Will Jordan be 'Palestine' after all?
Arieh Eldad reports that the 'Arab spring' is beginning to rumble in Jordan. The Hashemite regime is in trouble, and not only because the Palestinians, who comprise 70-80 percent of Jordan’s population, are waiting for an opportunity to join the “Arab Spring” and throw off the yoke of autocratic rule in order to enjoy true democracy. The Bedouins are the traditional power base of the royal family, especially the Bedouins of the cities of Karak and Salt, and they too are threatening to revolt, and for the first time calling to overthrow the monarchy.But Eldad cautions that Israelis should not be jumping for joy over this prospect. A 'Palestinian' regime (probably dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and their Hamas surrogate) is likely to be more hostile to Israel than the Hashemites, with whom Israel has developed a modus operandi over the past 64 years.
King Abdullah understands that his turn will come after Assad’s. Perhaps this is why he has prevented the Saudis from transferring arms to the Syrian rebels via Jordan. Al-Jazeera reported that five Palestinians have been arrested and charged with attempting to undermine Hashemite rule. Undoubtedly many arrests have not been brought to the attention of Al-Jazeera.
A Palestinian blogger who dared criticize the monarchy was stabbed and seriously wounded. The monarchy has tried to insinuate the attack stemmed from “immoral behavior” on her part, but demonstrations swept through the local refugee camps, where angry Palestinians are sure the government tried to silence her.
Compared to what is happening in Syria, this really is not much of a news story. But compared to what was happening in Jordan even just one year ago, it is the equivalent of an earthquake.
Abdullah is no Assad, and the Jordanians know he will not massacre his own citizens; when the riots begin, he is more likely to flee to London. (The Palestinians do fear a civil war in which the armed-to-the-teeth Bedouin minority tries to defeat the unarmed Palestinian majority which is unprepared for battle.)
A growing number of Palestinians see this as their big chance. An independent Palestinian state in Jordan is within reach. Many will not make do with that, they view it as a first stage in the establishment of a “Greater Palestine” stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Saudi desert.
Yet the number of voices in Jordan and in the Palestinian-Jordanian community abroad, mostly in London, calling to adopt a “Jordan is Palestine” plan is steadily increasing. They see it as a way out of the dead end in which the Palestinians are trapped. They understand that faced with the Palestinian Authority’s internal problems and the never-ending postponement of local elections, along with the ever-present and openly stated threat to dismantle the Authority – they are not likely to establish a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria, Gaza with its capital in Jerusalem.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: Arab spring, Hamas, Jordan is Palestine, Muslim Brotherhood
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:48 PM
1 Comments:
Palestinians are culturally incapable of acquiring and running a state. 60 years of being told that everything is the Jews fault and everything will eventually be handed to the Palestinians with no effort or cost of their own have inculcated in them a childlike belief that they are the world's anointed and that all they need do is squat in the dust banging their silver begging bowls. No, what will happen is that some gang of lunatic Islamic maniacs will take control. Possibly Hamas possibly someone worse or even someone not well known in the region today. And they will create a brutal theocratic feudal caliphate in Jordan execute several thousand people and enslave the Palestinian Arabs there who don't embrace their Taliban-like middle age ethos. And years down the road the Palestinians will be no better off than they are now. The simple fact is that the Palestinians got exactly what they demanded; helplessness, failure, indifference and slavery. Their plan was that someone else would kill all the Jews and all they had to do was walk back. But let's face facts, even walking back to a lunar landscape of Israel denuded of all Jews would have been too much work for them. They would have demanded golden hovercraft to pick them up and deliver them. So - whatever happens to Jordan, will have zero bearing on the Palestinians.
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