Stop Complaining and Fix The Problem

By: Mohammad Elajlouni

The experts predicted it would be a miserable summer for travel worldwide.

And this time, they were right.

Omicron-driven staff shortages and the surge of extreme weather emergencies resulted in canceled flights jeopardizing family reunions and long anticipated dream vacations marred by anxiety.

And if your journey meant crossing at The King Hussein Bridge- the Jordan-Israel border crossing point most Palestinians use – there was a particularly unpleasant experience.

This crossing is under a management structure involving Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.

It entails intrusive security procedures, multiple taxes, constantly shifting operating hours, and third-rate logistics requiring most passengers to board and unboard three different buses.

So the crossing process at King Hussein more resembles CheckPoint Charlie than the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Canada.

Hussein became a hellish choke point in July, with about five thousand Palestinians trying to cross daily while the Israeli authorities only allowed in half that number.

The logjam delayed many travelers who arrived at the border hours before its 730 AM opening. Some were bussed back at 11 pm. Others waited for up to 72 hours to cross.

This nightmare scenario lit up on social media. It became a hot topic on call-in radio talk shows in Ramallah and Amman just as Joe Biden and his Middle East team arrived in Jerusalem.

The Biden team heard complaints from the Palestinian Authority leadership.

But it paid particular attention to private sector voices like Hazem Kawasmi, whose Karama “Dignity” − Freedom of Movement campaign held a press conference to highlight the bridge backlog on the eve of Biden’s visit.

“It shouldn’t take travelers more than one hour in either direction on the bridge. All unnecessary fees and connected expenses should be removed,” Kawasmi demanded.

The next day Biden called for improving freedom of movement for Palestinians as he stood next to President Abbas in Bethlehem.

Biden told Abbas that his administration was “engaging with Israel around ways to spur Palestinian economic growth, including implementing 4G mobile networks, increasing the supply of renewable energy, and improving freedom of movement for Palestinians, both people and goods.”

Israeli officials felt the heat from the White House. Within days the occupation authority, which goes by the name “Office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories,” announced a pilot program to directly shuttle West Bank Palestinians to the new Ramon airport opened near Eilat in January 2019.

Of course, Israel is not opening the Eilat airport to Palestinians purely to please the Americans or out of the goodness of its heart.

The Israeli discount carrier Arkia plans to operate flights from Ramon to
Istanbul, Antalya, Dubai, Sharm el-Sheikh and Larnaca.

Arkia is happy to profit from the trade of security-cleared Palestinians from the southern West Bank especially given the distance of Eilat from the center of the country.

All this has provoked a firestorm in Jordan, which was already nursing resentment about the new Eilat airport, which Israel decided to build instead of moving forward with plans for a jointly run international airport in Aqaba as envisioned in the 1994 Wadi Araba treaty.

The Jordanian Tourism and Travel Agents Association warn that opening the Eilat airport to Palestinians would cause significant negative consequences for Jordan.
The industry group estimates that Jordan could see a sixty-five percent drop in revenue from West Bank Palestinians.

“It will affect Jordanian tourism directly because when they[Palestinians] come to Jordan, they spend on hotels, buy gifts for relatives in Jordan or the West Bank upon return, and buy tickets from Jordanian airlines,” said Mahmoud Khasawneh, a leader in the association.

I agree with Hassan Momani, a Professor of International Relations at the University of Jordan, who says it’s time for the kingdom to face reality.

In particular, Israel’s agreements with the UAE have increasingly sidelined the Amman airport and the national carrier Royal Jordanian.

Momani told our news agency A24 that “we in Jordan have to adapt and think outside the box in order to compensate for the losses we incurred.”

Jordan needs to pressure the Israelis to keep the bridges open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that with all respect, the Sabbath and Jewish holidays are not a reason for curtailed operation times at the King Hussein Bridge.

We have to lower departure taxes and fees at the Amman airport, which is among the world’s highest at over 80 dollars a passenger.

The world and the region are changing rapidly. Jordan does neither the Palestinians nor its citizens a favor by portraying itself as the victim when the Israelis open a small door to the residents of the West Bank.

That’s why I am happy to see an announcement that the kingdom is seeking bids for a two hundred million dollar project to upgrade infrastructure at the King Hussein Bridge.

Easing travel, increasing border staff, and trying to let up a little on the bureaucracy are hopeful signs of happier trails ahead