Saudi Arabia tells Biden & UN: No State between Israel & Jordan

 

Saudi Arabia has sent US President Joe Biden and the United Nations (UN) a clear message to abandon the idea of creating a new Arab State between Israel and Jordan in an article published in Al-Arabiya News on 8 June headlined: The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine  

Its author - Ali Shihabi - is not your ordinary run-of-the mill journalist. He supports and has the ear of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) - the controversial next successor to the Saudi throne.

MBS is the driving force behind NEOM--a brand new US$500 billion megacity to be built on 26500km² in northern Saudi Arabia - an area larger than Israel - powered by 100% renewable energy. The project includes a bridge spanning the Red Sea - connecting NEOM to Africa. NEOM will be close to the borders of Jordan, Egypt and Israel. Shihabi has been a member of NEOM’s Advisory Board since 2020. 

MBS has not sought to publically distance himself from Shihabi’s article. 

Shihabi lays the groundwork for his proposal:

"The basically insurmountable power imbalance between the Arabs and Israelis, let alone between the Palestinians and Israelis, argues for a radical rethinking of the approach to solving the Palestine problem. Israel is a reality firmly implanted on the ground that has to be accepted, however grudgingly, by the region around it"

Shihabi then proposes his solution:

"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)."

Shihabi dismisses Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Jordan claims to be separate entities:

"Jordanians and Palestinians are as similar as any people can be. They are Sunni Arabs from the same neighbourhood. Merging them will not create any long-term ethnic or sectarian fault lines." 

Significantly Shihabi’s proposal does not call for Saudi Arabia to replace Jordan as Custodian of the Islamic Holy Sites in Jerusalem - a fear long-held by Jordan. This Saudi concession should help embolden Jordan to begin negotiations with Israel on this Saudi Arabian initiative - that could see:

• The 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty extended to 100% of the territory of former Palestine - instead of the 95% currently covered
• The two-state solution contemplated by article 6 of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the 1945 UN Charter finally brought to fruition

Endorsement of this Saudi initiative by Biden and the UN will greatly advance the prospect of finally ending the 100 years-old unresolved Jewish-Arab 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.

Biden should push for Jordan & Israel to divide Judea & Samaria

 

President Biden's proposed visit to the "West Bank" is promising to end up becoming a fruitless trip to an artificially-coined destination supposedly inhabited by a mythical ancient "Palestinian people". 

This scenario is far removed from the biblical and historic realities that had existed for 3000 years prior to April 24, 1950 - when Biden's destination was called "Judea and Samaria" – the ancient and biblical heartland of the Jewish people. 

Biden's Press Secretary - Karine Jean-Pierre – exposed Biden's – and her--apparent ignorance of these indisputable facts when announcing the President's forthcoming visit in these terms: 

"The President will also visit the West Bank to consult with the Palestinian Authority and to reiterate his strong support for a two-state solution, with equal measures of security, freedom, and opportunity for the Palestinian people.

United Nations resolutions and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) propaganda has used Jean-Pierre's faux narrative since 1967 in a concerted effort to deny the Jewish people have any right to reconstitute the Jewish National Home in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem under article 6 of the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine and article 80 of the 1945 United Nations Charter. 

This post-1967 narrative differs from that used on 1 December 1948 when a conference organized in Jericho and attended by numerous Arab delegations including mayors of Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, the Arab Legion Military Governor General and military governors from all districts, and other notables adopted the following resolution:

"Palestine Arabs desire unity between Transjordan and Arab Palestine and therefore make known their wish that Arab Palestine be annexed immediately to Transjordan. They also recognize Abdullah as their King and request him proclaim himself King of new territory."

The Jericho Conference came after:

• The Mandatory Power – Great Britain – had granted independence on June 27, 1946 to Transjordan – 78% of the territory comprised in the 1922 Mandate for Palestine located East of the Jordan River
• Transjordan had invaded Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem– 4% of the Mandate territory located West of the Jordan River – on May 15, 1948--driving out all the Jews living there as it assumed control of these areas.

