Calls to recognize Jordan as a Palestinian state have intensified recently, spurred by President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Amman accommodate displaced Gazans — a proposal that has been met with growing support from many who see it as the “only real way to achieve peace.”
A notable increase in discussions advocating for the recognition of Jordan as a Palestinian state has emerged over recent days. This resurgence follows President Trump’s Saturday proposal to relocate residents from the Gaza Strip to neighboring countries, specifically Jordan and Egypt.
The president’s plan for those states to play a central role in resolving the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict by absorbing refugees from war-torn Gaza, aims to provide Gazans with a safer living environment.
The proposal has rekindled discussions about Jordan’s role as a de facto Palestinian state.
“Jordan IS Palestine,” wrote former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. “It was formed from 72% of the land constituting Mandatory Palestine and most of its people are Palestinians.”
“The problem is that Jordan is ‘Palestine’ — it has a majority Palestinian population and consists of land meant for that purpose during the mandate,” noted conservative writer David Harsanyi. “Why are Westerns the only people who can take refugees from the Islamic world? Let people return to their historic homelands.”
“We already have a two state solution,” wrote researcher Dr. Eli David, noting that Israel is a Jewish-majority state while Jordan is a Palestinian-majority state.
“Like Israel welcomes all Jews, Jordan should welcome all Palestinians,” he added.
“The truth is a Palestinian state already exists!” wrote prominent speaker, influencer and human rights activist Hananya Naftali.
“In 1921, more than 75% of Britain’s Palestine Mandate was cut off and renamed ‘Trans-Jordan.’ In 1946 it became a nation. Today it is simply called Jordan, with the majority of its people being Palestinian,” he added.
“Jordan is already majority Palestinian. Let the Hashemite King have the rest…,” wrote conservative commentator Dave Rubin.
“It’s worth noting that about 70% of Jordan’s population is of Palestinian descent,” wrote author and speaker Aviva Klompas.
“Over 75% of Jordan’s population is Palestinian—sharing the same culture, religion, and Arab dialect as West Bank Palestinians. It’s time to remove the Hashemite monarchy and free Palestine,” wrote Roma-Israeli peace activist Shay Szabo.
The concept of Jordan as a Palestinian state is not new. Historically, various proposals have suggested Jordan’s involvement in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the argument that “Jordan is Palestine” being a recurring topic primarily based on historical, geographical, and political perspectives.
Historically, the British Mandate for Palestine, established after World War I, originally included the territory of both modern-day Israel and Jordan. The mandate incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which expressed Britain’s support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.
In 1922, the British divided the mandate into two administrative areas: west of the Jordan River, which became the Jewish national home (later, Israel); and east of the Jordan River, which eventually became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Those on the east bank, just as the Jews and Arabs on the west bank, were considered Palestinians, subject to British control and carriers of Palestinian passports.
In 1946, Britain established the Kingdom of Transjordan, with Abdullah as king, effectively turning a significant part of the Palestine Mandate into an Arab nation and leaving a much smaller portion, including the West Bank and Gaza, for Jewish statehood. The move marked a significant shift from the original mandate’s intent to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
In 1948, Jordan (then Transjordan) participated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Following the war, King Abdullah annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem, renaming the country the Kingdom of Jordan — not “Palestine.”
More than a decade later, in 1964, the Arab League held a summit in Jordan and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan produced a stamp including Jordan and Israel, both parts of territory it regarded as part of the Kingdom of Jordan.
After Israel reunified Jerusalem and captured the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War, King Hussein of Jordan insisted that “Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan.”
Demographically, Jordan has a significant Palestinian population, with a majority of Jordanians ethnically Palestinian. Many Palestinians either fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Six-Day War in 1967, and they, along with their descendants, have since lived in Jordan. In addition, most are fully naturalized, making Jordan the only Arab country to fully integrate the Palestinian refugees of 1948.
Many over the years have insisted that Jordan should be considered the true national homeland for the Palestinian people given the country’s majority Palestinian population, with a successful integration leading to a more stable regional situation.
Yitzhak Shamir, who served twice as Israel’s prime minister, blamed the lack of recognition of Jordan as a Palestinian state to “an accident of history,” as he warned that an additional Palestinian state in the West Bank would serve as a recipe for chaos:
On the subject of a political entity, a homeland for the Arabs of the former British-mandated territory of Palestine, the facts speak for themselves. The state known today as the Kingdom of Jordan is an integral part of what once was known as Palestine (77 percent of the territory); its inhabitants therefore are Palestinian—not different in their language, culture or religious and demographic composition from other Palestinians. No wonder, then, that Palestinian Arab leaders of all political persuasions have on numerous occasions declared that Jordan and Palestine are identical, and that Jordanians and Palestinians are one and the same. It is merely an accident of history that this state is called the Kingdom of Jordan and not the Kingdom of Palestine.
“Reduced to its true proportions,” he continued, “the problem is clearly not the lack of a homeland for the Palestinian Arabs. That homeland is Trans-Jordan or Eastern Palestine,” describing a “second Palestinian state to the west of the river” as a “prescription for anarchy.”
In 2023, Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders announced that the country of Jordan should be considered the true national homeland for the Palestinian people.
Wilders, who has vowed to become the next Dutch prime minister, has long argued that the conflict between Palestinians and Israel could be resolved through the recognition of Jordan as a Palestinian state.
In 2016, he slammed then President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, demanding they “stop bashing Israel about settlements,” as he proclaimed that “Judea and Samaria belong to Israel,” and that “Jordan = Palestine.”
The matter comes as President Trump, who previously brokered historic agreements in the region, has pledged to serve as a “peacemaker” during his current term.
His plan to resettle Palestinians in neighboring Arab nations, including Jordan, has reignited a regional approach — advocating for Gaza’s residents to be given opportunities in safer, more stable environments.
However, Jordanian monarch King Abdullah II, who has until now rejected proposals to resolve the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict by transforming Jordan into a Palestinian homeland, reiterated on Monday that his government categorically rules out any possibility of offering shelter to displaced Gaza refugees.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/30/increasing-calls-recognize-jordan-de-facto-palestinian-state-trumps-proposal-gazan-relocation/
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