Following are excerpts from an interview with Lebanese writer Farid Salman, which aired on OTV on May 6, 2009.
To view this clip, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/2121.
"Jordan is An Invention... I Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry When I Hear a Jordanian Say That He is Jordanian... He Has Forgotten That He's Palestinian"
Farid Salman: "Jordan is an invention. Transjordan, which was an emirate, and later became the Hashemite Kingdom, is part of Palestine. Britain created it in order to crown one of the sons of Hussein, from the Arabian Peninsula, over part of Greater Syria - over Palestine. This continues to be the perpetual reason... Without removing it, the Palestinian issue will not be resolved. It's impossible."
Interviewer: "Some people in Israel talk about the Jordanian option..."
Farid Salman: "They are right."
Interviewer: "In the days of Abba Eban..."
Farid Salman: "We missed an opportunity with Abba Eban."
Interviewer: "This is why the Black September battles of 1969 and 1970 took place, and the crisis was shifted here, to Lebanon. But King Hussein stabilized his throne..."
Farid Salman: "It wasn't him. The English stabilized the throne. Glubb Pasha did it for his grandfather, and the English continue to do so to this day. The Israelis also [stabilized the Jordanian rule]. The Zionist regime in Israel is against peace. It doesn't want peace.
"Abba Eban was one of the most important people in Israel, but we did not know how to benefit from him, and eventually the Zionists got rid of him. They sent him to teach in America, thus removing him from the scene. He could see the truth.
"Today, I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I hear a Jordanian say that he is a Jordanian, and that there are Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. He has forgotten that he is a Palestinian. What do you mean 'Jordanian?' The East Bank is just like the West Bank. The Jordanian king was behind the war in Lebanon. He sent the Palestinians to Lebanon. We must not forget the role that Jordan played in Lebanon." [...]
The Anti-Zionist "Jewdanians... Have Now Gained Power, Along With Obama"
"With regard to Israel, I am very optimistic. For 40 years, I have been writing about this issue - about Zionism and about the people I call 'the Jewdanians' - that group of Jews around the world who are against the Zionist philosophy and state. They have now gained power, along with Obama. They began..."
Interviewer: "With the plan of the first Bush..."
Farid Salman: "In Madrid..."
Interviewer: "Yes."
Farid Salman: "They are the ones who brought Obama to power. They supported him financially. A few weeks ago, they announced that they were establishing a lobby. Until now, they operated behind the scenes, but now it is out in the open. An existential Israeli crisis has emerged among the Jews themselves - between the Zionists and the non-Zionists. The Zionists in power today - Lieberman and Netanyahu - no peace plan can possibly emerge from them. They will bring about a Jewish crisis in Israel and worldwide, and I believe they will be the losers. If they do not lose, that will be the end of the Zionist regime in Israel."
"When A PalestinianState Is Established, And Jordan Becomes The PalestinianState, Along With The West Bank... It Will Invite The Palestinians"
Interviewer: "That is the solution, in your view?"
Farid Salman: "Of course. When this happens, we won't need Israeli approval for the resettlement
Interviewer: "Can the Jewdanians, who support Obama, realize what the solution is, and grant the Palestinians the Right of Return?"
Farid Salman: "We have turned the Right of Return into a casus belli... Let me tell you something - when a Palestinian state is established, and Jordan becomes the Palestinian state, along with the West Bank..."
Interviewer: "That is the solution, in your view?"
Farid Salman: "Of course. When this happens, we won't need Israeli approval for the resettlement... Once there is a Palestinian state, it will invite the Palestinians. Jordan can receive 30 million [Palestinians]. In New York alone, there are 20 million people."
Interviewer: "Do you think that we are at the beginning of a process of the collapse of regimes in the region?"
Farid Salman: "Of course."
Interviewer: "Like dominos, one will lead to the toppling of the other?"
"There is a Plan to Increase the Number of Sunnis by Resettling the Palestinians in Lebanon"
Farid Salman: "Undoubtedly. There is no other solution for the Middle East. Who invented the story of refugee resettlement in Lebanon? Let's be clear - the Sunnis. Al-Hariri did, and his sister continues in his path. The Palestinian ambassador in Lebanon is their accomplice."
Interviewer: "Abbas Zaki?"
Salman: "Him, along with Fuad Siniora. There is a plan to increase the number of Sunnis by resettling the Palestinians in Lebanon. They are the ones talking about resettlement. The day the Palestinian issue is resolved, and they have a state - in Jordan, the West Bank, wherever it may be..."
Interviewer: "Arafat used to say: 'Give me a state even on the back of a donkey.'"
Farid Salman: "Wherever it may be... Half a million Palestinian in Lebanon will go to their state. End of story. We won't be needing the approval of Israel or the world. It will be their state, and they will be invited there. End of story."
