NYT ignores Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution at its peril
The continuing failure of The New York Times (NYT) to inform its readers of the existence of the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (HKOPS) in the fifteen months since its first publication on 8 June 2022 breaches the solemn pledge made to NYT readers in 1996.
In announcing that NYT’s 100 years-old original masthead slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print” would now appear on the home page of New York Times on the Web –- publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said:
“What remains paramount to our mission is the accuracy, thoroughness and fairness of our news content, and our daily commitment to our readers. `All the News That’s Fit to Print’ has summed that up very well for the last century and will do so for the next, regardless of how we distribute our information.”
Sulzberger’s commitment has gone missing with NYT’s continuing refusal to inform its readers of HKOPS – a plan that could – if successfully implemented – become the key to ending the 100-year-old Arab-Jewish conflict.
HKOPS emanated in Saudi Arabia and was published in Saudi Arabia in the Government-controlled Al Arabiya News. Its author – Ali Shihabi – a confidant of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) – was appointed by MBS to the Board advising MBS on the building of NEOM – a US$500 billion development in northern Saudi Arabia planned to be completed by 2030 on a land area the size of Israel.
HKOPS is ground-breaking and a potential circuit breaker – trashing Saudi policy and the policy of the Arab League pursued since 2002 (Arab Peace Initiative) which had called for Israel to affirm:
“I – Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.
II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.
III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
Consequently – the Arab countries would affirm the following:
“I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.
II- Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.”
HKOPS – in stark contrast to the Arab Peace Initiative – is proposing:
- A newly-merged territorial entity of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) offering equal citizenship to all who live within its borders.
- Recognition of Israeli sovereignty in part of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) for the first time in 3,000 years
- Sole Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem with continuing Arab control of the Islamic Holy Sites
Why have NYT’s large editorial and investigative teams deemed HKOPS: “News Not Fit to Print”?
The answer appears to be:
Three times Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas Friedman – NYT’s foreign affairs Op-Ed columnist – who joined NYT in 1981:
- Was personally involved in the Arab Peace Initiative’s creation – as he disclosed in NYT on 17 February 2002.
- Refuses to consider HKOPS as a replacement solution
Friedman is still advising his lunch-time buddy President Biden to promote the failed Arab Peace Initiative – even though Friedman admitted that the initiative was “in hospice” on 15 December 2022.
Ignoring HKOPS and acting on Friedman’s urging could see Biden’s current effort to broker a historic agreement to normalize Israel-Saudi relations failing.
NYT’s reputation and Friedman’s credibility have both become hopelessly compromised.
Please join my Facebook Page: “Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine supporters”
Author’s note: The cartoon — commissioned exclusively for this article — is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones”- one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators — whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades.
David Singer is a Sydney lawyer and a foundation member of the International Analysts Network
