How Times have Changed...(Palestine/Jordan)

The King of Jordan (King Abdullah II) pushing for a Palestinian State and peace in the middle east... but not necessarily for reasons you might think. Myyy how perspectives on "history" have seemed to changed over the years. as demonstrated by the quotes below.

Quote

Failure to create Palestinian state 'serious mistake': Jordan king
by Mussa Hattar
June 18, 2008

PETRA, Jordan (AFP) - Jordan's King Abdullah II warned on Wednesday that failure to create an independent Palestinian state this year would be a "serious mistake," calling for a stable Middle East.

"It would be a serious mistake to miss the opportunities we have this year to establish, finally, a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state along with a secure and recognised Israel," the king said at the opening of a conference of 29 Nobel laureates whose main focus is the global food crisis and other development issues.

"The Middle East must move out of this threat zone. The single most important step is peace -- a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict."

..."Throughout Jordan, and across the region, millions of people want to be part of a stable, moderate, modern Middle East. Long after today's conflicts are history, their lives will be shaped by what we did, this year," the king said.

...His statements came amid fears in Jordan that the kingdom may come under pressure to merge with a rump West Bank if the Palestinians do not win their promised independence.

"Jordan is Jordan and Palestine is Palestine," the king stressed in the interview.Officials have told AFP that the kingdom, where a significant proportion of its 5.8 million inhabitants are of Palestinian origin, "strongly opposes all American or Israeli attempts to merge it with a part of the West Bank."...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080618/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictjordannobel_080618173418;_ylt=Am0hxb2W.0JrpPOJ2AQs4iwUvioA

It seems the King is clear that he has no interest in incorporating the Palestinians (many of which he threw out of his country in 1970, killing 7-10K of them) back as part of his country (I wonder why? Wink

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How different a perspective from that from 1948 when it was generally throught that the Arab nations who sought to overrun and destroy Israel in 1948 would divide up the territory amongst themselves, or incorporate it into the newly formed state of Jordan, which was "Arab Palestine" under the Palestine Mandate....

When Israel won in 1948, Jordan was quick to "occupy" the West Bank giving Jordanian citizenship to the Arabs there (now referring to themselves as "Palestinians") ... After the '67 war when Jordan withdrew from the West Bank, Jordan still didn't renounce it's claims to the West Bank (and didn't do so until 1988). The events leading up to "Black September" were apparently a "wake up call" for Jordan, when Jordan had had enough of Palestinian Arab violence in their country and ousted, by force, the PLO killing 7-10,000 "Palestinians" in the process.... But again, it wasn't until 1988 when Jordan officially renounced claims to the West Bank (which they had previously occupied)...

It, apparently, USED TO BE RECOGNIZED that "Palestinians" and "Jordanians" were of one nation, common heritages, etc...

- King Abdullah, at the Meeting of the Arab League, Cairo, 12th April 1948 "Palestine and Transjordan are one, for Palestine is the coastline and Transjordan the hinterland of the same country"

- August 23,1959, the Prime Minister of Jordan stated, "We are the Government of Palestine, the army of Palestine and the refugees of Palestine."

- Prince Hassan, brother of King Hussein, February 2, 1970 "Palestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine; there is one people and one land, with one history and one and the same fate."

- King Hussein, February 3, 1973 "The Palestinians here constitute not less than one half of the members of the armed forces. They and their brothers, the sons of Transjordan, constitute the members of one family who are equal in everything, in rights and duties."

- Marwan al Hamoud, Jordanian National Consultative Council, September 24, 1980 "Jordan is not just another Arab state with regard to Palestine but, rather, Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan in terms of territory, national identity, sufferings, hopes and aspirations, both day and night. Though we are all Arabs and our point of departure is that we are all members of the same people, the Palestinian-Jordanian nation is one and unique, and different from those of the other Arab states."

YET NOW, HISTORY AND/OR PERCEPTION HAS APPEARED TO CONVENIENTLY CHANGE:

- King Abdullah II, 2008 "Jordan is Jordan and Palestine is Palestine,"

.... which, in a way, is humorous as it appears to be the opposite of what Prince Hassan said in 1970 ""Palestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine", and the opposite of what other leaders (including the King's father) have implied over the years....

... It seems that Jordan doesn't want any part of the Palestinians and their violence/terror either... and who can blame them.