OpEds
A Palestinian state already exists – it’s called Jordan
History has a way of exposing hypocrisy, if only we care enough to read it.
When people chant, “Free Palestine,” they never mean Jordan. And yet, Jordan is Palestine, at least if we follow the actual maps and documents rather than propaganda.
Here are the facts.
In 1920, the League of Nations entrusted Britain with the Mandate for Palestine. The language was explicit: this land, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and eastward beyond the Jordan, was to be developed as the “Jewish national home”. That was the deal, ratified by international law.
But Winston Churchill, with the quick stroke of a pen in 1921, amputated 77% of this territory. Everything east of the Jordan River was handed to Abdullah of the Hashemite clan, a family not even native to the land, but expelled from the Arabian Peninsula by the Saudis.
In other words: imported rulers were gifted the vast majority of “Palestine”, transforming it into what we now call Jordan.
So everything east of the Jordan River, three quarters of the mandate, was given away.
No-one asked the people; no-one voted; no-one objected. It was simply imposed by decree.
And yet today, Jordan is a stable Arab state, universally accepted, and home to a majority Palestinian population. Nobody calls it “occupied”. Nobody marches for its “liberation”. Nobody demands its erasure to restore it to “native Palestinians”. Why? Because it’s Arab-ruled.
But the remaining 23% – the sliver west of the Jordan River that became Israel – has been the object of relentless delegitimisation, boycott, terrorism, and war. Not because of land. Not because of law. But because it’s Jewish sovereignty in the Middle East.
Strip away the rhetoric and the hypocrisy is undeniable:
If the world truly wanted a Palestinian homeland, it already exists. It’s called Jordan;
The demand for a second Palestinian state, carved out of Israel, isn’t about justice. It’s about the elimination of Jewish self-determination; and
What’s tolerated, even celebrated, when Arabs rule is demonised when Jews rule.
This is the great lie of the so-called Palestinian cause. It’s not a liberation movement but a ruse, a pack of crude antisemitic lies designed to mask the oldest hatred in modern language.
Jordan is Palestine. Israel is Jewish. For millennia. That, and that alone, explains the fury.
- Ezra Stone was born in Natal, South Africa, and now writes from Buenos Aires. His work explores history, resilience, and identity, tracing the unbreakable threads between past and present.
Ryan
October 23, 2025 at 3:10 pm
There are a number of falsehoods that need to be addressed here.
1. While both Palestine & Transjordan were both part of the mandate, they were always considered two separate administrative entities.
2. The 1920’s wording was intentionally vague and at no time meant that the whole of the mandate territory was meant to be a Jewish homeland, not even the whole of Palestine was ever stated as intended to be a Jewish state.
3. People living on the east side of the Jordan river did not consider themselves as Palestinian.
4. The reason most Jordanians are of Palestinian decent is due to mass displacement in 1948.
There are some really interesting discussions that could be had around this, but we can only do this once we start to accept some basic historical facts.
We would also need to look at how and when identities form as you are placing a lot of stock in modern day perceptions and ignoring the facts of the day.
Gerald Levin
October 27, 2025 at 7:58 pm
At the Paris Peace Conference (July 1919), Zionist leader Chaim Weizman claimed the biblical lands; and there was no objection. Faisal Hussein was king of Syria and lobbied for a Pan-Arab country that would include the remainder of Trans-Jordan (T-J) with Syria. Faisal & Chaim Wiezman signed a mutual cooperation (& recognition) agreement and were amicably photographed together. Then the Zionists had 3 setbacks. 1) USA President Woodrow Wilson, a strong supporter, suffered a severe stroke on 2nd October 1919. 2) France expelled Faisal in July 1920 & Great Britain withdrew from T-J because of rising Arab hostility. Faisal’s brother Abdulla entered T-J in November 1920 & Faisal was crowned king of Iraq in April 1921. No agreement was made with Abdulla. 3) Jews were not above 10% of the population west Jordan river, so they asked for Israel’s establishment (& T-J’s) to be postponed, to increase the %. But they faced religious opposition that insisted that the messiah comes before Israel; thus repeating the sin of the 10 spies [Numbers 13:25-14:10].
Dr Gerald evin
October 27, 2025 at 8:16 pm
At the Paris Peace Conference (July 1919), Zionist leader Chaim Weizman claimed the biblical lands Faisal Hussein was king of Syria and lobbied for a Pan-Arab country that would include the remainder of Trans-Jordan (T-J) with Syria. Faisal & Chaim Weizmann signed a mutual cooperation agreement and were amicably photographed together. Then the Zionists had 3 setbacks.
1) USA President Woodrow Wilson, a strong supporter, suffered a severe stroke on 2nd October 1919.
2) France expelled Faisal in July 1920 & Great Britain withdrew from T-J because of rising Arab hostility. Faisal’s brother Abdulla entered T-J in November 1920. No agreement was made with Abdulla.
3) Jews were not above 10% of the population west of Jordan river, so they asked for Israel’s establishment to be postponed, to increase the Jewish population. But they faced religious opposition that insisted that the messiah comes before Israel, so encouraging migration was marginal.