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

Two-state solution sinks as Biden tries to resurrect it

 

Postponement of the upcoming Palestinian elections on May 22nd for the 132 member Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) seems virtually assured with the report from an “unnamed US source” that Washington would not object to any such postponement.

The potential boost to Hamas’s power in winning this election at the expense of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) would spell the death knell for the creation of an independent Palestinian State located in all of Gaza, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and East Jerusalem (“target area”).

Amazingly this failed solution still continues to be pushed by the international community 40 years after the Venice Declaration first embraced it.

President Trump’s plan to create another Arab State in about 70%—rather than 100% — of the target area — was effectively discarded by President Biden from the day he became President — rewarding the PLO for its unequivocal rejection of Trump’s proposal by resuming much of America’s financial largesse to the PLO and international organisations withdrawn by Trump.

Particularly noteworthy has been Biden’s failure to demand that the PLO end its “pay for slay policy” that rewards the killing and maiming of Jews with substantial payments to the perpetrators or their families — currently running in excess of $300 million per annum.

In agreeing to postpone the May 22 PLC elections — Biden is trying to keep alive the failed 40 years-old “two-state solution” that realistically has never had any chance of succeeding.

The PLC first met on March 7, 1996. Under the 1995 Oslo II Accord, the powers and responsibilities of the PLC are restricted to civil matters and internal security in Area A of the West Bank and Gaza, while in Area B they are restricted to civil affairs with security matters being shared with Israel. In Area C, Israel has full control.

The 2006 election for the second PLC was the last PLC election held. Hamas and Hamas-affiliated members won 74 of the 132 seats — whilst its main rival — Fatah — the dominant faction in the PLO— won 43 of the remaining 58 seats.

There seems little prospect of Hamas being overhauled if the May elections are held.

The PLO refusal to accept the 2006 election result saw the bitter internecine Hamas–Fatah split in 2007 with the PLC ceasing to function ever since.

The logos adopted by both Hamas and Fatah for the upcoming PLC elections indicate Hamas and the PLO — and many others — are still not prepared to abandon their claims to wipe Israel off the map –Palestine Media Watch pointing out:.

“The logos that are being used by the 36 parties in the PA parliamentary elections are a window to aspects of Palestinian ideology and goals. 11 of the lists include in their logos the PA map of “Palestine” that erases all of the State of Israel and includes it in “Palestine.” The two dominant Palestinian political movements, Fatah of Mahmoud Abbas that is the major party ruling the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, that rules the Gaza Strip, include the map of “Palestine” that erases Israel. Fatah’s logo also includes two rifles and a grenade, indicating that the goal of liberation of “Palestine,” i.e., the destruction of Israel, will be through military means. The Future party of Muhammad Dahlan — a Fatah breakaway — likewise uses the map.

The following are the names of the 11 political parties and logos that include the PA map of “Palestine” that erases Israel and includes it in “Palestine.”

A picture is worth a 1000 words.

Biden’s foray into resolving the 100-years old Arab-Jewish conflict has got off to a disastrous start.


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 moves to resolve West Bank sovereignty problem it created

[[Published 27 July 2020]

Jordan’s Prime Minister Omar Razzaz has made a welcome intervention to resolve the issue of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (aka West Bank).

Razzaz’s offer comes as Israel readies to restore Jewish sovereignty in 30% of Judea and Samaria after an absence of 3000 years — as promulgated by the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the UN Charter — and detailed in President Trump’s deal of the century.

Razzaz has raised the possibility of a “one-state solution” to replace the “two-state solution”:

“We are against unilateral actions. We are against annexation. We are against any steps that are not within an overall scheme that leads to a two-state solution. Short of that, if we’re not going towards a two-state solution, let us know what we’re going towards, what kind of one-state solution we’re going towards.”

The “two-state solution” favoured by the international community for the last 40 years — creating an independent State of Palestine between Israel and Jordan — has long passed its anticipated birth date. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) refusal to sit down with Israel to negotiate creating such a State in Gaza and 70% of Judea and Samaria — as detailed in Trump’s Plan — is the final nail in the coffin for an unattainable solution first aired by the 1980 Venice Declaration.

