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.

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine sinks UN failed two-state solution

 

UK Labour Friends of Israel (UKLFI) has sunk any possibility of a new Palestinian Arab state being created between Israel and Jordan - unsuccessfully promoted by the United Nations for the last 29 years - detailing 30 steps considered necessary before negotiations can even be resumed. 

These steps are:

Step 1: Tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza 

Step 2:  Freeze settlement building 

Step 3: End the Palestinian Authority's payment of salaries to convicted terrorists and the payment of rewards to the families of “martyrs” 

Step 4: Support the establishment of an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and re-establish UK support for peace-building work 

Step 5: Encourage Arab states to normalise relations with Israel and deepen the Abraham Accords 

Step 6: Increase work permits for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Jeru

Step 7: Ensure transportational contiguity for Palestinians 

Step 8: Support Jerusalem as capital of Israel and future Palestinian state 

Step 9: Ensure enforcement of UNSCR 1701, international action to prevent Hezbollah's precision-missile project and attacks on Israel 

Step 10: Demand Hamas renounce the use of violence and terrorism

Step 11: Demand Hamas releases hostages 

Step 12: Pressure the Palestinian Authority to stop human rights abuses 

Step 13: Support the development of Rawabi 

Step 14: Ensure Palestinians can travel abroad more freely 

Step 15: Support construction of a Gaza seaport 

Step 16: Support steps towards a permanent Gaza ceasefire 

Step 17: International action to curb Iran's malign activities 

Step 18: Oppose unilateral actions by either side 

Step 19: Pressure Egypt to permanently open the Rafah crossing 

Step 20: Support free elections in the West Bank and Gaza 

Step 21: Preserve the Temple Mount status quo 

Step 22: Expand Palestinian autonomous zones and issue building permits for Area C 

Step 23: Support a reformed UNRWA 

Step 24: Support the reunification of the West Bank and Gaza under PA authority 

Step 25: Support Palestinian economic independence 

Step 26: End incitement in the Palestinian school curriculum 

Step 27: Increase exit permits to allow Gaza residents to study abroad 

Step 28: Action by international donors to improve Palestinian governance 

Step 29: Support a Palestinian seaport at Haifa 

Step 30: Allocate territory in Area C for Palestinian economic development“

Amazingly UKLFI still faithfully continues to repeat the UN's false mantra:

“The two-state solution is the only means by which to guarantee Israel's security and to preserve its identity as a Jewish and democratic state, as well as to satisfy the legitimate demand of the Palestinian people for self-determination and national sovereignty.”

Really? 

Is UKLFI unaware of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution emanating from Saudi Arabia on June 8, 2022 offering  a real alternative to replace the failed UN two-state solution? Calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine  - this Saudi Plan needs only 2 steps - not 30 - for its successful implementation:

Step 1: 

Redrawing the internationally recognised boundary between Israel and Jordan

Armed only with pencils and erasers negotiators should be capable of designating the border between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine in a matter of months.

Step 2: 

Determining who controls security of the territory of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine west of the Jordan River.

Israel would probably demand total security control over all the territory west of the Jordan River - and if not agreed - the negotiations on this issue could take longer to conclude. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres continues to ignore the existence of the Saudi Solution or call for any discussion of its merits in the Security Council.  

Perpetuating the Jewish-Arab conflict - not trying to end it - has become the UN's shocking agenda. 

The Saudi Plan beckons…

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.

Lapid rejects Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

 

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has finally emerged from the cocoon of silence that has enveloped all current 120 Knesset members - choosing to reject a solution emanating from Saudi Arabia on 8 June calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine (Saudi Solution). 

Lapid has opted instead to continue his longstanding support for the United Nations 29 years-old failed solution calling for the creation of a new State of Palestine between Israel and Jordan for the first time in recorded history (United Nations Solution)

Lapid's support was however conditional:

"We have only one condition: That a future Palestinian state will be a peaceful one. That it will not become another terror base from which to threaten the well-being, and the very existence of Israel" 

It is unclear whether Lapid had forgotten or had abandoned another condition which he had stipulated -when he told 26 European Union Foreign Ministers at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on July 11, 2022 that:

"It is no secret that I support a two-state solution. Unfortunately, there is no current plan for this. However, there is one thing we all need to remember. If there is eventually a Palestinian State, it must be a peace-loving democracy".

