Palestine - cutting Abbas down to size

Jordan(then called Transjordan) was part of the British Mandate between 1920-1946 – when it ultimately was granted independence by Great Britain in dubious circumstances – since to do so breached article 5 of the Mandate document – which stated:

The Mandatory shall be responsible for seeing that no Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to, or in any way placed under the control of, the Government of any foreign Power.

For the PLO - the sole spokesman of the Palestinian Arabs – its own Charter therefore makes it abundantly clear that Jordan remains an inseparable part of former Palestine.

The PLO's stated position was reinforced at the 8th Palestinian National Council meeting in February-March 1971 - which declared:

Jordan is linked to Palestine by a national relationship and a national unity forged by history and culture from the earliest times. The creation of one political entity in Transjordan and another in Palestine would have no basis either in legality or as to the elements universally accepted as fundamental to a political entity. .. In raising the slogan of the liberation of Palestine and presenting the problem of the Palestine revolution, it was not the intention of the Palestine revolution to separate the east of the River from the West, nor did it believe the struggle of the Palestinian people can be separated from the struggle of the masses in Jordan…

Despite these clear and unrevoked declarations - the Quartet - Russia, America, the European Union and the United Nations - still remain foolishly fixated on creating an independent Arab State between Israel and Jordan in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - thus separating the East Bank of the Jordan River from the West Bank and dividing the Arabs who live on each side of the Jordan River from one another.

Israel's then Defence Minister Yitzchak Rabin succinctly sized up the situation when declaring on 27 May 1985:

The Palestinians should have a sovereign State which includes most of the Palestinians. It should be Jordan with a considerable part of the West Bank and Gaza. East of the river Jordan, there is enough room to settle the Palestinian refugees. One tiny State between Israel and Jordan will solve nothing. It will be a time bomb

How right Mr Rabin was and how wrong the PLO, the Quartet and the UN will be in continuing to pursue an outcome based on propaganda and misinformation - not geography, history and demography.

Jordan ( and possibly Egypt) must be brought into any future negotiations and not allowed to escape playing any part in finding a solution to the final carve up of historic Palestine – having been the last sovereign Arab State to occupy the West Bank and East Jerusalem between 1948-1967.

Jordan is part of the problem. It (and possibly Egypt) must become part of any solution.

Trying to achieve any resolution to the Jewish-Arab conflict within 22% of historic Palestine – whilst totally ignoring the other 78% - is – and has proved to be – a recipe for disaster.

Those who sat in the UN Chamber listening to President Abbas should be the first to repudiate his false statement and forcefully tell him so.

Size certainly does matter where "Palestine" is concerned.