Parliament blasts Dutch politician for calling Jordan Palestine - Hoofdinhoud

AMMAN: The Foreign Relations Committee at the Jordanian upper house of Parliament on Monday rebuked leader of a Dutch far-right political party for proposing the establishment of an alternative homeland for Palestinians in Jordan.

“This strange attitude represents an encroachment on internal law and conventions as well as a flagrant aggression on the sovereignty and independence of Jordan, a member of the United Nations,” said the Committee’s Chairman, Marouf Bakheet, in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.

Geert Wilders, who leads Holland’s extremist Party for Freedom (PVV), said last week that he believed Jordan should be renamed Palestine. “Jordan is Palestine,” he said.

“Changing its name to Palestine will end the conflict in the Middle East and provide the Palestinians with an alternate homeland,” said Wilders, an anti-Muslim activist whose party almost trebled its seats in the Dutch Parliament in the latest polls.

Wilders went further to warn against giving East Jerusalem back to the Arabs. “If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next,” he said.

His remarks drew sharp reactions in the Arab and Muslim worlds, foremost Jordan, where he appeared to have adopted an extremist Israeli scheme, which seeks to establish homeland for Palestinians in the Hashemite Kingdom.

“Such remarks will neither help the distinguished ties between Jordan and Holland nor thwart Jordan from going ahead with its support to the Palestinian brethren to enable them regain their full rights, including the setting up of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,” said Bakhit, a former prime minister.

He also warned that such statements “will contribute to the derailment of efforts under way to re-establish peace in the region.” The Jordanian government has also issued a statement condemning Wilders’ statement.

Source: Arabnews.com