Jordan support for Palestinians \'indisputable\'

Jordan’s full support for the Palestinians is unquestionable, a senior official reiterated. In remarks at a seminar in Irbid on Monday, quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh stressed Jordan’s continued support for the efforts exerted by the Palestinian Authority to establish an independent Palestinian state on pre-1967 frontier with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the basis of the two-state solution. The symposium, titled “Jordan’s Role in Safeguarding World Peace and Refugees”, was organised by the Yarmouk University’s Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Centre. Judeh explained that establishing a Palestinian state and addressing all the final status issues on the basis of the two-state solution and the Arab Peace Initiative within a comprehensive international context constitute a top priority for the Kingdom. He described media allegations that Jordan has given up its support for the efforts exerted by the Palestinian Authority to establish a sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 border as “making no sense and far from being true”. The top diplomat said last week that Jordan is committed to the Arab consensus supporting the Palestinian leadership’s pursuit of recognition of a state by the UN General Assembly if Israel continues to reject relevant international resolutions. A Palestinian official interviewed by The Jordan Times confirmed that the Jordanian and Palestinian sides were reading on the same page regarding the Mideast conflict and the coordination of positions was ongoing. Judeh reiterated at the seminar that Jordan’s stand on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is part of an Arab consensus reached during the recent meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative follow-up committee in Doha. Arabs agree that Israel should immediately engage in serious direct talks with Palestinians according to a fixed schedule to address all the final status issues, he said, adding that these are the same guidelines set by US President Barack Obama in his recent speech on the Middle East. Judeh also noted that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, the Golan Heights and the remaining Lebanese territories poses a threat not only to the regional stability and security but also to world peace.