Marwan Muasher:
Jordan cannot receive any more Palestinian refugees than it has already.
First of all, Jordan has no geographical borders with Gaza. And so it is not understood why Jordan is being asked to receive Palestinians from Gaza. What this is doing, it seems to me, is giving Prime Minister Netanyahu a green light to annex the West Bank.
And that is Jordan’s also real concern, that, by saying Israel is too small, by saying Palestinians should move out, President Trump is basically suggesting that Israel can go ahead and annex the West Bank, much in the same way that he — that Israel wants to drive Palestinians out of Gaza. That is a big concern to Jordan.
That is going to pose economic security problems for Jordan and an identity problem to the country. Imagine if all of Canada suddenly moves to the United States. It would change the whole demographic and character of the state.
And that is why, in my view, Jordan will not accept under any conditions, and no matter what the threats are, becoming — any number of Palestinians, not to say that Palestinians don’t want to come, and also not to say that Jordan’s main concern, main reason for signing the treaty with Israel has been to prevent against mass transfer.
This is going to be a clear violation of the Jordan-Israel peace treaty. And it’s going to give fuel to the Israeli right who wants to annex the whole land and have a solution at Jordan’s expense.
