Israel Matzav

London's Daily Telegraph gets a big oops

A story that claims that King Hussein of Jordan was willing to make Yasser Arafat deputy Prime Minister "as the king faced the prospect of a Palestinian government in exile attempting to divide his country" seems to get something really wrong.

The story says "The Jordanian West Bank territories — where most Palestinian refugees lived — were occupied by Israel as a result of the Yom Kippur war in October 1973." Forget for a minute that there is no such thing as 'Palestinians,' Jordan was not a party to the October 1973 war! Israel liberated the West Bank territories Judea and Samaria in 1967. Moreover the 'territories' were never Jordanian. Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria from 1948-67, but that occupation was only recognized by one country outside the Middle East: England.

But then the story drops its real bombshell:

Mr Arafat, as leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, was agitating for their return to form an independent state. He was backed by Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

King Hussein feared the break-up of his kingdom, with territory on both sides of the Jordan river being ceded to the Palestinians, and sought to woo Arafat in 1974, according to files released yesterday at the National Archives.

More proof - as if any were needed - that Jordan is 'Palestine.' Yes, 'Palestine' - if it exists anywhere - should exist on the East Bank of the Jordan River, and most of the population of 'Jordan' are 'Palestinians.'

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:15 AM