# 387 – Royal Hypocrisy & Fauda

Royal Hypocrisy and Fauda

Jordan’s King Abdullah recently met with President Biden.

Reminder: Jordan, initially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Trans-Jordan, was a gift of thanks by the British to the Hashemite family in 1921, in recognition for their support in the defeat of the Ottomans. Originally, the Hashemites were the rulers in Mecca, and said to be related to the prophet, Mohammed.

It is commonly known that perhaps 65% of the Jordanian population still today claim to be Palestinians. There were many plans and declarations, most famously the Balfour Declaration of 1917, to establish a homeland for the Palestinians in Jordan. The Hashemites always opposed this. The civil war which raged in Jordan in 1970 was the climax of this struggle, resulting in the defeat of the Palestinians. Thousands were massacred. (And this was the birth of the Black September group, who, among other horrors, carried out the Munich killings in 1972).

Biden is known to be in favour of a 2-state solution: Palestine and Israel. (Most, excluding me, have given up any thought of a 3-state solution, or at least including an autonomous Jordan-Palestinian entity). Abdullah publicly declared support for 2 states…

You all know what’s coming next….1948-1967. Give or take bits and pieces, the proposed state of Palestine was in the hands of Egypt and Jordan. 2-state solution? It was there – in their hands!! Did they gracefully hand the land over to their brothers, the Palestinians? No, they didn’t. Such a decision would have appeared to have been a defeat; an acceptance of the Jewish entity; a catastrophe.

Perhaps Abdullah truly does want the 2-state solution. And it’s perhaps understandable that he won’t admit to the errors of 1948-67. But until he, the Palestinians and their allies (now and/or then) and much of the international community openly accept that Israel cannot be blamed for the Palestinian’s current plight, there can be little hope of peaceful progress.

I have just finished binge-watching ‘Fauna’ on Netflix. It’s not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’, but it blatantly and brutally shows the underbelly of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. (Quick comment: I’ve lived here for 37 years and still find it hard to believe that this ‘underbelly’ exists just kilometres down the road).

One of the conclusions I have reached is that it is a shame – and perhaps a mystery – why there are still so many Palestinians who, instead of striving to experience the same successful status of the Israeli, want to destroy it. One of the best ways to avoid conflict is to get on with life. Abdullah knows this.

Fauna means ‘chaos’. In the Israeli mini-series, it refers to the team’s missions when they go wrong. It causes uncontrollable mayhem, leaving them at best back where they started.

An article in today’s Jerusalem Post illustrates a similar situation vis-à-vis the pandemic. The writer, Seth Frantzman, took a step back and reviewed where we are right now, and the word ‘chaos’ had to be mentioned. The only thing one can say for sure is that there seems to be very little global communication and cooperation in the battle against Corona. There are no clear messages anymore on the main subjects:

Social distancing: 1m, 2m, indoors, outdoors, lockdown, freedom of movement, mass gatherings…

Masks: Yes, no, indoors, outdoors..

Vaccines:

– Which one?

– Refrigeration?

– 1 dose or 2?

– Original efficacy, and efficacy today – against the new ‘Delta’ variant.

– Vaccinate children?

– Boosters for the elderly (now starting in Israel).

– Anti-jabbers/conspiracy theorists. Almost impossible to prove them wrong, because they will always find exceptions that prove their rules.

Testing/tracing: My tennis club informed us yesterday that a member had contracted Corona. He happens to be one of my playing partners. The rules are fairly clear: did I have contact, when, at what distance, and for what duration? So the club is just advising us; no demand to show proof of negative-testing. But I went to get tested anyway. Aviva and I are in the vulnerable category.

And so on.

There are even loud voices in Israel who are furious that we are the World’s guinea pigs. They are referring to the fact that Israel provides Pfizer with data covering the use of their vaccine. They see that as dangerous. They don’t understand that what Israel and Pfizer is doing is a tiny step towards the very global co-operation that I feel is desperately needed in the fight against this virus.

Yes, I was concerned about the ‘special friendship’ between the head of Pfizer and previous PM Netanyahu. Yes, I was wondering why we appeared to be paying a higher price for the vaccines, while providing the requested data.

But we do have an excellent infrastructure:

Small country, but big enough to provide data.

Very few open borders

Efficient medical system

Well-prepared emergency services (for obvious reasons)

And so on.

I wish the World a speedy recovery from this life-wobbling mess.

Stephen