries stationed in Israel?

Not sufficiently intriguing for any reporter in the past ten months to ask the following leaders at their regular press conferences for their opinion of the Saudi Solution – given none of them has voluntarily issued a media statement or comment rejecting it:

• King Abdullah of Jordan,
• Palestine Liberation Organisation President Mahmoud Abbas
• Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh
• Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
• UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?

My only explanation for the veil of silence covering this international conglomerate – that I have dubbed “the conflict industry” – is the threat they all see to their own existence if the Saudi Solution is successfully implemented and the Arab-Jewish conflict is ended.

Norman Finkelstein – a former professor famous for defending the Palestinian cause and fierce critic of Israel – admitted recently this phenomenon also exists in Ramallah – the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority:

“Whenever a cause has gone on so long as this one has, people develop an investment in its perpetuation. There are 10,000 NGOs in Ramallah now. That means 10,000 organizations which are paid for by foreign countries, mostly European, to ‘facilitate’ the peace process. And if you’re in an NGO, compared to the salaries of ordinary Palestinians, it’s quite good.”

“Ramallah is a pretty impressive lifestyle now. And so you develop a stake in perpetuating the situation. And so you don’t even want to think about realistic solutions, because part of you doesn’t even want it to end.”

“I have to admit myself – let’s say it ended tomorrow, what am I going to do tomorrow? I have to fight that.”

These culprits apparently cannot find anything to criticise in the Saudi Solution. If they did – they would have trashed it long ago in lengthy articles and detailed analysis – ridiculing it as a non-starter.

So they pretend the Saudi Solution does not exist – give it no oxygen – keep their readers in the dark about its potential to end the conflict.

A revolutionary game changer and circuit breaker – negotiations to implement the Saudi Solution are desperately needed to arrest the surging violence in Jerusalem, Gaza, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) – stoked by Syria, Iran and Lebanon.

The conflict industry stands condemned for breathlessly reporting the humanitarian disaster unfolding before its very eyes – whilst totally ignoring the Saudi Solution that could end it.

Shameful and disgusting.

@IsraeliPM,@special_royal,@SecBlinken,@UN_Spokesperson, @alishihabi, @JosepBorrellF  #israel, #palestine,#jordan, #saudiarabia, #middleeast

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

MBS: Is Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution dead or alive?

 

Following the announcement that Saudi Arabia and Iran intend resuming diplomatic relations within the next two months - Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister - Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) - needs to urgently answer this one question: 

“Is the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published on  June 8, 2022 by your confidant Ali Shihabi dead - or is it still alive?”

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran after two of its diplomatic posts were attacked in Tehran and Mashhad in 2016 by demonstrators protesting Saudi Arabia’s executions of 47 people convicted of terrorism - including Shia preacher Nimr al-Nimr and al-Qaeda ideologue Fares al-Shuwail.

MBS’s answer will help give meaning to the final sentence intriguingly included in the Joint Trilateral Statement by the People's Republic of China, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Islamic Republic of Iran issued on March 10th:

“The three countries expressed their keenness to exert all efforts towards enhancing regional and international peace and security.”

Has Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei decided to abandon Iran’s call for the elimination of Israel and accept Israel’s reality as expressed in the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution?

“Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted, however grudgingly, by the region around it.”

Is Paramount Leader Xi Jinping of China - a permanent member of the UN Security Council - ready to consider replacing the UN’s failed 2016 two-state solution with the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution?

MBS’s response will also confirm or reject the claim by Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief - Prince Turki Al-Feisal - that the Kingdom was sticking to the terms of the failed 2002 Arab Peace Initiative in its drive to normalise relations with Israel:

"The terms are well-known. The creation of a sovereign Palestinian state with recognised borders and Jerusalem is its capital, and the return of Palestine refugees."

"What I have said was not my opinion, but it was declared by officials. I trust the officials when they say anything, and anything made by media is nonsense."

The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative has been rejected by every Israeli government in the past 20 years. Its use by date has long expired.

Several Arab states have bypassed it and forged ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords. The Aqaba Summit seeks horizons for peace.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution shreds the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative by calling for:

• The merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) into one sovereign territorial entity
• Having its capital in Amman and not Jerusalem
• Being governed by the current rulers of Jordan for the last 100 years - the Hashemites - not the PLO or Hamas.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution would have needed MBS’s approval before its publication in the Government-controlled Al Arabiya News - given it was trashing Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy for the previous 20 years.

No Saudi Arabian citizen could expect to be walking Riyadh’s streets the day after making such a public statement without MBS consent. Yet its author - Ali Shihabi - remains a member of the Board advising MBS on the construction of a US$500 billion futuristic mega city called Neom in north western Saudi Arabia - covering an area the size of Israel.

Significantly MBS has not rejected the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution in the 10 months since its publication. Neither have the leaders of those Arab parties most affected: Jordan’s King Abdullah, PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh - whose policies for the past 25 years will also become ancient history.

