Today His Majesty King Abdullah starts a working visit to the US, with a schedule of talks and meetings intended to enhance bilateral relations and tackle a host of other issues.
It is not strange that the Palestinian question will be one of the top issues to be discussed during His Majesty’s talks with US President George W. Bush and other key US administration officials, as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Just before embarking on the visit, the King held consultations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman to exchange ideas and, as usual, coordinate stands.
The Palestinian question was also high on the agenda of His Majesty’s meeting in Riyadh Wednesday with Saudi King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz.
For Jordan, the Palestine question remains a central issue that dominates His Majesty’s numerous meetings with world leaders and visits to various parts of the globe.
And this Jordan does without any ambition but to solve the Palestine question and enable the Palestinian people to regain their full rights and establish their own independent state on their national soil in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
Despite its limited capabilities, the Kingdom continues to support the Palestinian people and leadership with whatever means available and through various efforts, like what is happening now with hundreds of aid convoys being sent to the West Bank and Gaza.
But more important is support intended to help the Palestinian people have their own state under the sun.
And this can happen only through peace negotiations which were given a new lease on life by the November Annapolis conference.
But many doubt that peace can be achieved in the region, particularly at the present time, not only due to local and regional factors, but also because it is an election year in the US.
But for Jordan, hope is still, and will continue to be, alive, because negotiations are the only way out for the region as a whole, and in particular for the Palestinian people whose decades-old suffering should come to an end as soon as possible.
Jordan senses seriousness on the part of the current US administration to solve the Palestinian issue and that is why the King is undertaking the effort of pushing the peace process forward.
“We have few months and there is so much at risk if we do not make use of this remaining time,” the King said in a recent interview, referring to the end of Bush’s term.
And since there are ongoing negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, there is hope.
But that is not enough.
It is very important for the international community, including the US, to remain engaged to keep the process on course and prevent it from drifting into a stalemate as has happened before.
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