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Ideally the Palestinians, who are generally the best educated and most cultured of all Arabs, would like to turn the clock back to the days before the Balfour Declaration pledged the creation of a Jewish homeland. They would reconstitute the old Palestine, which includes the present Israel, the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip. They would bar "Zionists" but would allow native-born Jews to live with them in a nonreligious society. By "native-born Jews," however, some Palestinians mean those born in the area before Israel came into being in 1948; that would amount to a small fraction of Israel's 2,800,000 people.
Artificial Creation
After the P.F.L.P. two weeks ago engineered its multiple skyjacking, hostages aboard the planes were given literature and lectures by the guerrillas, setting forth the Palestinian positions. Many of the hostages came away more sympathetic than when they started. "They think the idea of one nation with one religion is prejudiced, and they were kicked out of their homes," said Catherine Holz, 15, of New York as she reached the safety of Cyprus. "They gave us some pamphlets. People said it was propaganda, but I believe that some of it was true."
Many Western students of the Middle East believe that the surest way to secure peace is to establish a Palestinian state. Most often the West Bank of the Jordan, captured by the Israelis during the 1967 war, is suggested as a possible site. In recent months, however, Middle East experts in both the U.S. and Israel have been thinking more and more seriously about a different alternative for a Palestinian state. Why not, they suggest, convert prewar Jordan into such a state?
The proposal is so far only fancy, but persuasive arguments for it can be mustered. The Palestinians who make up nearly two-thirds of Jordan's population are not particularly devoted to either the country as it now exists or to the Hashemite dynasty. Moreover, Jordan is an artificial creation to begin with.
Hussein could bring peace to the Middle East, so goes the argument, by abdicating in favor of a popular government. The fedayeen would then have the joy—and the sobering responsibility —of a country of their own. It would not be exactly the country most of them want. Undoubtedly, hostility toward Israel would remain intense. But eventually the Palestinians might recognize the finality of the Jewish state and conclude a general peace.
Unstable as Water
The argument has obvious flaws. With former fedayeen at its helm, Jordan might march against Israel before the advocates of peace have a chance to prevail. Further, there would almost certainly be a savage internal dogfight as the leaders of rival factions struggled for paramountcy—and the battle would be complicated by the presence of Jordan's Bedouins, who make up 35% of the population and despise the fedayeen. The greatest immediate flaw, of course, is that Jordan's young King—as long as his shaky throne lasts—will have no intention of handing his kingdom over to his adversaries.