The public statement by King Hussein of Jordan that he is giving “freedom” to the West Bank’s inhabitants to respond in their own way towards the Camp David frameworks has been received warmly at the State Department although officially it takes a cautious, almost non-committal position.
Privately, on especially knowledgeable Department official described the King’s carefully worded remarks in the course of a speech to a workers organization as a “significant” contribution towards inducing the West Bank-Gaza Palestinian Arabs to join talks with Egypt, Israel and the United States and Jordan, if it so wills, in achieving autonomy for themselves under the Camp David framework.
The U.S. official credited the King’s expression as emanating from the discussions with him in Amman by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance soon after the Camp David conference ended and last weekend with Assistant Secretary of State Harold Saunders who presented him with the U.S. responses to his 13 questions on Camp David. What specifically motivated Hussein to speak as he did awaits disclosure.
His position towards the West Bank, which he announced Monday in his address in Amman to the Jordanian Labor Congress and broadcast over Jordan Radio, is strikingly similar to Saudi Arabia’s view towards Egypt’s move to arrange a peace treaty with Israel. Egypt, the Saudis have said, should have their own method to end the Israeli presence in Sinai.
The text of Hussein’s speech, available here in English translation, says “We will not impose our opinions on our brothers under occupation regarding whatever concerns their destiny, future and the methods of work to achieve Israeli withdrawal and to build the national entity of the Palestinian people on their land” and “we are giving our brothers in the occupied territory the freedom for conscious positive action to strengthen their positions and to develop the methods of their work in order to achieve Israeli withdrawal and to guarantee the right of self-determination.”
When he was asked about Hussein’s speech yesterday, the Blair House peace treaty conference spokesman, George Sherman, said that an “integral part” of the Camp David framework calls for Palestinian participation in their future and that “anything that helps achieve that will obviously be welcome.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
