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.
The resolution - unlike the November 29 General Assembly resolution - still has relevance and meaning 41 years later for both Jordan and the PLO.Abdullah could do worse than to reaffirm his agreement with the 1971 resolution and rebuff any attempts at a confederation. He should also make it clear at the same time that he is prepared to enter into negotiations with Israel to reunify the West Bank with Jordan and restore the status quo, so far as is now possible since Jordan occupied the West Bank 45 years ago.The Hashemites, by their astute and diplomatic rule in Jordan for the last 93 years, have preserved 78% of former Palestine as an exclusive Arab state in an area originally proposed by the League of Nations for the reconstitution of the Jewish National Home.The peace treaty signed between Jordan and Israel in 1994 has survived intact despite many occasions when Jordan may have been tempted to end it. This peace treaty already contains negotiating parameters for dealing with such thorny issues in the West Bank as water, refugees and Jerusalem.Hopefully Israel and Jordan could successfully conclude negotiations where no one - Jew or Arab - would have to leave his present home or business in the West Bank.Abbas's provocation of both Israel and Hamas in approaching the UN has clearly backfired and his proposal to confederate with Jordan can only further embarrass and disaffect many countries that support him.In the upcoming diplomatic manoeuvring regarding the future of the West Bank, there is no doubt that reunification with Jordan certainly trumps confederation.