With conditions such as these - the likelihood of such a Palestinian State ever emerging will be virtually impossible to achieve. 

Nevertheless Lapid has had the courage of his convictions to finally state the policy he will adopt  to try to end a conflict that has defied resolution for the last 100 years.

At least voters in the upcoming Israeli elections will know what to expect if Lapid becomes Israel's next Prime Minister on 1 November. 

The other 119 Knesset members - and those seeking to replace any of them who are retiring - continue to keep voters in the dark on what their policy will be in trying to achieve the long sought for peace to end the Jewish-Arab conflict. 

The emergence of the Saudi Solution offered these reticent politicians a real choice - yet not one of them has had the intestinal fortitude finally - if belatedly - displayed by Lapid. 

The Saudi Solution - in distinct contrast to the United Nations Solution - offers Israel the following concessions before negotiations are even commenced on implementing the proposal:

• Jerusalem will be the capitol of Israel only
• No new State will be created between Israel and Jordan 
• The right of return by Palestinian Arabs to Israel will be abandoned 
• Jewish sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) will be recognised for the first time in 3000 years
• Saudi Peace proposals made in 1981 and 2002 that were unacceptable to Israel will be superseded.

The universal silence by Israeli politicians on the Saudi Solution since its publication almost four months ago is shameful. 

One cannot expect every Israeli politician to embrace the Saudi Solution. They should publicly state the reasons for their opposition. 

But is there not one Israeli politician - Jew or Arab - other than Lapid - prepared to express his own opinion  on conducting negotiations to determine if agreement can be reached on the Saudi Solutions' ground breaking proposals? 

In particular why have the leaders of seventeen of the eighteeen major Israeli political parties contesting the elections - Netanyahu, Gantz, Sa'ar, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, Deri, Litzman, Gafni, Shehadeh, Odeh, Tibi, Michaeli, Galon, Abbas, Shaked, Liberman and Hendel - refused to comment on the Saudi Solution since its publication? 

Hopefully these leaders - like Lapid - will break their silence on the Saudi Solution well before November 1. 

Leaders lead from the front - not cower and huddle silently together behind the voters whose votes they seek.

Author's note: The cartoon--commissioned exclusively for this articl--is by Yaakov Kirschen aka "Dry Bones"--one of Israel's foremost political and social commentators--whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.

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.

UN must evaluate Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution

 

The General Debate of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held from 20 to 26 September will not be hearing the words “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine” mentioned even once by the Heads of State and Government meeting at the UN Headquarters for their annual talkfest to discuss world issues. 

All these high-powered speakers will continue to bury any discussion of the peace proposal emanating from Saudi Arabia and published in Al-Arabiya News on 8 June 2022 calling for:

• Jordan, Gaza, and part of the West Bank to be merged into one separate territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine 
• The capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to be Amman – not Jerusalem
• The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine to grant Citizenship to all stateless Palestinian Arabs 
• Jewish sovereignty being established in part of the West Bank for the first time in 3000 years

This Saudi proposal offers a new two-State solution: Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine –with Israel sovereign in about 20% of former Palestine and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine sovereign in about the remaining 80%. 

Saudi Plan author – Ali Shihabi – was brutally frank in explaining why it was time to look at this possibly game-changing solution:

“We have seen from recent experience that state building is a virtually impossible task, particularly in a polarized environment so creating a “Palestinian State” from scratch is a fool's errand...  Yes, a false separate “Jordanian” identity has developed over the last decades from what is really a people with zero differences, ethnic or religious that have been one people since time immemorial..." 