The Jericho resolution confirms:

• There was then no identifiable "Palestinian people" – only "Palestine Arabs".
• The leaders of the "Palestine Arabs" were not calling for the creation of a second Arab State in the territory formerly comprised in the Mandate for Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital –in addition to Transjordan.

Despite International and Arab League objections - unification of these two exclusively-occupied Arab territories - comprising some 82% of the territory of the Mandate for Palestine located on both sides of the Jordan River - was achieved on April 24, 1950 – resulting in:

• "Judea and Samaria" being designated the "West Bank"
• The newly-unified entity being named "Jordan"
• "Palestine Arabs" living in the "West Bank" becoming "Jordanian citizens"
• A two-state solution in former Palestine:  one Jewish State called Israel in 18% of former Palestine and one Arab State called Jordan in the remaining 82% of Palestine.

The Palestinian people were only identified for the first time in the 1964 PLO Charter - but the PLO expressly did not claim to exercise regional sovereignty over the "West Bank of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" under article 24,

 Unification lasted until Jordan's loss of Judea Samaria and East Jerusalem to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War – although its Arab inhabitants enjoyed Jordanian citizenship until 31 July 1988. 

Dividing Judea and Samaria between Israel and Jordan in direct negotiations aimed at redrawing their existing international border is certainly attainable. 

Biden should push for this two-state solution that accords with history, geography and demography.

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, Israel & UN have two 100-year-anniversaries to celebrate

 

President Joe Biden's postponement of his forthcoming trip to Israel this month due to "scheduling factors" gives Biden, the United Nations (UN) and Israel the opportunity to celebrate at UN headquarters the 100th anniversaries of American and international support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. 

 In announcing Biden's postponed visit US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides said:

"I'll bet that Joe Biden has been to Israel and the Middle East more times in his career than every American president combined. He calls himself a Zionist, he loves this place and I think there's no question about his commitment to this place."

The first Zionist Congress in Basle in 1897 had declared: 

"Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine."

America's commitment to Zionism's ambitious goal came on 30 June 1922 – when both houses of the US Congress passed the following joint resolution:

"Favoring the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That the United States of America favors the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which should prejudice the civil and religious rights of Christian and all other non-Jewish communities in Palestine, and that the holy places and religious buildings and sites in Palestine shall be adequately protected." 

The League of Nations (LON) – the UN's predecessor--closely followed the US Congress on 24 July 1922--proclaiming the Mandate for Palestine:

Recognising "the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country"

On September 16, 1922 a memorandum relating to article 25 of the Mandate was presented by the British Government to the Council of the League notifying it that the reconstitution of the Jewish National Home was to occur only in 22% of the Mandate territory west of the Jordan River -and not in Transjordan – the remaining 78% of the Mandate territory east of the Jordan River  

The area set aside for the Jewish National Home in Britain's Memorandum included Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem – the 3000-years old ancient and biblical heartland of the Jewish people. 

In 1948 Transjordan (having gained its independence in 1946) attacked and conquered Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem - driving out all the Jews then living there and unifying Transjordan, Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem in 1950 into one territorial unit - renamed Jordan 

Israel's capture of Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War offered the hope that the provisions of the Mandate would be finally fulfilled.

Instead the rights of Jews under the Mandate to return and settle in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem were arbitrarily shredded by the UN--even though such rights had been expressly preserved by article 80 of the UN's own Charter. 

The UN to its eternal shame re-designated Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem as "Occupied Palestinian Territory", rather than "Jewish Mandated Territory" - passing scores of UN resolutions declaring as "illegal" the right of Jews to live there. 

It is the UN that is acting illegally in defiance of its own Charter. 

The upcoming 100-year-anniversaries of the momentous decisions made in 1922 by America and the League of Nations supporting self-determination for the Jewish people need to be honoured and implemented.

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 set to pillory Israel whilst condoning PLO & Hamas apartheid

 

The appointment of a new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 - Francesca Albanese - serves to highlight the anti-Israel bias that dominates the United Nations (UN) to its eternal shame. 

