Two Banks; But One Palestine
The New York Times of January 13 carried a story on the refugees in Jordan and their non-participation in the ballotting. I found something that needed correcting:-
Your correspondent, Hassan M. Fattah, notes that "no Palestinian outside the occupied territories was allowed to vote" in the balloting for Palestine Authority Chairman last week ("Jordan's Guests, Deeply Palestinian and Deeply Skeptical," Jan. 13).
It should be recalled that Arabs residing in the Hashemite Kingdom who consider themselves refugees, and still pine for the former homes west of the Jordan River, are, nevertheless, still located in Palestine.
The bureaucratic decision of Winston Churchill in 1921, formalized two years later, to establish Emir Abdullah as ruler of Trans-Jordan, does not alter the geographic fact that Arab refugees there today may have left their homes in 1948 but not their country.
Your correspondent, Hassan M. Fattah, notes that "no Palestinian outside the occupied territories was allowed to vote" in the balloting for Palestine Authority Chairman last week ("Jordan's Guests, Deeply Palestinian and Deeply Skeptical," Jan. 13).
It should be recalled that Arabs residing in the Hashemite Kingdom who consider themselves refugees, and still pine for the former homes west of the Jordan River, are, nevertheless, still located in Palestine.
The bureaucratic decision of Winston Churchill in 1921, formalized two years later, to establish Emir Abdullah as ruler of Trans-Jordan, does not alter the geographic fact that Arab refugees there today may have left their homes in 1948 but not their country.