The Annual Report of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People highlights the UN's continuing failure to progress its two-State solution:

“Throughout the reporting period, [2 September 2021 to 31 August 2022] the realization of the two-State solution, as per the relevant United Nations and the prevailing international consensus, failed to advance. The Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) did not resume, and the Middle East Quartet did not create opportunities for negotiations between Israel and the State of Palestine”

The Report misleadingly states:

“The stalled MEPP and the lack of new initiatives to benefit the Palestinian people's quest for self-determination have highlighted the need for enhanced global cooperation to reinvigorate negotiations and provide a political horizon leading to a just solution to the Question of Palestine and lasting peace”.

A new initiative and political horizon for a just solution to the Question of Palestine has emerged: The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution. 

This latest initiative seriously challenges the two-State solution unsuccessfully pursued by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland during their respective tenures - and by the UN for the last 19 years: Creating a brand-new Palestinian Arab state between Israel and Jordan for the first time in recorded history 

Both Guterres and Wennesland have stubbornly refused to present this Saudi initiative to the Security Council for evaluation since its publication. Regrettably hubris has prevented them doing so. It is hard to admit that there might be an alternative solution to the one you have been claiming for years is the only solution.

Ending the 100 years-old conflict between Jews and Arabs - rather than perpetuating that conflict by continuing to pursue a decades-old failed solution – should be Guterres' and Wennesland's joint mantra. 

Guterres and Wennesland: Relent and recognise that the UN two-State solution is dead – that the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution to replace it needs to be evaluated by the Security Council. 

Doing so could change the course of history. 

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.

Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine: Lapid No Guts No Vision

 

Israel's Prime Minister and candidate for re-election following the November 1, 2022 elections -Yair Lapid - refuses to make any comment on the Saudi Peace Plan published on June 8, 2022 calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the West Bank into one territorial entity to be called The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.

It is unclear whether Lapid had any actual knowledge or appreciation of the Saudi Plan when--as Israel's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister - he told 26 European Union Foreign Ministers at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council on 11 July that:

"It is no secret that I support a two-state solution. Unfortunately, there is no current plan for this. However, there is one thing we all need to remember. If there is eventually a Palestinian state, it must be a peace-loving democracy".

The Saudi Plan clearly consigns the idea of any Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan to the diplomatic graveyard for burial by its sponsors - the United Nations and the European Union - after forty years of failed attempts to see its creation.  

The Saudi plan also promises the following outcomes:

• It would supersede two previous Saudi peace proposals in 1981 and 2002 calling for Israel to withdraw completely from the West Bank
• Amman - not Jerusalem - will be the capital of The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
• The right of return to Israel is abandoned.
• Palestinians in the 'West Bank', Gaza and stateless refugees get full citizenship in the merged Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine with all the elements of sovereignty applicable to those Territories that belonging to a fully recognized state in the UN entail.

It beggars belief that not 1 of the 120 members of Israel's current Parliament has uttered one word that I can find anywhere supporting or rejecting the Saudi Plan.

The Saudi Plan's author - Ali Shihabi - a confidant of Saudi Arabia's next King - Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman - expressed his own feelings to me at this veil of silence that had descended over every one of Israel's politicians:

"Israel is the key factor. It holds most of the cards and its military, economic and political success since 1948 has made its leaders arrogant and contemptuous of the Arabs generally since the Israelis have imposed their terms on the region despite all Arab efforts and noise made in decades past. This arrogance is clouding Israeli judgement and blinding them to the opportunity that presents itself today for them to drive a sustainable peace process. They can get a lot of what they want but have to give a bit to get a sustainable solution that will integrate them into the region permanently, but this will require an Israeli De Gaulle with guts and vision, and I don't see one on the horizon unfortunately"

Confident I could meet Shihabi's challenge - I asked Lapid, Defence Minister Gantz and Opposition Leader Netanyahu the following questions:

• When he first became aware of the Saudi plan?
• Has he commented on the Saudi plan since its release on 8 June 2022?
• If so--when and where were such comments published?
• 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?
• Is he prepared to promise Israeli voters that he will use his best endeavours to implement the Saudi plan if he becomes Israel's next Prime Minister?

Lapid - like Gantz – failed to respond. 

Netanyahu wants an assurance of complete Israeli security control west of the Jordan River - not presently promised in Shihabi's plan. 

Over to you for your considered response Mr. Shihabi 

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.