Red-carpet treatment for Abbas in Jordan signals support for Palestinian cause

Jordan's King Abdullah II (R) welcomes Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas at the Royal Palace in Amman on January 29, 2018. (AFP / Khalil Mazraawi)

AMMAN: The reception given to visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian capital was special. When his plane arrived at Marka airport on Sunday night the red carpet was rolled out.
The same occurred on Monday morning at the Hussaiyni Palace with the visiting Abbas given the honor of reviewing the royal guard, and both the Palestinian and Jordanian anthems were played.
Although Abbas passes through Jordan all the time, this was billed as a summit called for by Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Jawad Anani, a former chief of the royal court and former deputy prime minister, told Arab News that the optics around this meeting reflected an important issue that the king wanted to highlight.
“When the king invites a friendly head of staff and his top aides, something important is certainly on the table.”
Anani noted that the king had just returned from Davos and had also just hosted the German president. But former Jordanian government spokeswoman Asma Khader said that there are two streams at work.
“One stream is trying to end and crush the Palestinian cause and the other is holding on to the two-state solution and the need for a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The king is clearly trying to support the latter,” Khader said in an interview with Arab News.
Khader noted that the signals around the visit were meant to send a message of support to the Palestinian leadership.
“The message in the way President Abbas was received clearly points out that Jordan is supportive of the Palestinians and their national aspirations.”
The activst lawyer, now the chairwoman of SIGI a women’s empowerment organization in Jordan, told Arab News that Jordan is aware of the pressures caused by the Trump administration and wanted to give Palestinians moral support.
“No one wants the Palestinian government to fail and Jordan certainly is concerned because the world community has not responded in a strong enough way to how US President Trump has acted toward Palestinian rights in Jerusalem and on the issue of Palestinian refugees.”
Amman-based columnist and press-freedom activist, Nedal Mansour, told Arab News that Jordan and Palestine now needed each more than at any time in the past.
“Both sides are facing tremendous political and financial pressures and they understand that the best way to address these pressures is to work closely with each other.” But Anani disagrees that Jordan is under this kind pressure regarding international support for its economy.
“The visit of the US Vice President Mike Pence to Jordan was reassuring in terms of aid. They agreed to disagree and therefore the financial support to Jordan will not be touched.”
A Jerusalem-based analyst, who wished to remain anonymous, told Arab News that the Palestinian-Jordanian summit was more focused on security than on politics, and on the fear that Abbas might leave politics.