Our Last Best Chance_ The Pursuit of Peace in a Time of Peril - King Abdullah II [78]
President Assad died unexpectedly just over a year after my visit and was succeeded by his son. Though Bashar and I do not agree on every aspect of regional politics, our countries are collaborating more than ever before. We consult on the peace process, and are expanding our cooperation in many areas, including regional energy projects. We are encouraging the private sectors to forge stronger links. Even our young children have established ties. When we first visited, all the children were very shy, but it didn’t take them long to discover a common interest in Super Mario Brothers—and now they get along well.
The last stop on my tour of the neighborhood was Gaza, where I had my first official meeting with Arafat in my role as king. Arafat had come to Amman for my father’s funeral, but we did not have any discussions then.
My father and Arafat had become closer toward the end of their lives. I would sometimes attend their meetings and my father would laugh, watching me standing helpless while Arafat showered me with kisses. By then, having won the Nobel Peace Prize together with Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres in 1994, he had taken on the role of elder statesman.
As we gathered for lunch, each accompanied by our respective delegations, Arafat said, “The Palestinian people of the West Bank and the East Bank welcome you to Gaza!” My people bristled, as Arafat was implying that he still retained some political influence in Jordan, the “East Bank,” invoking memories of his failed attempt to overthrow my father in 1970.
Arafat was also referring to the large number of Jordanians of Palestinian origin. He never gave up his claim to represent all Palestinians who had been chased from their homes in Israel or forced to flee during the wars. During and after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, a wave of refugees from Palestine crossed into Jordan, significantly increasing Jordan’s then population of 433,000. These refugees were given Jordanian citizenship. A second wave of Palestinians crossed the River Jordan after the 1967 war—they already had Jordanian nationality as they mostly lived in the West Bank, which belonged to Jordan. In 1999, around 43 percent of Jordan’s population was of Palestinian origin.
I let his curious comment pass, but later, in a tête-à-tête, I spoke my mind. “The Palestinian people will always have 110 percent of my support in the search for a Palestinian state,” I said. “And once the Palestinians achieve their right to statehood, Jordanians of Palestinian origin will at last have the right to choose where they want to live. Those who want to be Palestinian citizens and move to Palestine will be free to do so, and all of our citizens who choose to stay in Jordan, whatever their background or origin, will remain Jordanian citizens. Their loyalty will be to the Jordanian flag, not the Palestinian, which for some is not the case today.”
I saw a flicker of a smile pass across the old freedom fighter’s lips. He had been testing my authority with his reference to the “East Bank,” and my vigorous response I think surprised him.
We moved from discussing inter-Arab politics to the attempt to revive the Wye Accords and the implications of Ehud Barak’s election as prime minister of Israel. Arafat and I both agreed that it was important for the Arabs to maintain a united front in any negotiations with the Israelis. We discussed the possibility that the new Israeli prime minister would try to split the Arabs by opening peace negotiations with Syria. Arafat, who was curious about my conversation with Assad, worried that the Syrian leader would respond positively to any overtures by the Israelis, at the expense of the Palestinians. I told him that I did not believe Assad would accept such a deal. I returned to Jordan curious to see whether Barak would live up to our hopes and expectations.
Chapter 15
Transforming Jordan
When I became king in February 1999, my first