Razzaz should consider going towards the “Jordan one-state solution” that existed between 1948 and 1967 — after Transjordan:

• invaded and conquered Judea and Samaria in 1948—ethnically cleansing all Jews then living there
• changed its name in 1949
• unified “the two banks of the Jordan, the Eastern and Western, and their amalgamation in one single state: The Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan” in 1950
• granted Jordanian citizenship to the West Bank Arab residents between 1954 and 1988

Razzaz lays down three conditions for any “one-state solution”:

“Jordan will not absorb transfers of Palestinians. Jordan will not become ‘the’ Palestine, as the Israeli extreme right wishes. And Jordan will not give up its custodianship over [holy Muslim and Christian sites in] Jerusalem. These three are clear for us.”

Under the “Jordan one-state solution”:

1. No West Bank or Gazan Arab would have to move from his current home or business
2. West Bank Arab residents would regain their 1954-1988 Jordanian citizenship — once again electing their own representatives to the Jordanian Parliament
3. Unification of Gaza and possibly 70% of the West Bank with Jordan would accord with proposals contemplated by article 25 of the Mandate for Palestine 1922, the 1937 Peel Royal Commission and UN General Assembly “Resolution 181 (II) Future Government of Palestine” in 1947.
4. Jordan’s custodianship over the Muslim Holy Sites in Jerusalem is retained under the Jordan Israel Peace Treaty 1994
5. The status quo existing between 1964 and 1968 would be restored when the PLO under article 24 of its founding Charter did “not exercise any regional sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” or "on the Gaza Strip”:
6. The territory comprised in the Mandate for Palestine would have been finally allocated as to about 20% to the Jewish People and 80% to the Arab Nation.

The late King Hussein of Jordan — writing in Uneasy lies the Head (p.82) stated:

“Palestine and Jordan were both under the British Mandate, but as my grandfather pointed out in his memoirs they were hardly separate countries. Trans-Jordan being to the east of the river Jordan, it formed in a sense, the interior of Palestine”

Razzaz and Netanyahu need to start a dialogue to bring the “Jordan one-state solution” to fruition and end the 100 years old Arab-Jewish conflict.

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. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog.

Trump needs to revise his vision for Judea and Samaria

[Published 1 June 2020]

President Trump’s deal of the century envisioning the creation of a second Arab state in former Palestine - in addition to Jordan – is in tatters following its absolute rejection by the PLO – requiring its urgent revision by the President.

Trump has vainly struggled to keep the statehood possibility alive despite PLO President Mahmoud Abbas having consigned it to the dustbin of history on the day of its publication - 28 January 2020 - but the PLO has refused to play ball.

Being a beggar does not fit Trump’s persona. He is allowing Israel to apply sovereignty in 30% of Judea and Samaria in July — with allocation of the remaining 70% requiring another Arab interlocutor to negotiate with Israel.

Trump’s vision was always a mirage — offering the PLO less than 100% of Judea and Samaria it had been demanding since 1967 - supported by the international community since the 1980 Venice Declaration.

Trump had predicated his vision without even defining who comprised the “Palestinians”.

In addition his plan had incorrectly asserted:

1. “Palestinians have aspirations that have not been realized, including self-determination”.

All West Bank Arabs became Jordanian nationals in 1954 until their nationality was revoked by Jordan in 1988.

2. “The State of Israel has also exchanged sizeable territories for the sake of peace, as it did when it withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for peace with the Arab Republic of Egypt.”

Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 didn’t rate a mention.

3. “One reason for the intractability of this problem is the conflation of two separate conflicts: a territorial, security and refugee dispute between Israel and the Palestinians and a religious dispute between Israel and the Muslim world regarding control over places of religious significance.”

There is only one conflict – between Jews and Arabs - fuelled by the Arab League’s refusal to recognise the State of Israel since its establishment in 1948.

The religious dispute was resolved under the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty granting Jordan control over places of Islamic religious significance in Jerusalem.

4.Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin’s proposal for ending the Jewish- Arab conflict.

Rabin actually said:
“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines”.

Trump’s generous offer of statehood – rather than an entity less than a state – has gone begging with the PLO’s unbelievable rebuff of Trump’s proposal.

5. “This Vision addresses today’s realities, and provides the Palestinians, who do not yet have a state ...”

The “Palestinians” do have a state — called Jordan — created in 78% of former Palestine in 1946.

The key to ending this 100 years unresolved conflict now requires Trump to call on Jordan to replace the PLO as Israel’s negotiating partner to allocate between them the areas designated “Proposed future state of Palestine” in Trump’s vision for peace.

June 1967 marked Jordan’s loss of Judea and Samaria to Israel after 19 years of illegal occupation. June 2020 will hopefully signal Jordan’s agreement to peacefully return.


