(MENAFN- Jordan Times) Jordan is a stakeholder rather than a mediator in the Middle East conflict, when it comes to the final status issues, said Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who reiterated that the Palestinian cause remains the core issue in the region.
In an interview with The Jordan Times on Thursday, Judeh said that Jordan will wait to see the final decision of the Palestinian leadership over their bid to upgrade Palestine's status at the UN, stressing, meanwhile, that direct negotiations remain the means to address final status issues, including the fate of Jerusalem, refugees and borders.
On Syria, the top diplomat asserted that Jordan will keep its doors open for Syrian refugees fleeing violence in the northern neighbour, but renewed a call on the international community to help the Kingdom handle the huge influx of these refugees, citing the country's already strained resources.
Stakeholder
"All final status issues are issue of national interest and national concern for the Kingdom," the minister told The Jordan Times.
Jordan hosts the largest number of Palestinian refugees and has jurisdiction over Islamic shrines in Jerusalem, while it has the longest border with Israel and Palestinian lands.
In January, Amman hosted the first direct meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials to prepare for direct talks between the two parties. Jordan has repeatedly urged the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to go back to the negotiating table to find solutions to final status issues, leading to a sovereign Palestinian state.
Jordan, he said, wants to see a "viable, territorially contiguous state on Palestinian soil according to international legitimacy and the international terms of reference of the peace process, a state that lives in peace and security with Israel and with the whole region".
"This is our position articulated continuously by His Majesty King Abdullah. [We support] the right of the Palestinian people to independence [and] self-determination."
Centrality
of Mideast issue
No matter what happens in the Arab region, the Palestinian issue will remain the core and the central issue in the Middle East that should not be forgotten, sidelined or put on the backburner, Judeh said.
He recalled that when the war on Iraq in 2003 broke out, "there was a similar atmosphere where the Palestinian problem was perceived to be a secondary issue on the priority list".
The King stepped forward, he said, and addressed a joint session of the US Congress speaking primarily and specifically on the importance to highlight the Palestinian problem and that it should not be forgotten and that the envisioned Palestinian-Israeli peace is paramount for world peace.
"The Arab Spring in many countries is about a search for dignity, equality, justice and opportunity. The same applies to the Palestinian people. These are the requirements of people's livelihoods and everybody in the world agrees that a two-state solution is the [most feasible] solution: an independent Palestinian state, a secure Israel and a region that enjoys potential cooperation between countries of the region and other regions of the world," the minister said.
He stressed that the Palestinian issue will always remain in the foreground of all other issues until fruitful direct negotiations that tackle all final status issues are addressed in a way that leads to a lasting and just peace.
UN bid
Reports have quoted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as saying: "We will go to the UN General Assembly for consultations with our friends on the draft resolution calling for the upgrade of Palestine [to non-member status]."
Commenting on the statement, Judeh said that Jordan opts to wait to see what the Palestinians' final decision would be.
"President Abbas made some statements yesterday [Saturday] that he will go to consultations with Arab groups and the international community on seeking membership in the UNGA. I believe while he is in consultation, we will have to see what he ultimately decides. We always maintain that negotiations are the vehicle to tackle all final status issues," the minister said.
"" Of course we are part of the consultation process and let's hope that anything that is done would serve to enhance the Palestinian position which is politically at risk of being sidelined. Economically the situation on the ground in the Palestinian territories is challenging and needs to be addressed," Judeh added.
Syria
With regards to the Syrian crisis and its repercussions on neighbouring countries, particularly Jordan, the minister said the situation on the ground is becoming worse: Violence continues, the bloodshed has not stopped and the humanitarian spillover is being felt by countries around Syria and particularly Jordan where there are currently more than 185,000 Syrians who have entered since the crisis erupted in 2011.
"France had the [rotating] presidency of the UN Security Council in August. Germany will be next. I think that everybody is trying to avoid another deadlock or disagreement within the Security Council. The politics of the council has led to sets of vetoes recently and everybody wants to have a consensual approach to issues being discussed in relations to the Syrian file rather than to have a showdown," said the minister.
"There are ongoing discussions among the permanent members of the Security Council and we all agree that we should engage everybody so that we can arrive at this consensual approach."
With regards to Jordan's appeal to the international community for additional assistance to the Kingdom to help provide the Syrians with their basic needs, Judeh said there is enough goodwill by the international community and it has translated into material assistance on the ground.
"There has been an outpour of goodwill of assistance and contribution from individual countries and international organisations."
The challenge posed by Syrians hosted in refugee camps is only the tip of the iceberg, due to several factors related to the nature of ties between Jordanians and Syrians, according to the top diplomat.
"The first wave of Syrians who came in ended up in urban setting: in towns and villages. We always remind the world that there are family relations, cultural cross-border ties [and] lots of intermarriages on both sides of the borders," he said.
But when the number of refugees started to increase significantly, Jordan started to feel the burden on an already strained economy, particularly in the four key sectors: water, energy, education and health, he explained.
"Whether you are in an urban setting or in a refugee camp, at the end of the day, you are pooling into the same resources. Jordan is the fourth poorest country in water resources, and, with regards to energy, the Kingdom imports more than 96 per cent of its needs at a very high cost which affects our own economy."
Judeh also cited an education system that, albeit effective, suffers overcrowding in schools, and a healthcare system that has now to cater for non-Jordanians.
According to the minister, in the next couple of days, António Guterres, the High Commissioner of UN Agency for Refugees, will be visiting the Kingdom for the second time since the Syrian crisis started in immediate response for the government's appeal.
"We have been very clear that if we are going to go strictly by our capabilities on the ground then we are way beyond that. But the political decision in Jordan has been made clear by His Majesty the King that Jordan will continue to open its borders to the Syrian brothers and sisters escaping from harsh realities and violence and running for their lives," he said.
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