Jordan's king has visited PA head Abbas on a whistle tour, though for what reason is unclear, writes Khaled Amayreh in Ramallah Neither Jordanian nor Palestinian officials spelled out exactly the precise goal of King Abdullah's surprise visit to the occupied West Bank, the first since he succeeded his late father, King Hussein, as monarch of the Hashemite kingdom. However, it is widely assumed that Abdullah carried with him a message from the Americans and Europeans urging the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership to resume stalled peace talks with Israel irrespective of Palestinian demands and grievances. PA President Mahmoud Abbas has been saying that there can be no resumption of talks with the rightwing Israeli government in the absence of a complete halt to Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Moreover, the Palestinian people, long exasperated by Israeli intransigence and provocations and also by American leniency and unrestricted backing of Israel, seems to be decidedly opposed to any unconditional resumption of moribund talks with Israel. This overwhelming populist opposition is likely to be further bolstered and enforced if the PA and Hamas sign their long-awaited national reconciliation agreement in Cairo this week. King Abdullah, whose visit to Ramallah lasted for no more than a few hours, reiterated the usual courteous words about Jordan's backing and support of the Palestinian position, including the contemplated establishment of a territorially contiguous Palestinian state on the West Bank. However, the king has been complaining for quite some time that Israeli insolence is effectively killing the peace process and that the "window of opportunity" is slipping out of hand. The king is also gravely worried that the peace process collapses completely, a Talmudic, jingoistic Israel might adopt the Jordan-is-Palestine strategy and seek to resolve the Palestinian issue at Jordan's expense. Jordan is also worried that the possible election of a Republican administration in the US in 2012 might militate against "the diminishing forces of peace" and make peace efforts more difficult than ever. Indeed, Jordanian existential anxiety about the "alternative homeland" issue had led King Hussein to sever all administrative and political ties with the West Bank in 1989, which paved the way for the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) to become the "sole and legitimate representative" of the Palestinian people. Some Israeli sources alleged that one of the messages that the Jordanian king conveyed to PA President Abbas was America and Israel's fierce opposition to the increasing rapprochement between the PLO and Hamas. Abbas has so far rejected American and Israeli interference in "this internal Palestinian issue". Saeb Ereikat, a leading Palestinian negotiator, this week remarked that reconciliation with Hamas would go ahead even if the US froze financial aid to the Ramallah government. Abbas and Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal are expected to meet later this week in what Hamas and PA sources describe as the most promising meeting ever between the two erstwhile contentious faction heads. If indeed the king of Jordan wanted to pressure Abbas to "exercise more patience" vis-�-vis Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government, it is obvious the Jordanian monarch didn't achieve his goal, even despite the courteous words he heard from Abbas. Soon after the king's departure, Abbas told reporters in Ramallah that he would only resume negotiations if Israel "halts settlement activities and abides by international resolutions," adding that his demands were not preconditions but rather obligations based on agreements between the two sides. Moreover, the latest decisions by the Israeli government to build tens of thousands of settler units throughout the West Bank are expected to further embolden Palestinian determination with regards to the issue of settlements. One Palestinian official, a confidant of Abbas, intimated to Al-Ahram Weekly that "the Jordanian and Palestinian leaderships have basically different priorities." "The Jordanian leadership sees the achievement of peace as the paramount thing, regardless of the details; the Palestinian leadership, on the other hand, wants to create a viable and territorially contiguous state on 100 per cent of the territories occupied in 1967 and is not willing to compromise on this goal." Palestinian and Jordanian officials didn't elaborate much on the deadlocked peace process, probably to avoid the impression of disagreement. PA Foreign Minister Riad Maleki was quoted as saying that the most pressing issue facing the PA was complete reconciliation with Hamas. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said during a press conference that King Abdullah came to the West Bank to support the creation of a Palestinian state along the Green Line (the former armistice line between Israel and the West Bank), with its capital in East Jerusalem, and to emphasise the importance given to the Palestinian issue within the Jordanian leadership. Some observers have noted that the tenor of the Jordanian minister's remarks suggest there was something the two sides didn't want to talk about. Palestinian officials said Abdullah also wanted to assure the PA leadership that Jordan's own rapprochement with Hamas wouldn't be at the PA or Fatah's expense. Meshaal is expected to arrive in Amman in a few days for reconciliation talks with Jordanian officials. Awn Khasawneh, the newly appointed Jordanian prime minister, remarked earlier this month that the ousting of Hamas's leaders, including Meshaal, from Amman in 1999 was a mistake. Then, King Abdullah, only six months in power following his father's death, succumbed to Israeli and American pressure and expelled Hamas's leadership, citing violations by Hamas of Jordanian law. The Jordanian measure, then described as political in nature, came two years after the Israeli Mossad carried out a failed assassination attempt on Meshaal in Amman. It is widely believed though that Jordanian efforts to reconcile with Hamas are motivated first and foremost by the Arab Spring, especially the rising influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. Likewise, the same thing can be said about the Palestinian Authority's own reconciliation with Hamas. Some observers in Ramallah have suggested that the PA leadership is trying to forestall the possible selection in Cairo of a pro-Hamas government which could further complicate any delayed reconciliation between the two largest political camps in the occupied territories.
