The Jordan's two banks draw closer
The Jordan's two banks draw closer
Danny Rubinstein writing in Haaretz suggests that the West Bank and Jordan are coming together. Therein lies the future. Its a variation of the Elon Plan. Israel will retain sovereignty to the Jordan and the Palestinians in west of the Jordan will bercome Jordanian citizens. That also means that Gaza will draw closer to Egypt. It has already started. Patience.
[..]Now things look different. Hussein - who had difficulty accepting the loss of Jerusalem and the western bank of his kingdom - is no longer with us. There is also a new PA chair, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), instead of Arafat, and it looks as though relations between the two banks are about to change. One of the signs of this was the news a few weeks ago about a new plan, prepared by Abdul Salam al-Majali, Jordan's former prime minister and one of its leading statesmen, to establish a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation with joint and separate government institutions for the two banks of the Jordan.
Prof. Asher Susser of Tel Aviv University says the PA and the Jordanian government understand full well that changes are taking place in the region - mainly in Israeli-Palestinian relations - that require both sides to reconsider their policies. There will almost certainly be a follow-up to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement initiative - and it's clear that the separation fence between Israel and the West Bank is being completed. This is a new situation, some of which is familiar. The residents of the West Bank, for example, have long been forbidden to travel abroad via Ben-Gurion airport. They have no choice but to leave via Jordan. There are other examples of this principle: The West Bank is imprisoned between Israel and Jordan, and if the border to Israel is blocked, the Palestinians are forced to turn to Jordan. A similar process is taking place in the Gaza Strip, whose border with Israel is blocked, and where the only alternative is opening the one with Egypt.[..]
Posted by Ted Belman at November 14, 2005 03:34 PM
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BobW
said:
This is a most interesting article.
I have a quote that might add a little (historical) precedent to the above article.
"Some historians have speculated that the founders of Israel and Jordan (or as it was then called, Transjordan) - David Ben-Gurion and the Hashemite Emir (later king) Abdullah, the great-grandfather of Jordan's present sovereign-had probably reached an unwritten understanding to grant the Hashemites a foothold in those parts of Palestine later called the 'West Bank'." Zalmal Shoval, 9 Feb 04, writing in the Washington Times.
Shoval was Israeli Ambassador to US.
I'm also looking to see some sort of a merger of Elath and Aqaba.
Kol tuv,
BobW
Posted by: BobW on November 14, 2005 05:14 PM
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lignaeus
said:
Does this mean that you see some good strategy emanating from the Gush Katif withdrawal?
Posted by: lignaeus on November 14, 2005 07:30 PM
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Ted Belman
said:
I intend to give a report card on disengagement in a separate post.
Posted by: Ted Belman on November 14, 2005 07:37 PM
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lignaeus
said:
OK, I look forward to reading it.
Posted by: lignaeus on November 14, 2005 10:14 PM
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The Jordan's two banks draw closer
Danny Rubinstein writing in Haaretz suggests that the West Bank and Jordan are coming together. Therein lies the future. Its a variation of the Elon Plan. Israel will retain sovereignty to the Jordan and the Palestinians in west of the Jordan will bercome Jordanian citizens. That also means that Gaza will draw closer to Egypt. It has already started. Patience.
Posted by Ted Belman at November 14, 2005 03:34 PM