The United Nations Security Council can no longer ignore discussing the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution - following the warning delivered on 19 December by Tor Wennesland – United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process.
Addressing the Security Council Wennesland advised:
“Clashes, protests, attacks, Israeli security operations, including in Area A, and settler-related violence have continued. In 2022 to date, over one hundred and fifty Palestinians and more than twenty Israelis have been killed in the 'West Bank' and Israel, the highest numbers of fatalities in years”
Wennesland was concerned that Security Council Resolution 2334 passed on 23 December 2016 following the US abstention recorded under the Obama-Biden administration - calling for the creation of an independent Palestinian Arab State between Israel and Jordan (two-state solution) – had failed to achieve its objective six years later.
Wennesland chose, unsurprisingly, to blame Israel:
“Israeli settlement expansion in the 'occupied West Bank', including East Jerusalem, remains deeply concerning. Settlements constitute a flagrant violation of United Nations resolutions and international law. They undermine the prospects of achieving a two-State solution by systematically eroding the possibility of establishing a contiguous, independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State.”
He reminded the Security Council:
"As I told the Council in my briefing last month, seeking to freeze this conflict or manage it in perpetuity are not viable options. There is no substitute for a legitimate political process that will resolve the core issues driving the conflict."
Wennesland’s recommendation for “a legitimate political process”: was only half right:
“In line with the recommendations that I made to this Council in November, I urge the parties, along with regional States and the broader international community to take concrete steps that will change the negative trajectory on the ground and have an immediate impact on Palestinian and Israeli lives, while, at the same time, ensuring these steps are anchored in a political framework that moves the parties forward towards the establishment of two States.”
Clinging illogically to the failed two state solution – 20 years after the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and the 2003 Oslo Accords had embraced that solution and 6 years after its endorsement by Security Council Resolution 2334 – is an exercise in futility.
Wennesland’s recommendation will see the conflict being indefinitely perpetuated – not ended.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution emanating in Saudi Arabia and published on 8 June 2022 is a new solution to “change the negative trajectory on the ground “:
-It challenges the Security Council’s pursuit of two States by calling for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of the 'West Bank' into one territorial entity to be called the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine having its capital in Amman and being ruled by Jordan’s current Hashemite ruler – King Abdullah
-The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and 2003 Oslo Accords are superseded.
-Arab populations living in Gaza, the West Bank and the refugee camps in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon will become citizens of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine.
-Sovereignty in the 'West Bank' will be divided between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
-Its author – Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, King-designate and Prime Minister – Mohammed Bin Salman.
-Publication of the plan in the Government –controlled Al-Arabiya News overruling current Saudi policy strongly suggests Mohammed Bin Salman’s approval was first obtained.
-King Abdullah (Jordan), Mahmoud Abbas (Palestinian Authority), Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) Mohammed Bin Salman (Saudi Arabia) and Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel) have not expressly rejected the solution in the six months since its publication.
Its successful implementation can end the 100 years-old conflict between Arabs and Jews.
The Security Council can no longer put off discussing this solution to replace the two-state solution.
Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”
Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.
David Singeris an Australian lawyer who is active in Zionist community organizations in that country. He founded the "Jordan is Palestine" Committee in 1979.