Black Box Recorder

Israeli minister reiterates "Jordan-is-Palestine" argument

Think the "road map" is the only game in town? Think again.

Pro-ethnic cleansing Israeli tourism minister Benny Elon proposes the "Jordan-is-Palestine" option again. As he sees it, there's already a "Palestinian state", and its name is Jordan.

What is needed, then, is a political initiative that is capable of forging a new and genuine regional order that will be stable over time. The blueprint for regional peace that I presented officially in the past month is just such a plan. It rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state in the heartland [the West Bank].
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Restoring to the Kingdom of Jordan the status of the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people [something Israel has never recognized, thus raising the question of how it could be "restored"], together with a generous aid package to Jordan and the rehabilitation of its economy can extricate the region from the tragedy in which it is ensnared.
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...the Palestinian refugees will be rehabilitated in the various Arab states (including Jordan) with Israeli and international funding, and the Arab residents of Yesha [the West Bank and Gaza] (those who are not refugees) will remain where they are, will be granted Jordanian citizenship and will enjoy a degree of autonomy within the framework of Israeli sovereignty.

And will have their lives made so miserable they'll leave anyway - the idea of "voluntary transfer". As Elon's party, Moledet, said in one statement in 2002,

"transfer by consent is not a dirty word. It is the only way to achieve real peace. Whoever opposes a willing transfer supports the alternative, which is a forced transfer."

Very enlightened.

Elon concludes with a game plan and a prediction:

If Israel puts forward the vision of the political blueprint for peace as its policy, it is a reasonable assumption that Washington will gladly adopt it. Perhaps not in the State Department, but in the White House.

This is what is going to happen, but, unfortunately, only after the failure of the road map.

Remember, this guy is an Israeli minister (happily brought on board by Sharon, by the way), not just some run-of-the-mill "extremist" nut. It remains to be seen, though, whether he can get the ear of Bush - that 2 second attention span might help him.