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Jordanian Palestinian Leader Condemns Fatah-Hamas Unity Deal

Mudar ZahranMudar Zahran, a Jordanian Palestinian political dissident journalist who aspires to overthrow the Hashemite Monarchy and personally establish a Palestinian majority democracy in Jordan, has condemned the Fatah-Hamas unity deal. He called for a Palestinian majority democratic state in Jordan to serve as an alternative to Hamas-Fatah totalitarian rule.

Zahran, while condemning the Hamas-Fatah unity deal, stressed that it should not come as a surprise because “Abbas is in a very weak position and the deal was originally brokered by the King of Jordan and the State of Qatar.” Zahran explained that Qatar wants to push Abbas-Hamas unity in order to secure Hamas’ future given the present situation in Egypt: “Also, the King of Jordan is worried that if Abbas falls and Oslo collapses, both Israel and the US would push for the Jordan option, which is a Palestinian majority ruling Jordan. The best way to secure that this will not happen is to keep this conflict in Israel’s house. That is why Khaled Mashaal, who is a Jordanian citizen and a friend of the king, supported and pushed for the Palestinian unity deal.”

Zahran asked rhetorically what this means for Israel: “Israel is paying for its sins. Israel has tolerated Abbas too much, just because he says he is not like Hamas when actually he has the same ideology when it comes to Israel. So, they did the mistake of tolerating Abbas for too long and Israel made the ultimate mistake of supporting the King of Jordan for three years, when he was about to fall several times.”

“Israel has a historical chance to establish a Palestinian majority rule in Jordan without interfering,” Zahran stressed. “All they have to do is let the King of Jordan slide. A year ago, the Obama administration was not willing to go the extra mile to support the king of Jordan. Israel jumped in and supported him as its own expense and supported at the expense of Israeli interests. As a result, he was the one who proposed the Kerry peace plan that jeopardizes Israeli security and he was the one who initiated and designed the Hamas-PLO unity government. Without the King’s consent, Abbas would have never done it and without Qatar’s consent, Hamas would have never done it. And the King and Qatar are now allies.”

The question arises, how should Israel react to the Hamas-Fatah unity government? “It’s needless to say that Israel has every legal foundation to end Oslo and as a Palestinian leader, I absolutely think that my people would do much better under Israel than under the corrupt PA,” Zahran emphasized. “I have interviewed tens of community leaders in the West Bank last summer. And most of them have had enough with the Palestinian Authority. Israel knows this. Israel knows that the Palestinians won’t cry for Abbas or miss him. They know the international community cannot blame Israel for ending Oslo. They even know the King of Jordan is causing havoc inside Israel. They know that the Jordan as Palestinian state is the only solution left. They know that they have paid dearly for supporting the king and in fact, have been slammed in the face for it. The question remains; who in Israel has the courage to end Oslo?”

” Israeli politics is full of political correctness and I am afraid to say some of them have dined and wined with the king and they feel like betraying a friend if they let him go,” Zahran explained. “It’s a decision that requires someone as strong as Sharon was or at least, Netanyahu. I would love to think that Netanyahu is a strong man who seeks peace and also is an Israeli patriot who would not miss this historical chance to establish peace in the long run. If not now, then when?”

“Having Abbas-Hamas and the King of Jordan being your peace partner, do you really need any enemies,” Zahran pondered. “I have warned Israel from missing the opportunity of change in the region, particularly in Jordan. And today, if there was a Palestinian president in Amman; Kerry’s plan would not have even existed. Now I am sending my final warning to peace lovers around the world, Zionists and Israelis, unless you accept as support a peaceful change in Jordan and restore Israel’s sovereignty over its soil, we are going to pay dearly in the very foreseeable future. Allow me to remind you that an opportunity knocks on the door, but it does not beg.”

Zahran was also very critical of the US for being willing to recognize the Hamas-Fatah unity government: “I think Obama has listened to the very ill advice of his Arab allies, particularly Jordan’s king and the rich Qataris. I think this is the first time in history that a terrorist organization has been recognized by the US government. This is a very serious precedent and I encourage Obama to reconsider. Let’s not forget Taliban was welcomed officially into the US just one year before it carried out the 9/11 bombings. I hope President Obama is not going to repeat history. Also, I need to warn the president openly that his Arab allies such as Qatar and Jordan do not mean well for the US, its people, or regional peace. Both countries have been harboring Islamists and I can say just one thing; with friends like those for the American people, who needs a enemy really?”

“What is the world, the US and Israel waiting for,” Zahran asked. “A Palestinian state with an 80% majority in Jordan will elect a Palestinian president if the king falls, a Palestinian parliament, and a Palestinian government. It will solve the refugee problem and give the Palestinians an outlet to be free and to do business without being forced out of their homes. Why argue about a Palestinian state when a Palestinian state already exists? Why has Israel taken all this abuse from the king? Here Israel is afraid of the Islamist takeover. The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan announced publicly that the king was a necessity to them and that they would never allow him to have a reduction in his powers. If he falls, the Islamists fall with him.”

“We as the secular liberal opposition are extending our hands to the world to establish peace through a Palestinian state in eastern Palestine, aka Jordan,” Zahran concluded. “You have the right to ignore us, but we assure you, it will be a grave mistake, which everyone is going to pay for dearly at the hands of the radicals.”

 

Author

Rachel Avraham

Rachel Avraham is the CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and the editor of the Economic Peace Center, which was established by Ayoob Kara, who served as Israel's Communication, Cyber and Satellite Minister. For close to a decade, she has been an Israel-based journalist, specializing in radical Islam, abuses of human rights and minority rights, counter-terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Azerbaijan, Syria, Iran, and other issues of importance. Avraham is the author of “Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media," a ground-breaking book endorsed by Former Israel Consul General Yitzchak Ben Gad and Israeli Communications Minister Ayoob Kara that discusses how the media exploits the life stories of Palestinian female terrorists in order to justify wanton acts of violence. Avraham has an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from Ben-Gurion University. She received her BA in Government and Politics with minors in Jewish Studies and Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Maryland at College Park.