Poor King Abdullah

Israeli officials:

Jordan Hanging By A Thread

State officials warn of precarious state of Israel's eastern neighbor; suggest Jerusalem considering causing significant damage to Palestinian economy ahead of UN vote on statehood bid

Poor King Abdullah

The King of Jordan can deny all he wants about the Palestinians, but the world knows that they are a majority in Jordan.

Abdullah II: Jordan Is Not Palestine

Jordan's King Abdullah II reaffirmed his government's rejection of his father and grandfather's historic policy that "Jordan is Palestine" on Monday. "The so-called 'substitute homeland' exists only in the minds of the weak," Abdullah told reporters, stressing "the Jordanian option is an illusion. Jordan is Jordan, and Palestine is Palestine."

"Analysts say, despite Jordan's couching its opposition in terms of concern for 'Palestinian refugees' and the so-called right of return, that Amman's motives are likely rooted in its own demographic and security concerns. Jordan's 'Palestinian refugee'' majority has been heavily involved in recent unrest in Jordan - during which there have been credible threats on Abdullah's life - and assuming responsibility for PA enclaves in Judea and Samaria is widely seen as a potentially destabalizing move for the Hashemite monarchy by regional experts.

Robert Fisk: Why Jordan is occupied by Palestinians

"Perhaps 57 per cent of Jordanians are non-Palestinians – many of them from powerful tribes outside Amman. But the nationalists say that, by 1988, 1.95 million Palestinians held Jordanian citizenship. Another 850,000 hold citizenship that the ex-army men regard as illegal. Another 950,000 Palestinians from the West Bank live legally, but without citizenship, on the East Bank – in other words, in Jordan. Another 300,000 come from Gaza. The ex-army officers see a "silent transfer" of Palestinians across the Jordan river."As of 2010, "The Jordanian government, appointed by the king, has shown "extreme weakness" towards Israel and America. "Recent [Jordanian] cabinets... have already begun to implement a covert... political quota system by placing Palestinians – including some who have yet to complete the full legal requirements of citizenship – in key positions at the pinnacle of the state apparatus."

What is a Palestinian?

The term Palestinian broadly refers to Arabs who declined Israeli citizenship in 1948, when the country was formed. Previously, it had referred to the occupants of the territories controlled by Britain, including modern Israel. After 1948, many Palestinians fled abroad, while the West Bank fell under Jordanian rule for two decades. Some Palestinians, including Druze and Bedouin, accepted Israeli citizenship, and are now called Israeli Arabs. Today the term generally applies to those who would inhabit a separate Palestinian state based on the West Bank and Gaza.

Before this, they NEVER existed as a separate Arab entity.