No to a ‘Jewish state’ by Amer Al Sabaileh | Jan 26, 2014 | 22:59 74 inShare 1 The ambiguity that surrounds US Secretary of State John Kerry’s plan for Israel and Palestine means that Jordan should focus on its internal issues for the moment. Social harmony is needed between Jordanians and Palestinians to face the consequences of a negotiated peace (and the non-negotiables that are inevitably negotiated away to achieve it). Each time Kerry visits the Middle East, more details of his peace plan are leaked. The US plan appears to involve three players: Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Still, from the details that have been leaked, it seems that all the real concessions will be made by Jordanians and the Palestinian Authority. The Israelis continue to insist on the recognition of a “Jewish state”. This is shaping as a political dilemma for their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is negotiating this issue with the EU. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has been accusing the ambassadors of France, Spain, Italy and UK of siding with the Palestinians in their rejection of the settlement expansions and then demanding that they recognise the “Jewish state”. Such demand is contentious not just because of the risks involved in the displacement of more than one and a half million Arabs or the incorporation of sectarian and ethnic entities in such a state. What is of concern is the proposal to base Israel’s right to the land on religion, and seeing that what is trumpeted as a secular democracy is, in fact, a religious state. The American democracy project has a long history of supporting democracies based on ethnic or religious diversity, from Yugoslavia to Lebanon, to Syria and Jordan. Perhaps America needs to revise its vision of democracy, but the world should reject this dangerous phenomenon and keep religion out of politics, as the consequences could be fatal to the whole region. Other leaked details from Kerry’s plan suggest that Jordan could be facing some major demographic changes, which would have a significant impact on the social and political realities of the country. While it is best to wait from analysing the impact until details are published, it is important to remind decision makers that transparency is fundamental to the success of this process, and secrecy introduces fear and uncertainty into an already unstable situation. The writer, amersabaileh.blogspot, political analyst and expert in intercultural studies, is lecturer at the
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 21:34:46 +0000
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