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MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 4/16: Today the Jordanian Foreign Minister goes to Israel even as Israeli bombs kill Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians and the whole region is being humbled and shaken by the Israeli Generals, accused war criminal Ariel Sharon now in charge. Of course the Hashemite Regime has always been the most collaborationist of them all, going way back to the early days of the pre-State Zionist movement, to the days of Abdullah I and Glubb Pasha. And the recent "Arab summit" in Amman, since which time even demonstrating on behalf of the struggling Palestinians has been outlawed by the "Royal Palace", was a rather despicable display of opulence and gross impotence.
As was the case long ago as well the public talk is of "peace plans", but the underlying reality is that the Hashemite Regime is primarily interesting in saving itself, enriching itself, selling itself, and controlling the Palestinians, both those who make up the majority of the citizens of today's Kingdom of Jordan and those who remain to the west of the Jordan River. Indeed, if it had not been for the connivance of the Hashemite Regime with the British and the Israelis long ago and ever since history would have likely taken very different turns not so miserable for the fractured Arab peoples.
And the same can be said for modern history as well. The Egyptians have conducted themselves miserably ever since Anwar Sadat was outmanuevered and tricked at Camp David in 1978 -- essentially become political whores for the Americans in the region, collecting yearly billions and much covert under-the-table help for playing this role. But the Hashemite Regime has been playing such a role long before the Egyptians started to, the former King having actually been on the CIA payroll after London passed him off to Washington for safe-keeping.
Those interested in the detailed history of the Hashemite Regime should read the book COLLABORATION ACROSS THE JORDAN by Professor Avi Shlaim at Oxford University -- at least that was the title of the first printing of this remarkably insightful book though interestingly, after the Hashemites "intervened" with the author and the publisher, the title of subsequent editions was changed. Additional information can also be found at http://www.MiddleEast.Org/jordan.htm
JERUSALEM POST - Jerusalem (April 16) - Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdulilah Khatib will arrive today - the highest level Arab official to arrive since the breakdown of the Camp David talks in July - and is expected to formally present an Egyptian-Jordanian proposal for restarting negotiations with the Palestinians.
But Ra'anan Gissin, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said that unless there are serious modifications in the plan, "it will go nowhere."
Khatib, who met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat on Thursday, is slated to meet separately with Sharon, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in Jerusalem. Khatib is expected to be accompanied by senior Jordanian security officials.
Both Sharon and Peres have already rejected the proposals in their current form.
In addition to the meeting with Khatib, Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs are slated to meet at US Ambassador Martin Indyk's home in Herzliya for the second time in less than a week to discuss ways to head off violence. Channel 1 reported last night that Sharon, Peres, and Ben-Eliezer, who met last night in Tel Aviv, were told by security officials that there has not been any appreciable drop in the violence since the security meetings began again at a high level some three weeks ago.
Regarding the Egyptian-Jordanian proposals that Khatib is expected to formally present, Gissin said that "Arafat is looking for a ladder with which to climb down from his tree. But from our point of view, this ladder is not good enough."
The proposals, according to one diplomatic official, contain four elements: a cessation of violence; a renewal of security cooperation; the fulfillment of interim agreements; and a return to diplomatic negotiations.
"If the idea is for this to be done incrementally, with one piece following the other, then it has a chance," the official said. "But if the idea is to do it simultaneously, with no interdependence between the elements, then it has no chance."
The proposals reportedly call upon both sides to work for a reduction of the violence, for Israel to withdraw to where it was before the outbreak of the violence in September, and for the EU, UN, Jordan, and Egypt to form a supervisory body to oversee implementation of the agreement.
According to Gissin, Sharon objects to the proposal because it sets a deadline for ending final-status talks and also because it will enable negotiations to take place before a cessation of violence.
"Sharon will not fall into the trap of beginning negotiations while there has not yet been a cessation of the shooting," Gissin said. He said that Sharon will also not "fall into the trap" of agreeing to any deadline to final-status talks because of his concern about what happens if the deadlines are not met.
One diplomatic official said the proposals, which were reportedly drawn up with the Palestinians, are intended more to relieve pressure on the Palestinians than as a way for them to gracefully end the intifada.
"It is an attempt to lessen the pressure on the PA, both internationally - including from Egypt and Jordan - and also internally, to make it look like they are doing something to change the current situation," he said.
The source said the visit is clearly to promote this proposal - a proposal that both Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak brought with them on their recent visits to Washington - and that it should not be interpreted in any way as a warming of relations with Jordan.
Jordan has not had an ambassador here since September, when ambassador Omar Rifai's tour of duty ended. Newly appointed Ambassador Abdullah Kurdi was never sent because of the intifada.
The Jordan Times yesterday quoted a senior Jordanian official as saying that given the sentiment in Jordan, the decision to dispatch Khatib "was not an easy one for Jordan to make."
He said the visit was "a responsible effort by Jordan as the president of the Arab League summit. The minister will carry a message on the requirements of peace."
Jordan "is trying to support the Palestinian stand," he added. "We will tell the Israeli government that what is happening is unacceptable and has to end, and that a dialogue with the Palestinians has to start as the solution is not a security [solution] but a political [solution]."
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| Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/4/156.htm |