Time for MBS to break his silence by answering this one pressing question definitively and without further delay.

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

Under the radar negotiations on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

Israel and Saudi Arabia have reportedly begun US-brokered peace negotiations that will be conducted far away from the media and public gaze.  Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu made that perfectly clear in his 50 minute interview on Saudi Government-controlled Al Arabiya TV on 15 December:

“You know, I’m sort of a champion of a slight twist in what Woodrow Wilson said in the Versailles Peace Conference. He said he believed in open covenants, openly arrived at. I believe in open covenants, secretly arrived at or discreetly arrived at. There we will have to have discussions about all the questions that you asked today and see how we can advance this. If you try to sort it out in advance you get stuck. That’s what happens. In Israel, we say “climb the tree.” Everybody climbs on their own tree and says, “I’m here, and I’m not climbing down and no matter how many ladders you give me.” I’m stuck in my tree, the other guy is stuck in his tree, and we just shout at each other across tree trunks and we never get to a meeting of the minds or an actual meeting on the ground. I think we have to take a different position. All these things need to be discussed discreetly, responsibly and, within the confines of closed meetings, openly. And once we get an agreement, then we can come out. I don’t need the public fanfare, I don’t need it. You know, if you come to an agreement, it will be publicized. If you don’t come to an agreement, nothing happens. I think we can come to amazing agreements.”

One topic for discussion will assuredly involve the implementation of the Saudi-based Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution published in Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022. Its author – Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister – Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and also a member of MBS’s advisory board on Neom – a US$500 billion megacity being built in north-western Saudi Arabia covering an area equal to the size of Israel.

Shihabi’s plan 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”  Shihabi's plan is both revolutionary and ground breaking - the best plan yet presented to end the Jewish-Arab conflict. Shihabi’s plan has not been rejected by King Abdullah (Jordan), Mahmoud Abbas (PLO) Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) or MBS in the seven months since its publication. Yet incredibly virtually all:

• the international media, 
• Op-Ed writers, 
• University professors heading up Middle East faculty departments 
• Well-endowed private think tanks, 
• foreign-funded Israeli NGO's, 
• investigative journalists and 
• the United Nations 

have ignored acknowledging even the existence of Shihabi's plan. Their credibility is in tatters – their opinions and decisions fatally flawed without factoring in Shihabi’s plan.

The UN is now seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice - when supporting the implementation of Shihabi’s Plan would have rendered that highly-divisive decision unnecessary. 

Trashing Shihabi’s plan was a UN option - but burying this game changing plan - an alternative to the failed two-state solution proposed by the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, the 2003 Oslo Accords and Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) - requires explanation and justification. 

Had this misguided group of bedfellows treated Shihabi’s Plan with the seriousness and analysis it deserved – they might have also discovered one other critically important document: A revised version of Shihabi’s 8 June 2022 plan. 

Burying Shihabi’s plan has ironically given Israel and Jordan the freedom to negotiate under the radar amendments to Shihabi’s plan - long before their US-brokered negotiations commenced. 

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.

David Singer——Bio and Archives

David Singer is an Australian Lawyer, a Foundation Member of the International Analyst Network and Convenor of Jordan is Palestine International—an organization calling for sovereignty of the West Bank and Gaza to be allocated between Israel and Jordan as the two successor States to the Mandate for Palestine. Previous articles written by him can be found at: jordanispalestine.blogspot.com

Security Council should adopt Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

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. 

Addressing the Security Council Wennesland advised:

“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”

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).

 Wennesland unwisely chose to blame Israel:

“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.”

He reminded the Security Council:

"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."

Wennesland was correct but his proposed recommendation for “a legitimate political process” fell far short of what is required:

“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.”

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.  

Wennesland’s recommendation will only see the conflict being indefinitely perpetuated – not ended.  

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. 

It will dramatically  “change the negative trajectory on the ground “:

• 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
• The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and 2003 Oslo Accords are superseded.
• 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.
• Sovereignty in the West Bank will be divided between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
• Its author – Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister – Mohammed Bin Salman.
• 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.
• 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.
• Its successful implementation can end the 100 years-old Arab -Jewish conflict.

Adopting the Saudi Solution to replace the failed two-State solution is needed to arrest this worsening humanitarian nightmare. 

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.

Bibi forced to move early on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine plan

 

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. 

Faced with this looming reality - Netanyahu has been forced to move early on his election promise made to Israeli voters on October 22nd:

"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."

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:

"The other parties are joining me. I'm not joining them"

Netanyahu –repeating his election promise - told Al Arabiya:

"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."

Netanyahu continued: 

"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."

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. 

The plan recognises:

"Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted  ..."

The plan 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 with unrestricted citizenship being offered to the Arab populations of Jordan, Gaza, the West Bank and the refugee camps located in Syria and Lebanon.

