You are here
According to reports, Jordan’s King Abdullah has said that the country is in the process of consolidating an international coalition to restart stalled negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He said he was working with several European countries on ideas that will also enable the US to play a lead role in the peace process, and hoped that Germany, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait would also participate in the efforts. Abdullah has cited a number of reasons for increasing likelihood of achieving peace, including the re-election of US President Barack Obama, the impacts of the Arab Spring, and the elevation of Palestine to observer state in the UN last year. 1
In another development, according to reports, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour has said that Jordan has refused to allow entry of Palestinian refugees fleeing the violence in Syria and has blamed Israel for preventing them from returning to their homes in the Palestinian territories. Ensour said that Jordan “is not the place to solve the problems of Israel” and that allowing Palestinian refugees holding Syrian documents to enter Jordan would be a prelude to another wave of displacement of Palestinians. Jordan is increasingly concerned with the refugee situation caused by the Syrian crisis; it currently hosts more than 300,000 Syrian refugees. Palestinians already comprise the majority of Jordan’s population and also part of the Islamist opposition. 2
- 1. Yoni Dayan, “Jordan forming int'l bloc to spur peace talks”, The Jerusalem Post, January 13, 2013 at http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=299448
- 2. Ariel Ben Solomon, “Saudi Arabia to aid Jordan with Syrian refugees”, The Jerusalem Post, January 14, 2013 at http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=299480