Word: gaza
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Riyadh would combine the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jordan into a new Palestinian state that would be economically linked to Israel in a common market. It is not entirely a new thought. Ronald Reagan in 1982 proposed Palestinian "self-government" in the West Bank and Gaza in a federation with Jordan. The Saudis, however, seem to look toward a much tighter union...
Probably the most striking new wrinkle is that the Saudis contemplate King Hussein's abdication. Before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Hussein's kingdom included the West Bank. But the Saudis doubt that any Arab Hashemite King could now rule an amalgam of Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians have about a 60% majority over Bedouin-descended Arabs even in present-day Jordan; they would be far more dominant still in an expanded state. In Riyadh's eyes, Hussein would either be overthrown or have to abdicate -- and good riddance...
...establishing democratic government would accomplish one thing above all: it would transform Jordan into a Palestinian state. New Palestine (or whatever it got called) would be what Palestinians, and the King, have been struggling to create for two generations. Their efforts have focused on the West Bank and Gaza, unlikely places now for a Palestinian state, rather than Jordan. But the new government would reflect Jordan's bottom line: a large Palestinian majority in a nation where Palestinians control 75% of the wealth...
...effort to use political means to snatch from Israel what could not be snatched from us by force," Shamir told his party, adding that nothing would shake his refusal to cede land for peace. The Palestinians' feverish support for Saddam made any compromise over the West Bank and Gaza far more unlikely. And Shamir feels that the restraint he displayed in the face of the Scud barrage entitles Israel to freedom from Washington's heavy hand...
...reaction on the streets of the West Bank, Gaza and Jordan is defiant. "Maybe he lost the battle, but that doesn't mean he lost the war," said Faisal al Afghani, whose Amman souvenir shop sells miniature Scud missiles. "We haven't had a leader like Saddam since Saladin." Unable to digest Iraq's defeat, many sought refuge in elaborate rationalizations. "The surrender of Iraqi troops," declared Stawri Khayat, a 30-year-old linguist from Jerusalem, "was staged by the Zionist-controlled media...