Hassan Barari ARABNEWS

Apparently, it is hard to keep the lid on the mutual mistrust between Jordan and the Palestinian leaders. Despite their public statements to the contrary, Jordanian leaders fear that the Palestinian Authority (PA) may cut a deal with Israel at Jordan’s expense.

In fact, it is no longer a secret that the late King Hussein was furious when the Palestinians took him off guard and signed the Oslo agreement in September 1993. The Palestinians kept Jordan in the dark concerning their wheeling and dealing with the Israelis. And Israelis are aware of this situation and have effectively exploited it on many occasions to extract concessions from the Palestinians or to force them to come to terms with Israel’s objectives.

Having experienced the bitterness of the Palestinians’ habit to succumb to the Israeli schemes and pressure, Jordanians are wary that President Mahmoud Abbas may opt for a deal with the Israelis that could jeopardize Jordan’s interests in the final status talks. Few, if any, in Jordan views favorably the Palestinian negotiators. The common feeling among Jordanian ruling elite is that President Abbas takes Jordan for granted. Abbas, according to this line of thinking, is more interested in an agreement with Israel that could lead to an independent Palestinian state. For various reasons, Jordanians feel that Abbas will give up on the refugees’ right. He thinks that Jordan cannot defy such an agreement and risk its relationship with the United States.

In a rare public lecture, former Jordanian Prime Minister Ma’rouf Bakhit said last week that Jordan should not trust the Palestinian negotiators. He suspected that the PA would act out of desperation and scapegoat Jordan’s interest in the final status talks. While Bakhit is not holding an executive post, many believe that his message was coordinated with the regime. Bakhit’s lecture made headlines in Jordan local newspapers. Soon many members of the Parliament reiterated the message delivered by Bakhit in his public lecture.

While historically there has been no love lost between Jordan and the Palestinian national movement, the two sides are no longer mortal adversaries. Once Jordan gave up its claim on the Palestinian land and accepted the right of the PLO to represent the Palestinians, the level of tension has been kept on the backburner. When Jordan started to publicly advocate the two-state solution, Palestinian leaders began to feel relieved. King Abdallah of Jordan has brought up the two-state solution in much of his dealing with the West.

And yet, Abbas defines a good agreement differently. Caught in domestic rivalry with Hamas, Abbas fears that his standing could take a nosedive if he fails to bring the Israelis agree to a two-state solution. Also, his organization is desperate for an “achievement” in the peace talks to be in a better position to compete with Hamas in the future. Many Jordanians politicians and intellectuals understand and indeed fear the grave consequences of this logic. As a quid pro quo for establishing an independent state, the Palestinians may write off the right of return.

Over the last decade, Israelis leaders have made the Palestinian recognition of the “Jewishness” of Israeli state the key to their negotiation with the Palestinians. Arabs, on the whole, think that such recognition would mean the abolishing of the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.

Implicit in US Secretary of States John Kerry’s mediation is his acceptance of the Israeli characterization of the Jewishness of Israel. In his last week’s visit to the region, he tried to put pressure on the Palestinian side to accept Israel’s military presence in the Jordan Valley. All in all, one can make the case that John Kerry — like his predecessors — tries to force the Palestinians to conform to Israel’s vision of the final resolution of the conflict. Hence, the American biased position may compel Abbas to come to terms with Israel’s terms for peace.
The problem with the Jordanian anger and suspicion is that Jordan has never articulated any alternative plan. Meaning, while Jordanians are almost certain that the outcome of any peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel would be at their expense, it is not possible to point out to what Jordan will do to get different results.

Email: hbarari@gmail.com

SOURCE: ARABNEWS.COM