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June 29, 2021 Special Dispatch No. 9420

Jordanian Journalist To Palestinians: Forget The Delusion Of A Palestinian State From The River To The Sea And Seize The Historic Opportunity To Realize The Two-State Solution

June 29, 2021
Jordan | Special Dispatch No. 9420

In a May 26, 2021 article on the liberal website Elaph.com, Jordanian journalist and former culture and information minister Saleh Al-Qallab urged the Palestinian Authority (PA) to adhere to the two-state solution, namely a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders alongside Israel, instead of the tired slogans that are brandished by populist elements and by those who live in various Arab states and are loyal to Iran. Al-Qallab added that today there is a golden opportunity to realize the two-state solution because the U.S. and other world powers are serious about promoting it.  "When a historic moment like this comes along," he wrote, "the Palestinians must stop chasing beautiful delusions" like the notion of a Palestinian state from the river to the sea, which have only caused many Palestinians to lose their lives or become refugees over the past decades.


Saleh Al-Qallab (Source: Tamus-net.net)

The following are translated excerpts from his article.[1]

"The Palestinians must adhere to what U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken said to Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas (Abu Mazen) during their meeting in Ramallah, namely to 'the two-state solution, that is, a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel,'  and must not miss another historic opportunity that may never recur if they continue to adhere to slogans like 'from the river to the sea,' which the populists are so fond of brandishing. It is clear and certain that the Americans, and also most if not all of the influential countries in the West and the East, are serious about resolving this issue, which has been hanging by a thread all these long years, during which the Palestinians sacrificed a steady stream of righteous martyrs and continued to produce wave after wave of refugees who settled in the Arab countries, far and near, and all around the globe.

"An Arabic, and perhaps universal, proverb says, 'grasp all, lose all.' True, [all of] Palestine, from the river to the sea, is dear to the Palestinians and to most of the Arab nation. But when a historic moment like this comes along, the Palestinians must stop chasing beautiful delusions, as they have been doing all these years since the Nakba of 1948, while the Israelis have continued to put down roots in what is left of Palestine and in territory belonging to the Arab states, like the Syrian Golan Heights. 

"The Palestinian leadership, namely the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud 'Abbas (Abu Mazen), will surely encounter [opposition from an entire] procession of populists uttering tired slogans and by those who live lives of luxury in the capitals of various Arab countries and in the state of the Iranian Jurisprudent. However, the Palestinian leadership – including the leadership of Fatah and of the other Palestinian factions that support it – is now clearly determined about this issue [of implementing the two-state solution] and will [surely] seize this moment rather than miss it, because this time it is clear that the U.S. is really serious, as are all the European states and all the influential countries in the world.

"For over 70 years, Israel has continued to 'gain political profits' from the populism of the Arab states and of the Palestinian organizations, while the revolution launched by Fatah in 1965 continued to tote its gear from one Arab capital to another, whether in Asia or in Africa. I assume some [still] remember how Yasser Arafat was forced to leave Beirut in 1982 after a painful siege and move to Tunisia, which was the seat of the Arab League at the time.

"Hence, it is clear and certain that the Palestinian leadership, which has handled this burning issue all these long years, will not miss this golden opportunity and will not be swayed by the slogans of the populists. Let [me] stress that the Gaza Strip, too, will not continue to hang by a thread and to be virtually subordinate to the Iranian Jurisprudent, for when the two-state solution, namely [the solution of] a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and an Israeli state on the 1967 borders, begins to be implemented,  [Gaza] will join the [Palestinian] state, which the Palestinian people have been dreaming about all these long years, namely for over 70 years."

 

[1] Elaph.com, May 26, 2021.

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