Jordan’s Commitment to Peace

Our foreign policy is based on a clear and solid foundation. We are for peace in approach and strategy because it is the target of the nations that seek construction (not war).

We oppose occupation of land by force and we believe in dialogue as the method for regaining Arab rights. This is the spirit of the Great Arab Revolt.

Jordan is advocating a just and honorable peace and is committed to this call under all circumstances. We seek peace that can be acceptable to the coming generations. We seek peace despite all the hardships and difficulties that we continue to face and hope to see this objective realized because it is the hope of the majority of people in Jordan and elsewhere.

This process of democratization permitted all of our people to participate, through their representatives in the Jordanian Chamber of Deputies, in taking many vital decisions. The most important of these decisions was the our choice to pursue peace within the Arab consensus, and through the peace process that was launched in Madrid. In doing so we were at peace with ourselves, and in harmony with the consensus of the entire Arab nation that opted for peace.

Address to the Meeting of Arab Political Parties
Amman
December 16, 1996

On October 26, 1994, when Jordan and Israel signed their peace treaty, we did not make peace only with Israel: We also made it with ourselves, confident in our belief that this was the only way we could break out of the cycle of violence which has devastated our lands and our peoples.

Address to the Parliamentary Assemby of the Council of Europe
Strasbourg, France
September 25, 1995

On the other hand, Jordan is a country whose people have pride and dignity and are imbued with perseverance, determination and loyalty. Our participation in the peace conference is not, therefore, aimed at achieving peace in its narrow sense or at any price. We will participate out of a sense of duty to ensure, in the first place, security and prosperity for our people, and out of determination to adhere to international legitimacy. We will participate to restore our rights, honoring our loyalty to our Jerusalem and our commitment to stand beside the Palestinian people and to help them put an end to their tragedy by regaining their sovereignty on their soil; to support them to obtain their legitimate rights so that they can live like other people, secure in their homeland seeking their prosperity.

Address to the Jordanian National Congress
Amman
October 12, 1991

By virtue of its central geographic position in our region, Jordan is naturally attuned to a strengthening of cooperation at the regional and international levels. The concept is deeply embedded in our consciousness. Since the dawn of history, our country has straddled trade routes linking the desert with the coastal regions. It is surrounded by countries with varied economies (depending on the nature of their resources) and with different sociopolitical systems. Consequently, Jordan has come to stand for stability sustained by an interactive relationship with its neighbors and sensitive to any imbalance in regional or international relations.

Address to the Jordan Development Conference
Amman
November 8, 1986

Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967, which affirmed the principle of Israeli withdrawal in return for peace. This resolution is now the basic cornerstone, enjoying international unanimity, for achieving a just and peaceful settlement. It emphasized the principal of balance in any projected settlement. For the settlement to be permanent, it must be generally acceptable; and to be that, it must be equitable. History, particularly modern European history, is replete with examples of inequitable settlements which proved to be no more than time bombs triggering further conflict between states and nations. And the element of equitability, or balance, in Resolution 242 resides in the principle of withdrawal in return for peace. Jordan not only participated in securing this resolution but has supported it since its adoption.

Address to the Nation
Amman
February 19, 1986

Jordan is for world peace, without which the world cannot hope for stability, prosperity or a better standard of living for all nations. For this reason, we stand against international tension and the Cold War mentality. We are for complete and comprehensive disarmament based on reciprocal guarantees. We are for an honest and fruitful dialogue between the South and North as well as between the industrialized world and the less fortunate countries which are seeking to achieve comparable progress. . . .

We are for viewing the entire world as an individual unit with regard to resources, aspirations, peace and the solution of problems. We are for placing the resources of humanity at the service of progress and enlightenment for all mankind.

Address to the United Nations General Assembly
New York
September 25, 1979

Jordan . . . has a thorough understanding of what is and what is not possible in the context of war and peace in our region. Jordan has always advocated reason, moderation and a search for the possible, both by virtue of its proximity to danger and its close involvement with the train of events from the very beginning.

Address to the United Nations General Assembly
New York
September 25, 1979

Jordan has sincerely supported every peace effort and will continue to do so, with reason and moderation, confident that peace will eventually prevail.

Address at the First National Bank of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA
April 1, 1976

It is time that the Arabs and the Jewish people resumed the friendly relations which were enjoyed for centuries preceeding 1948. Thirty years is momentary in the reference of centuries, but to us who live in the waning days of the 20th century, it can be a lifetime. In the name of reason and humanity, let the injustice inflicted by few be corrected to permit the betterment of life for many.

Address at Tulane University
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
April 2, 1976