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| KING HUSSEIN | |
 October 6, 1993 
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MR. LEHRER: Next tonight, a Newsmaker interview with King Hussein of Jordan, the latest in Charlayne Hunter-Gault's Interviews with Middle East leaders following the Israeli-PLO Accord. Charlayne talked with King Hussein yesterday at his palace in Amman. She asked the king if he agreed with the assertion by Syrian President Assad in a NewsHour interview last Friday that Israel was not really serious about peace. |
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| Serious moves toward peace. | |||||||||||||||||||
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CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: What do you consider right now as the biggest -- if it's non-seriousness of Israel as President Assad sees it, what do you see as the major obstacle now that has to be overcome for this process to flow smoothly and with some concrete, positive results? KING HUSSEIN: Well, let's put it this way. As far as we are concerned with regard to the Palestinian dimension, on the one hand, and Israel on the other, we have to reorganize ourselves in terms of the mechanism that is required to deal with the very, very many problems that have to be resolved, and so it was really just preparing the plan of action for the time ahead, which has to be based for some clarity and vision and other priority. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: It also has to be based, Your Majesty, on trust, and many of the conversations I've had with people here in the Middle East, even people who support the accord in a tentative, cautious kind of way, nevertheless, feel that they can't trust Israel. Even you had some reservations or unhappiness about the deal when it was first announced. What have your contacts with Israel in recent days done to shore up a feeling of trust?
CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: But is there anything that Israel has done or said either to you directly or to the crown prince that shores up this feeling that things are going to go and they're going to go well? KING HUSSEIN: Nothing that has suddenly been said or not said. I believe that people on either side of the divide have a feeling that this is the chance that requires our best efforts, and obviously, the last chance, and so we're approaching It with good faith and a determination to make our contribution for the establishment of the Just, doable, comprehensive piece. I hope Syria will join very, very shortly, and I'm sure that it will, as in Lebanon. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Do you have some evidence that it will, or some conversation front President Assad that he will give up on his reservations? KING HUSSEIN: I suppose he's skeptical because Syria's not involved yet with this new face but at the same time I hope that within a short time I will probably meet with him, but I think that he is totally committed to the cause of a just, doable peace. Certainly, we'll be ready when the time is right for him to join, for Syria to join, in other words, as well as Lebanon. |
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| Many chances lost. | |||||||||||||||||||
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KING HUSSEIN: I believe that there were many chances lost, and in the past the situations have been resolved on the outset in a better way. This is something I agree with President Assad about but who is apportioned responsibility for these lost opportunities in terms of the past? However, since 1974, we have been consistent in suggesting that only the Palestinians can talk for themselves regarding their rights and their territory with Israel, and they have taken this step. And that is really the center of the whole issue. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: If that deal doesn't work, does it take down every other potential Arab- Israeli resolution of their -- KING HUSSEIN: No. It has to work. There is no other. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: How do you respond to those who say though that Israel has trumped the Arabs in the sense that it's, that it's frozen things at a moment now where the International Community might look at this deal and believe that the issue is solved when, in fact, such very difficult issues as the right of return of refugees from 1949, the return of refugees from '67, the status of Jerusalem. All of those most difficult of all issues has been left for somewhere down the line and by the time you get to those you will have lost the International Community's support that has helped you to get to this point. KING HUSSEIN: I don't see how anyone can wave a magic wand and have all these problems resolved. When it tries to suggest that it is possible is I believe stretching the imagination a bit. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: On the status, of Jerusalem, how do you see this being worked out, especially since both sides claim Jerusalem and each side says, well, the Israeli side says it will never give up Jerusalem and the Arab side says, we must have it back?
CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: But how can you work that out, given Israel's position on it? I mean, there doesn't seem to be any flexibility on it? How do you see that coming to pass, the vision that you just described? KING HUSSEIN: I believe that the Almighty in His wisdom did not wish for Jerusalem to be that important to the followers of the three great monotheistic religions and the fight over it, but they learn to live side by side, enjoying the same rights of worship in the Holy City of Jerusalem. |
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| A drain on Jordan. | |||||||||||||||||||
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CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: You mentioned the burden that this whole conflict has placed on your country, some 800,000 refugees displaced when Jordan lost the West Bank, for example, In the '67 War, and you have called for compensation to Jordan for the drain that that has placed on your treasury. What, what has come of that? KING HUSSEIN: That is the beginning of discussion, what needs to be done to address the human dimension of the problem in the region as a whole. And I hope that we see some progress but we're still at the very early stages.
KING HUSSEIN: We are beginning from where we are right now against the background of the very close ties and relations that have always, been there between Jordanians and Palestinians, and we are going to see how we move in the times ahead, but I believe that they're very attached to their identity as a people. And we'd like to see their rights on their legitimate soil, and following that, we will come closer together than has been envisioned for a long period of time. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Well, the vision of Prime Minister Rabin is that there will be some kind of integrated entity, Israel, the Palestinians, and Jordan? I mean, what is your vision, what kind of entity do you see? KING HUSSEIN: Total peace, a total change in everything that, that affects people in this region, the opening of those that were closed up to this time, opening of horizons that were not visible, and the area of coming together and shaping a better future for all peoples concerned in this. CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Finally, Your Majesty, It's been suggested that the entire political culture of the Middle East has been changing for some time but that it's been more rapidly accelerated by this peace accord between the PLO and the Israelis and now the outline that's come between you and the Israelis. How do you see these changes affecting the kingdom and the future of the political culture of the region?
CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT: Well, Your Majesty, thank you. KING HUSSEIN: Thank you so much. |
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KING
HUSSEIN: I believe that this is a moment of action, and I have a feeling
that all are serious in reference to the turning point towards the future
we seek and conditions of peace and security for all.
KING
HUSSEIN: There isn't really any worry. I know that the road is going
to be very hard, a very long one, but there are fortunately a very constructive
spirit and a determination to see too.
CHARLAYNE
HUNTER-GAULT: One of the other things that President Assad complained
about when I talked to him was this deal. He says it's fatally flawed,
that it's not going to work, He said because the Arabs, that the Israelis
are getting everything, and the Arabs are getting nothing. In light
of your own discussions and agreements in recent days with Israel, what
do you think of that analysis? 
KING
HUSSEIN: It has been a challenge to all of us throughout our history,
and that is direct advice, the right of the three great monotheistic
religions on the ground, in the Holy City, as God wished it, were all
regards sovereignties as paramount. 
CHARLAYNE
HUNTER-GAULT: If the PLO Accord works out -- and you seem to have every
confidence that it will -- after five years, during which there will
be this transition presumably to autonomy. What do you envision created
there on the West Bank and Gaza, and what relationship will that have
to Jordan? 
KING
HUSSEIN: I think that Jordan is pivotal to the future of this area,
and what Jordan is trying to do within itself is to be an example to
others through democracy, pluralism, respect for human rights. Jordan
has always been committed to the cause of a just, comprehensive peace
in this area, a Palestinian-Israeli peace to begin with. And I think
that it's a very exciting moment in terms of the future. Of course,
there are many dangers. The road is going to be a long one, a difficult
one at times, but our hopes are great that we'll see it through, and
we will give future generations a legacy of peace.