Netanyahu - significantly –told Al Arabiya viewers:

"I think coming to a solution with the Palestinians will require out of the box thinking, will require new thinking."

The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution is certainly the most creative plan ever proposed to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict--its author declaring:

"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."

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. 

December 21st is Israel's Judgement Day. 

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.

NYT needs to end silence on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

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. 

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 The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - 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).

The NYT is not on its own.  

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:

"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?"

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

"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.  

Friedman then proffered this advice to the Crown Prince:

"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."

Thus was born the Friedman-inspired 2002 Arab Peace Initiative - which has gone nowhere in the last 20 years. 

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.

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?  

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? 

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? 

Thomas Friedman and Kathleen Kingsbury – some answers and an op-ed please. 

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.

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine key to ending Jew-bashing at UN

 

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. 

One of these draft resolutions - approved by 98 voting in favour to 17 against, - with 52 abstentions--was titled "Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" (document A/C.4/77/L.12/Rev.1).

By its terms, the UN General Assembly would demand that Israel cease: 

"all measures that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people, including the killing and injuring of civilians, the arbitrary detention and imprisonment of civilians, the forced displacement of civilians, the transfer of its own population into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem" 

and that:

"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"

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. 

Yet the implementation of a recently-published proposal that could end that conflict and similar future acrimonious debates was never raised or discussed. 

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):

• Recognises Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted, however grudgingly, by the region around it.
• 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
• Supersedes the 2002 Saudi-inspired Arab Peace Initiative
• Ends the 74 years old Palestinian Arab claim to the right of return to live in Israel.
• Grants citizenship and passports to all Arab residents living within the new entity's borders 
• Does not require any of the entity's population to pack up and move elsewhere. 
• Offers Palestinian Arab refugees the right to resettle there and acquire citizenship
• Recognises sole Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem
• Affirms Jordan's custodianship of the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem

Successful implementation of this Saudi Solution would immeasurably free up the UN's time to deal with other unresolved and emerging world conflicts. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Failure to examine and evaluate the Saudi Solution threatens the UN's relevance and continued existence. 

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.

Roth confounds UN, USA & Australia: Two-State solution 'is gone'

 

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). 

Addressing a recent discussion hosted by the Washington-based think-tank - Arab Center - Roth declared:

"The two-state solution is great but it's gone”

Roth’s bombshell admission was followed by this statement made by Hady Amr - US deputy assistant secretary for Israeli and Palestinian affairs: 

"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," 

In reversing Australia’s decision to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said:

“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.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been repeating this mantra since 2017:

“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,”

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 The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine - whose capital will be Amman – not Jerusalem (Saudi Solution). 

The Saudi Solution supersedes the 1981 and 2002 Saudi Peace Plans – subsequently incorporated in the Arab Peace Initiative adopted in Beirut in 2002. 

Significantly – no rejection of the Saudi Solution has been expressed since its release by:

• Saudi Arabia’s recently appointed Prime Minister: Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman
• Jordan’s King Abdullah 
• PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas
• Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
• The Arab League

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.

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. 

The Saudi Solution points the new way forward:

“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.”

Israeli Prime Minister – Yair Lapid – continues to support the two-state solution. 

With Israeli elections set for 1 November - no other Israeli politician has yet told Israeli voters whether they:

• agree with Lapid 
• would back exploring the Saudi Solution and its implementation or 
• what their alternative policy would be for ending the long running conflict.

Flogging a dead horse is in no one’s interest.

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.

Jordan - PLO - Hamas - UN - EU coy on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

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.

The first:

 

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:

"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..."

..."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. 

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."

The second:

Far murkier in its provenance - was published in Al Arabiya News on 8 June 2022:

"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.

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.

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)."

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. 

This plan shreds the 1981 and 2002 Saudi Peace Plans and 1980 EU Venice Declaration.

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.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UNSCMEP Tor Wennesland have refused to discuss or even acknowledge the Saudi Plan's existence.

Israeli politicians: choose either - or neither. Being coy is no longer an option.

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.

Biden & Blinken silent on Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine

 

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 “a two state solution” instead of “the President’s two-state solution” 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. 

Such speculation has arisen following this State Department Media Note issued on 4 September:

“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.

Was the State Department referring to “the two-state solution” articulated by President Biden on 15 July?

“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."

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? 

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.  

The rationale for creating the Saudi-proposed merged state as against the Biden-proposed brand new state was recently explained by Shihabi: 

“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.”

Shihabi’s two-state solution – if implemented – would consign Biden’s two-state solution – “a fool’s errand” says Shihabi - to the diplomatic graveyard. 

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. 

I sought State Department clarification on 6 September:

“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 

Could you please advise in relation to Secretary of State Blinken: 

1. When he first became aware of the Saudi plan? 

2. Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on 8 June 2022? 

3. If so – when and where were such comments published? 

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 would appreciate a reply within the next 72 hours."

The State Department has yet to reply.  

Biden and Blinken’s silence is baffling.

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.