Jordan will never be substitute homeland for Palestinians — PM

AMMAN — Jordan will never be a “substitute homeland” for Palestinians, a notion rejected by Palestinians and Jordanians alike, but only accepted by Israel, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said in an interview published Wednesday.

“We should take all the measures that prevent turning Jordan into an alternative land for Palestinians,” Ensour said in an interview with the Qatari Al Watan daily.

“All the measures that they [the Israelis] call for under humanitarian, demographic and moral pretexts serve to achieve a substitute homeland, which we cannot accept,” he said. 

Granting citizenship to children of Jordanian women married to non-Jordanians is not on the table, while efforts are under way to grant them rights in education, work, mobility, ownership and travel, the premier added.

He rejected any attempt to discriminate between segments of the Jordanian community, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

On restoring any form of unity between the Kingdom and the Palestinian state when it is established, the premier said the vast majority of Jordanians and Palestinians see that any kind of unity can only be discussed after the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.

He voiced confidence that the Palestinians would not “surprise” Jordan, like the case of the 1993 Oslo Accords, and carry out back-channel negotiations with Israel without Jordan’s knowledge or involvement.

Noting that there are around two million Palestinians in Jordan, Ensour said they have rights in Palestine according to international laws and the UN and Palestine Liberation Organisation resolutions, which makes it natural for the Kingdom to defend their rights.

In addition, the unresolved issues of borders, water and Jerusalem, where Jordan is recognised as the custodian of holy sites in the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty and by the Palestinian Authority, still need to be settled, said Ensour.

Regarding the phase during which the Kingdom can enter the ongoing negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, he reiterated that Jerusalem, refugees, water and borders are issues that Jordan refuses to be addressed without its consultation.

“We trust Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and so far, Abu Mazen has honoured his obligations, but we have witnessed a bitter experience in Oslo… However, Abbas is always committed to keeping us apprised…,” the premier said.

He voiced Jordan’s confidence in the US-brokered talks and trust in the integrity of the Palestinian side, noting that the US side is not committed to acquainting the Kingdom with the details of the negotiations, unlike the Palestinian side.

On the “unpopular” decisions taken by the government, which citizens believe have worsened their living conditions, Ensour argued that he “did not increase people’s suffering” and that what he did was to prevent the collapse of the economy.

“Many enlightened people know that I have served my country… others have different views which I respect because I am a man of democracy,” he said.

Regarding Jordan’s bid to join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the prime minister said it was a “historic mistake” not to grant the Kingdom full membership. “This is my personal conviction,” he stressed.

He denied as baseless reports of a slowdown in the projects funded by the GCC grant to the Kingdom, stressing that they are “moving as scheduled”, thanking former Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani for initiating the idea of the grant.

In 2011, the GCC allocated $5 billion to finance development projects in Jordan during the period 2012-2016.The grant is divided between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, with each country paying $1.25 billion.

Ensour said the failure of the Geneva conference on Syria means there is currently no political solution to the crisis and that resorting to the military option means that a party will be defeated and will be forced to leave the country, but he stressed that no side is expected to emerge victorious any time soon.