Ten years of peace - 'new flesh' to the issue

Reviewed by: Lindsey Fauss

Book Reviewed:

Jordan and Israel: Ten Years Later

by Hassan A. Barari

Amman: Centre for Strategic Studies, 2004

This insightful, timely book written by Hassan A. Barari from the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan analyses the ten years of peace between Jordan and Israel.

The main argument in the book contends that maintaining a warm relationship with Israel and the continued Israeli policies vis-‎-vis the Palestinians has proved incompatible. It has remained almost impossible to extricate the Jordanian-Israeli relationship from the breakdown of the Israeli-Palestinian track.

In chapter one, the author accounts for Jordan's pivotal role, due to its strategic location, in the dynamic Palestinian issue. Since 1967, Jordan has sought to recover the West Bank, but Israeli policies have only complicated the process, leading to the eventual Jordanian disengagement from the West Bank, a decision which the author critically assesses.

He discusses the impact of factors such as the transformation of the international system into a unipolar world, the subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union and the defeat of Iraq in the second Gulf War, noting that all these elements provided a "window of opportunity" for the initiation of the peace process.

Chapter two accounts for the cold peace between Jordan and Israel. After a brief honeymoon in their relationship, the author argues that the change in leadership in Israel after Yitzhak Rabin's assassination only complicated the relationship. Benjamin Netanyahu and like-minded politicians failed to internalise the centrality of the Palestinian cause in Jordanian politics. Therefore, they carried out unilateral policies, in Jerusalem in particular, without taking Jordan's interests and sensitivities into account.

Chapter three tackles the issue of normalisation in the Jordanian context. The author states that the problematic definition of normalisation makes it a convoluted concept. He remains very critical of the practices carried out by anti-normalisation committees and makes the case that while they are demanding more liberties in Jordan, they have been practising "intellectual coercion" towards the rest of the population, aiming for a Gramscian cultural hegemony that stigmatises anyone who disagrees with their ideological orientation vis-‎-vis Israel.

Chapter four assesses the "dividends of peace". The main argument of this chapter is that although the Jordanian economy improved at the macro level - as a result of the peace treaty - average Jordanians hardly felt the dividends of peace. This chapter accounts for the modest trade volume and assesses the implementation of several agreements signed between both parties. The author summarises the Jordanian-Israeli relationship, post peace treaty, by claiming that although the political relationship is strained, the security relationship remains the same.

Chapter five is based on the following assumptions: Israeli policies in the West Bank will undermine the prospects for a two-state solution; demographic changes in the next fifteen years will transform Israel into a binational state in which the Palestinians will constitute a clear majority.

Israel will then have three options: 1. to accept binationalism, which would be a severe blow to the Jewishness of the state (Zionism's raison d'حtre); 2. to establish an apartheid regime, which would be morally unacceptable to most Israelis; 3. to defend the Jewishness of the state by forcing a kind of transfer of the Palestinians into Jordan.

Evidence suggests that the notion of transfer, previously an unconventional idea, is increasingly becoming a mainstream idea. This is the nightmare scenario that Jordan has to contend with in the next fifteen years in light of the absence of a two-state solution.

In conclusion Barari adds new flesh to the peace process between Israel and Jordan and presents a most threatening scenario for Jordan. His thorough analysis and critical perspective demand attention.

This article was published in the Monday, November 8, 2004 edition of the Jordan Times. It is used here with permission.