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. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog.

BDS - Sinister Hoax With Genocidal Intent

[Published 18 June 2015]


The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS) instituted in 2005 by “Palestinian civil Society” against Israel and its civil society continues to attract people from all around the world—including Jews and Israeli Arabs - who support the campaign without realising its genocidal objective.

The BDS manifesto makes clear that its punitive measures are to be pursued until Israel ends:

“its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands”

These are code words effectively calling for Israel’s destruction since:

1. According to the PLO: "Israel is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab home land, and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation."

2. According to Hamas: "Israel is an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it."

Those who have:

1. boycotted theatre performances by Israeli groups in Barcelona,
2. stripped supermarket shelves of Israeli food products in London,
3. marched in South Africa to protest Woolworths stocking Israeli made goods or
4. protested outside Max Brenner outlets in Sydney

are actually supporting a racist campaign that calls for the total elimination of the Jewish State.

However the European Union (EU) — mindful of the Jew-hatred endemic in the BDS campaign - yet anxious to appease its Arab trading partners and burgeoning Arab populations within its member countries — has targeted only the West Bank — presently working to enact measures requiring Israel to label products coming from Jewish settlements there - following guidelines established on 18 July 2013.

These EU policy initiatives are ostensibly based on the 1980 Venice Declaration — which stressed that:

1. Israel needed to end its territorial occupation of the West Bank
2. Israeli settlements constituted a serious obstacle to the peace process in the Middle East.
3. Jewish settlements established there - as well as modifications in population and property — were illegal under international law.

The EU position on the illegality of those Jewish settlements has now been totally discredited following the recent decision by Norway’s largest pension fund — KPL - to sell its shareholdings in Heidelberg Cement AG and Cemex SAB de SV - whose two Israeli subsidiaries are currently operating quarries established after 1967 in Area C of the West Bank.

Under the 1995 Oslo Accords Israel has sole civil and security control in Area C — comprising 60% of the West Bank where no more than 4% of the West Bank’s Arab population currently lives.

KPL first sought advice on the legal situation pertaining in the West Bank from the Oslo-based International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI) - an independent institute focusing on good governance, peace and conflict, and international law.

The advice completely refutes the EU’s long held position.

Senior ILPI Partner Gro Nyusten — former Norwegian Foreign Affairs staffer, former Associate Professor of International Humanitarian Law/the Law on Armed Conflict at the University of Oslo, from 2008 Associate Professor at the Defence Staff University College in Oslo and former chair of the Council on Ethics of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global — advised KPL that:

1. international law does not provide “unambiguous answers”

2. it was “highly probable” that the operation under Israeli licence of the subject quarries was inconsistent with the requirements of the law of belligerent occupation

3. a case on quarrying activities in Area C went all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court - but was rejected because the court concluded that it raised issues that could only be resolved through political channels and not through the court

4. Occupation law did not prohibit Israel from making use of real property - but Israel’s role was restricted to that of a caretaker that must restore such property to the “occupied power” once the conflict has ended. Significantly Ms Nyusten failed to identify that the “occupied power” was Jordan - whose annexation of the West Bank in 1950 was declared illegal by every country except Great Britain and Pakistan.

5. The issue of whether Israel was entitled to open new quarries which did not exist before 1967 — was “controversial”.

6. The 1995 Oslo Accords (Oslo II) “presume” the ultimate transfer of Area C from Israeli to Palestinian control through so-called final status negotiations. Ms Nyusten however did not point to any provision in the Oslo Accords that supports this “presumption”.

Ms Nyusten’s legal opinion also failed to consider two territory-specific provisions in international law sanctioning the right of Jews to live in the West Bank for the purposes of reconstituting the Jewish National Home there — article 6 of the Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the United Nations Charter.

In the end KPL — faced with no definitive international law to justify its decision to disinvest - concluded:

“that the ethical arguments carry the heaviest weight in this case”.

Ethics are not law.

EU decisions supposedly based on judicially determined principles of international law were exposed as myths that can no longer be legally or politically sustained.

The BDS hoax is set to swallow many more well-intended people into its Jew-hating vortex.

The EU could suffer a similar fate with the introduction of its labelling policies — no longer being able to rely on non-existent international law to camouflage that decision — whilst opening itself to the charge it is supporting a genocidal campaign designed to dismantle the Jewish State.

Common sense will hopefully prevail.