Albanese was appointed Special Rapporteur by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2022 - taking up her role on May 1, 2022. Albanese’s mandate as Special Rapporteur derives from Resolution 1993/2 passed by the UN Committee of Human Rights on February 19, 1993: 

“To investigate Israel's violations of the principles and bases of international law, international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of August 12, 1949, in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967;"

Albanese is limited to only investigating Israel - not Hamas or the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). 

Albanese is not a neutral appointment as her announcement makes clear: 

“She has widely published on the legal situation in Israel and the State of Palestine and regularly teaches and lectures on international law and forced displacement at universities in Europe and the Arab region.”

Albanese will therefore not be examining or reporting on apartheid policies being implemented by the PLO and Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank - where both the PLO and Hamas currently:

• Keep 27 refugee camps open which house 800000 Palestinian Arabs: 600000 in 8 camps in Gaza administered and policed by Hamas and 200000 in 19 camps in the West Bank administered and policed by the PLO --and
• Take no steps to close and resettle their camp populations within the villages and towns the PLO has controlled in the West Bank since 1995 and Hamas has controlled in Gaza since 2007.

Israel’s attempts to close these camps and resettle their occupants had been denied under UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/39/99 (A-K) passed on December 14, 1984 in which the General Assembly:

• Under article E 1: “Reiterates its demand that Israel desist from the removal and resettlement of Palestine refugees in the Gaza Strip and from the destruction of their shelters”;
• Under article J 1: “Calls upon Israel to abandon its plans and to refrain from the removal, and from any action that may lead to the removal and resettlement, of Palestine refugees in the West Bank and from the destruction of their camps;”

Fast forward to 2022 and the UN still does not show the slightest interest in seeing these camps closed by their host authorities - the PLO in the West Bank since 1995 and Hamas in Gaza since 2007. 

In failing to call for the camps to be closed - the UN is condoning the continuation of those Palestinian Arabs living in Gaza and the West Bank being divided into two different groups living in two very different environments:

• One group: confined to these 27 camps suffering severe overcrowding problems, poor personal safety, high unemployment and poor infrastructure which are breeding grounds for planning and launching terrorist attacks on Israel and
• The other group: living normal lives in Gaza and West Bank towns and villages 

Even their classification as refugees is questionable as they continue to reside in a different part of former Palestine to where they or their families previously lived. 

The UN’s failure to condemn and demand an end to this apartheid being practised in Gaza and the West Bank is disgusting.  

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ continuing silence makes a mockery of everything the UN claims it stands for. 

Albanese will continue to pursue the UN’s anti-Israel agenda whilst 800000 Palestinian Arabs continue to suffer confinement in these degrading and dehumanizing camps. 

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 & UNRWA should demand end to refugee camps in Gaza & West Bank

 

The tragic death of Palestinian Arab-USA journalist – Shireen Abu Akleh – caught in crossfire between Israeli security forces and armed Palestinian Arabs in Jenin--should serve as a clarion call to the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to demand:

• the closure of the 27 UNRWA-funded Palestinian Arab refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – currently housing about 800,000 Palestinian Arabs and 
• their resettlement in towns and villages throughout Gaza and areas A and B of the West Bank among their own Palestinian Arab brethren.

No Palestinian Arab should have ever been classified as a refugee after having moved from one part to another part of former Palestine – whether voluntarily or not. 

UNRWA stands condemned for allowing this fictitious refugee status to continue for over 70 years. 

UNRWA's flawed policy has led to discrimination and a gross abuse of human rights for those Palestinian Arabs forced to live in these over-crowded and degrading camps separated from their fellow Palestinian Arabs. 

That human rights organisations such as the UN Human Rights Committee and Amnesty International remain silent on the plight of these penned in Palestinian Arabs and the conditions in which they live is equally reprehensible. 

UNRWA makes clear that it has no say in the camps being closed or remaining open:

"UNRWA does not administer or police the camps, as this is the responsibility of the host authorities."

