(MENAFN- Jordan Times) The most important and constant challenge that has been facing Jordan since its creation, in 1921, has been the Palestine problem which, for all practical purposes, has become Jordan's problem.
Not a day has passed without King Abdullah I, King Talal, King Hussein and now King Abdullah II, being faced with that challenge and what to do about it.
For Jordan, it will remain the mother of all challenges and problems well into the future.
It is indeed a very difficult and complex problem for the Kingdom, be it at internal or the external levels. The problem has so many facets that it is often impossible to discern the angle from which to address it.
Since the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897, enough ink has been used to write about the Israeli-Palestine issue to probably fill an entire sea of sizeable proportions.
One of the most important facets of this problem for Jordan is its internal implications. Successive forced immigrations of Palestinians to Jordan since 1948 added quantitatively and qualitatively to Jordan's indigenous population. No one knows the exact percentage, which in a way is a blessing, but it remains a very sizeable percentage that continues to force itself on the consciousness of Jordan's decision makers.
Yet, until today, an objective and open dialogue regarding the implications of this demographic factor in Jordan's political life has not occurred.
The vast majority of these Palestinians are citizens holding a Jordanian passport and the time has perhaps come to consider their proper place in Jordan's socio-political life.
At this moment in time, with parliamentary elections scheduled to take place before the end of the year, a discussion of this issue should be of immediate concern.
Several considerations account for the urgency of this issue. First, the announced, and I believe honest, call for free, democratic and transparent elections whose credibility before the world should be on our minds.
Second, the reluctance thus far of the Muslim Brotherhood and some other groups to register for the elections reflects the need to reach out to the Jordanian and Palestinian streets in Jordan.
Third, and most importantly, the need to consider the development of a Jordanian-Palestinian identity that will be an essential element in the peace and stability of Jordan.
Both Palestinians and Jordanians need to be assured of their identities. The two distinct identities ought to be preserved, not only for legitimate patriotic attachment, but as an answer to the persistent Zionist claim that neither the East nor the West Bank of Jordan had any sizeable populations -"a land without a people for a people without a land", as was widely cited by Zionists as an excuse for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Perhaps the essence and soul of such a tiered identity is that all Jordanians are "Palestinians" for the sake of Palestine, while all Palestinians are "Jordanians" for the sake of Jordan.
This simple formula takes into consideration the complexities of issues behind the attitudes of the two peoples.
The Palestinian cause is extremely important, indeed sacred, not only to the Palestinians, but to the Jordanians as well. Living in the shadow of Jerusalem and part of the Holy Land, the Jordanians' commitment to Palestine is sacred too.
Such an identity, should it be developed (and I believe it could develop quickly), will be the correct answer to the Israeli and Zionist insistent slogans that "Jordan is Palestine", "Jordan solution" or "Jordan, the alternative homeland".
The Jordanians and Palestinians of Jordan should immediately begin to reconsider their position towards each other. Facing an issue head on is the best way to deal with it. More importantly, Jordan today is the only state of those surrounding Israel that has thus far escaped the hidden Zionist hand that has played a role in the state of chaos that is the condition of our Middle East today.
Sanity, good politics, as well as the need to confront future challenges demand that the ranks coalesce.
With the parliamentary elections at hand, both segments of the population should form political parties to advance national unity; and Israel, of course, is keen to see us fail to rise above parochial and short-sighted bickering.
What we should remember above all is that we are, together, building a nation that one day will be a model for others and the rock against which Israeli expansionism will halt.
The solidarity among all citizens of Jordan, whether East or West Bankers, from the right or the left of the political spectrum, Muslim Brotherhood members or others, is a national priority and a prerequisite for survival against the forces of disintegration that may be manipulated by Israel.
This is more important than any other issue or demand - certainly more important than the rights or wrongs of the current Elections Law under whose aegis the next election will be held.
One thing is certain, and that is that the next Parliament will work towards the enactment of a permanent Elections Law that will hopefully remain well into the future.
The writer is director of the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies and former foreign minister of Jordan. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.
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