Solve Arab-Israeli conflict without UN

By Mudar Zahran, ISRAEL HAYOM

For almost seven decades, the U.N. has failed to bring about any solution to the Arab-?Israeli conflict. Strangely, the world keeps trying the same the U.N. has and expecting different ?results, while evidence shows that the U.N. has not been effective in reducing the scope of the conflict. In fact, there were occasions when the conflict was deepened because of the U.N.’s positions.

Today, there are calls in the U.S. Congress for a solution to the conflict that bypasses the U.N. ?These calls have merit in the aftermath ?of the Arab Spring, which has significantly changed the region’s terrain and players.

For example, when the Oslo Accords were signed, the conflict had major players who had to be taken into ?account: Assad’s Syria, Hussein’s Jordan, Saddam’s Iraq and a few others. This cannot be ?said today. Assad the son controls barely 20% of Syria, Saddam is gone, and the new Iraqi ?regime couldn’t even save itself from the Islamic State group and needs direct U.S. military support to confront it ?in the small city of Fallujah. ?

As for my country, Jordan, let me quote U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who said in November, “Jordan’s future is not clear,” and “the Israelis and Palestinian need to ?know what will happen in Syria and Jordan before they resume the peace process” and ??”whether Jordan will remain stable.”?

In other words, the rules of the game in the Middle East have changed, and it would not ?make any sense to play by the old rules. In fact, sticking to the old rules could prove devastating. It would yield errors, and we cannot afford mistakes in the age of Islamic State, which would jump on any opportunity arising in the West Bank, Jordan or ?elsewhere. ?

One of the most outdated rules is trying to solve the conflict in the U.N. ?It would be wise to give that “rule” up.?

The U.N., for six decades, has failed to produce any practical or feasible solution to the Arab-?Israeli conflict, despite the billions of dollars that the U.S. government has given to the U.N. for ?the purpose of advancing peace. Even worse, U.N. policies and practices have turned ?our Palestinian brethren into lifelong refugees through the U.N. Relief and ?Works Agency, whose largest donor is the U.S.

It is no secret that UNRWA has given de facto green light to Arab governments, including ?that of Jordan, to abuse, isolate and starve Palestinians so they would never integrate into their host countries and never ?forget about Palestine. Jordan’s majority is of Palestinian heritage, and they have ?held Jordanian citizenship for almost seven decades. Nevertheless, they are discriminated ?against, and banned from holding certain jobs or opening certain businesses because they are Palestinians. We never hear any objections from ?UNRWA or any other U.N. agency about this, which makes the U.N. an accomplice to this shocking injustice.?

Also, despite billions of dollars provided to the U.N. by the U.S. and other donor countries, ?UNRWA has failed to create an effective Palestinian economy in places where Palestinians are citizens, such as Jordan, let alone enhance the livelihoods of Palestinians in other Arab countries. Millions still live in filthy camps.?

Further, the U.N. has failed to protect Palestinians against atrocities by Arab host regimes, ?for example Assad’s systematic starvation of the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, ?Yarmouk, which continues today. Nor did we hear much from the U.N. when ?Lebanese militias were raping, torturing and killing Palestinian children in the 1980s. ?

At the same time, the U.N. has always complicated the relationship between Palestinians and ?Israelis by highlighting even the most minor unrest between ?the two. This pattern of behavior on the U.N.’s part has expanded the conflict and killed the potential for peace.?

Even worse, the U.N. has symmetrically attacked and compromised economic progress between Palestinians and Israelis by endorsing the boycott of Israeli ?products, which results in our Palestinian brothers and sisters losing employment opportunities in Israeli ?companies. This pushes Palestinians toward ?hopelessness and radicalization and further kills the potential for peace.?

In addition, the U.N.’s proposed solutions to the conflict are all based on outdated ?circumstances that could have been applicable to the situation decades ago but not today. ?For example, Jordan has been ignored as a major part of the peace puzzle. The U.N. has failed to include Jordan as a major potential partner for establishing a true ?peace through the offer of equal economic, political and civil rights to all of its citizens and ?ending the regime’s systematic discrimination against Jordanians of Palestinian, Bedouin ?and northern peasants heritage.?

In the dynamic aftermath of the Arab Spring, the U.N. sticks to solutions that are based on the Middle East of six decades ago. Today, things are much more fluid: Governments change, regimes ?fall and the future is highly unpredictable. It is unrealistic to think that anyone would accept the U.N.’s outdated ?solutions. ?

The world must realize that we, the people of the region, Arabs and Israelis, can solve our problems without outside influence or U.N. involvement. The Jordanian Opposition Coalition strongly believes the U.S. government must seek to ?neutralize the U.N.’s influence on the peace process while enhancing peace between ?Arabs and Jews through economic, social and civil integration.?

Mudar Zahran is secretary-general of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition. Follow him on Twitter ?@mudar_zahran.