But UNRWA does have the power to force their closure by withholding financial assistance to those PLO and Hamas-administered camps unless their residents are progressively moved out and resettled among the general Palestinian Arab populations in Gaza and the West Bank. 

UNRWA itself readily admits the shocking conditions existing in these camps which have also become breeding grounds for planning and implementing violence and murderous attacks against Israel's civilian population.

Jenin Camp on the West Bank:

• borders the Jenin municipality and was established in 1953
• has a population of 14000 that lives on just 0.42 sq. km of land
• according to UNRWA: 

"experiences one of the highest rates of unemployment and poverty among the 19 West Bank refugee camps... Unemployment and poverty has affected the youth especially, resulting in widespread dissatisfaction and frustration and contributing to higher school dropout rates among younger children.

Jabalia Camp in the Gaza Strip:

• Is the closest camp to the Erez border crossing with Israel
• Has a population of 114,000 that lives on 1.5 sq. km of land and is one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
• UNRWA concedes:

"Overcrowding and a lack of living space characterize Jabalia camp. Shelters are built in close vicinity and there is a general lack of recreational and social space. In many cases, residents have had to add extra floors to their shelters to accommodate their families, in some cases without proper design. Many live in substandard conditions." 

Closing Jenin and Jabalia and resettling their 128000 inmates would be a good start. 

UNRWA donors need to pressure UNRWA to demand that Hamas and the PLO close all 27 camps -threatening to reduce their pledges if this does not happen.

The marked absence of wealthy Arab-donor countries in the following list of the top 20 donor countries to UNWRA in 2021 makes depressing reading.

Those missing wealthy Arab donor countries have: 

• the political and financial clout to force the PLO and Hamas to close these camps and
• the potential to make substantial pledges to UNRWA to fund the successful resettlement of their long-suffering fellow Arabs.

This humanitarian disaster being perpetuated by the PLO and Hamas on their own people must be ended.

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/West Bank reunification key to peace in Jerusalem

 

Separating Jews and Arabs in former Palestine – first decreed by the League of Nations 100 years ago under article 25 of the Mandate for Palestine and subsequently endorsed by the United Nations in its 1947 Partition Plan - has become even more urgent following:

• the outpouring of rabid Jew-hatred emanating from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem during Ramadan 
• three Jewish fathers being murdered - leaving 16 Jewish children fatherless - and seven more Jews being wounded - in an axe and knife wielding bloodbath perpetrated by two Arabs

Violent Arab riots against Jews first occurred in 1920 and 1921. Secretary of State for the Colonies -Winston Churchill - in his White Paper dated June 3, 1922 - had sought to allay Arab fears of a Jewish takeover of all of Palestine 

"Unauthorized statements have been made to the effect that the purpose in view is to create a wholly Jewish Palestine. Phrases have been used such as that Palestine is to become "as Jewish as England is English." His Majesty's Government regard any such expectation as impracticable and have no such aim in view. Nor have they at any time contemplated, as appears to be feared by the Arab delegation, the disappearance or the subordination of the Arabic population, language, or culture in Palestine. They would draw attention to the fact that the terms of the [Balfour -ed]Declaration referred to do not contemplate that Palestine as a whole should be converted into a Jewish National Home, but that such a Home should be founded 'in Palestine.'"

As a result - Article 25 was inserted in the Mandate adopted by the League of Nations on July 24, 1922: 

• Restricting the reconstitution of the Jewish National Home after 3000 years in just 22% of Palestine located west of the Jordan River - today called Israel, Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza 
• Granting Arab self-determination in the remaining 78% of Palestine located east of the Jordan River--today called Jordan. 

The Jews accepted - albeit reluctantly - article 25’s inclusion in the Mandate.  The Arabs never did -demanding 100% of Palestine - not the 78% they were allocated under article 25 

100 years later:

• Israel exercises sovereignty in 17% of former Palestine 
• Jordan exercises sovereignty in 78% of former Palestine
• Sovereignty in 5% of former Palestine west of the Jordan River - Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza - remains unallocated.

