The Jordanian ‘No’

Jordan has barely emerged from one diplomatic battle in the aftermath of the Trump administration’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, before being engaged in another. This one is about Washington’s attempt to abolish the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) by reducing and then eventually cancelling US donations to the agency, which make up 40 per cent of its total budget, both operational and emergency.

An important report published by Foreign Policy magazine, reveals Jared Kushner’s plan for UNRWA; it is he, you may recall, who oversees US policy on the “deal of the century”. The report contains serious leaks about the administration’s real intentions behind its position; as stated clearly, the US wants to strip millions of Palestinian of their refugee status. A large number of them are in Jordan.

“The Trump administration appears ready to reset the terms of the Palestinian refugee issue in Israel’s favour,” said the report, “as it did on another key issue in December, when Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.” This means that the deal of the century is in full swing with the influence of the powerful team in Washington, which is focusing more on Israel’s interests than the Israeli right-wing itself is.

Read: Jordan says Palestinian refugees at risk with UN agency in crisis

Perhaps these are the facts that prompted former Jordanian Prime Minister Taher Al-Masri to wonder indignantly, in response to the leaks regarding the date of the deal’s proposal or postponement, what is actually left of it. We can read the same gist in another important article by Robert Fisk in Britain’s Independent. We are facing hasty US action to end the final solution issues: Jerusalem, refugees and even the Jewish identity of Israel, as resolved by its recently approved Nation State Law.

Jordan has been aware of the dimensions of what is happening, and about five months ago rushed to prepare the Rome Conference in support of UNRWA in order to secure alternative financial support that would counter the political agenda behind the attempts to eliminate the agency altogether. The Hashemite Kingdom announced at the time that countries pledged $100 million in donations, out of the $450 million needed by UNRWA.

There are 122,000 students in Jordan studying in UNRWA schools, and around 7,000 people work in them. In light of the current economic and financial situation in the Kingdom, it would be a huge burden to the state if the world were to abandon its responsibilities to fund the UN agency.

Read: The plan to end UNRWA will not take away Palestinians’ right of return

However, what is more important to Jordan than all of this is that UNRWA is also an issue of the Kingdom’s national security, according to a senior Jordanian official. This was told to the Americans very clearly when they offered Jordan direct US aid as an alternative to UNRWA. Jordan said, “No.”

King Abdullah’s position was clear: he believes that the UNRWA-Palestinian refugee issue is one of the final status issues in the Palestinian cause along with Jerusalem, Israel’s and Palestine’s borders, sovereignty and land. It is, indeed, a political issue before being a humanitarian, financial or economic issue.

The decision-makers in Amman view the UNRWA issue from this critical perspective and believe that, as much as it affects the Palestinian cause, it is also linked to Jordan’s domestic situation at various levels.

Read: Israel’s siege of Gaza is anything but legal

Unfortunately, on the Arab side, Jordan is fighting the UNRWA battle on its own. The question remains that if the threat of stopping US support is ultimately in favour of Israel and the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, can’t the Arabs, at the very least, say, “We will offer ourselves as the full financial alternative to support the Palestinian refugees, as a form of a strong Arab power card, which we will lose in the event that Kushner’s project is implemented?”

This article first appeared in Arabic in The New Khalij on 12 August 2018

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.