In a news interview on Monday, December 18, 2006, Jordan's King Abdullah II urged Israel to state its position on Palestinian statehood. He also stated that he would "contact the Jewish state to help reactivate peace talks between the two sides."
"Jordan will have contacts with Israel ... in addition to those it is having with the Palestinians, to encourage both sides to take measures to build trust between them and contribute to activate the peace process," the king told local newspaper editors, a royal court statement said.
"Jordan is ready to listen to the views of both sides and to help them put words into action," aimed at reviving moribund Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the king said, the statement said.
The Jordanian monarch also warned that everyone, Israel included, would pay a price if the long-delayed issue of setting up an independent Palestinian state is not addressed quickly.
"His majesty called on Israel to state its position concerning the creation of a Palestinian state, and said everyone, including Israel, will pay the price if a Palestinian state is not established to meet the Palestinian people's aspirations for freedom and independence," the statement said.
"The only concern now for the Palestinian people is to achieve their goal ... and this should be done through direct negotiations with Israel," the statement quoted the king as telling editors from five Jordanian dailies.
King Abdullah likewise expressed concern over the fighting between supporters of Fatah and Hamas and urged both sides to come to terms, lest it weaken Palestinian national unity.
The issue of Israel’s position on a Palestinian state has everyone skeptical of its sincerity, considering the extensive colonization of the West Bank, the absence of a commitment to anything more than a unacceptable Bantustan concept in the political platforms of the major Israeli parties, and the continual imposition of unattainable preconditions to final peace negotiations by Israel’s leaders.
If, as Uri Avnery (Gush Shalom) recently suggested, the Israeli government fears peace initiatives, it will be interesting to see what Olmert’s response will be, if indeed he responds at all. The Israel government talks peace, even says that it is committed to the Road Map’s two state prescription, but the realities on the ground in the West Bank, which it refers to as Judea and Sumaria, leave many skeptical.
The original article, Jordan asks Israel to state position on Palestinian statehood, can be linked here: http://news.yahoo.com/...
Crossposted at Eternal Hope: http://eternalhope.blog-city.com/