According to a recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research:

• 32% of Palestinian Arabs living in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza support one state west of the Jordan River with equal rights for Jews and Arabs 
• 44% think that armed struggle is the most effective means of ending the "Israeli occupation" 

This proposed one-state solution - bringing Arabs and Jews together - is only agreed to by 10% of Israelis. However an alternative one-state solution that separates Jews and Arabs - reducing conflict- is feasible and involves: Direct negotiations between Jordan and Israel - the two successor states to the Mandate for Palestine - to redraw their current international border - which would result in:

• Gaza plus the heavily-populated Arab areas of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) as existed between 1950 and 1967 - becoming part of Jordan 
• the heavily-populated Jewish areas of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) becoming part of Israel
• no Arab or Jew having to leave his current home
• Jordan being affirmed as Custodian of the Islamic Holy Shrines in Jerusalem
• Freedom of worship in Jerusalem for Jews, Christians and Moslems

The League of Nations and United Nations mutually-agreed destination - one Jewish State and one Arab state in former Palestine - will have finally been reached. 

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, Arab League and UN fuel Jew-hatred on Temple Mount

 

Jordan, the Arab League and the UN's failure to condemn the virulent Jew-hatred on public display during Ramadan at Islam's third holiest religious site – the Al-Aqsa Mosque – located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem - is despicable. 

Thousands of rioters defiled what is venerated as a Muslim Holy Shrine - converting it into a rallying point for flag-waving slogan-shouting Palestinian Arabs armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails to vent their hatred against Jews pictured below:

Clauses 9.1 and 9.2 of the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty state:

9.1. Each Party will provide freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance.  

9.2. In this regard, in accordance with the Washington Declaration, Israel respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. When negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role in these shrines.

The reaction in the Jordanian Parliament to the rioting - expressed by Jordan's Prime Minister - Bisher Al-Khasawneh - was incredulous:

"I salute every Palestinian, and all the employees of the Jordanian Islamic Waqf, who proudly stand like minarets, hurling their stones in a volley of clay at the Zionist sympathizers defiling the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli occupation government"

Instead of publicly condemning his Prime Minister's provocative and offensive remarks and pledging to uphold the terms of Jordan's Peace Treaty with Israel – Jordan's King Abdullah phoned Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi when they:

"stressed the need to cease all illegal and provocative Israeli measures in Al-Aqsa Mosque."

The Arab League called on Israel to end Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount - warning it was a flagrant affront to Muslim feelings that could trigger wider conflict. 

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al Safadi - standing alongside Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit after an emergency Arab League meeting in Amman stated:

"Our demands are clear that Al-Aqsa and Haram al Sharif in all its area is a sole place of worship for Muslims,"

 Aboul Gheit reportedly said Israel was violating a centuries-old policy according to which non-Muslims may visit the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam's third most sacred site after Mecca and Medina, but not pray there. The briefing to the UN Security Council by Tor Wennesland Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process was equally disturbing.

 "... on 21 April, Jordan convened a ministerial of the Arab League to discuss tensions at the Holy Sites. The Committee issued a statement following the meeting calling for "the respect of the legal and historic status quo."

The legal status quo grants freedom of access for Jews and Christians worldwide to the Temple Mount which the rioters were preventing. The historic status quo involves the continuation of Islam's centuries old practice - agreed to by Israel since 1967 in the hope of helping end the Arab-Israel conflict –that now requires Jews to not mutter one syllable in prayer silently whilst on the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site. 

Wennesland amazingly told the Security Council:

"I welcome statements by senior Israeli officials reiterating Israel's commitment to upholding the status quo and ensuring that only Muslims would be allowed to pray on the Holy Esplanade."

The UN's abject surrender in not specifically demanding that Jordan ensure freedom of access for all people to the Temple Mount under the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty is deplorable 

That the UN should welcome the continuation of an ancient Islamic supremacist practice excluding non-Muslims praying on the Temple Mount represents the endorsement of a policy that in today's world smacks of racism and apartheid deserving of condemnation. 

Jew-hatred is a corrosive human condition that remains incurable. 

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.