June 11, 2012

 Since the spring of 1994, a research team at the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan began studying the Jordanian-Palestinian relationship with its internal and external dimensions. At the level of the internal dimension, the goal was to provide detailed data on the relationship between a citizen of Jordanian origin and a citizen of Palestinian origin, and how each of them sees the other. And how each differs from the other, and their concerns, fears and obstacles that may prevent their fusion, in addition to identifying the shape of the future relationship between Jordan and Palestine, as seen by citizens inside Jordan of Jordanian and Palestinian origin. As for the external dimension, the goal was to identify the opinions of citizens in Jordan and Palestine towards the Jordanian-Palestinian relationship in its future framework by examining the privacy of the relationship, establishing a unitary link, the type of this link, and other issues. The center was conducted in  February 1995 A survey inside Jordan to study the internal dimension in the Jordanian-Palestinian relationship. This was followed by a round-table dialogue that brought together a group of academics, politicians and journalists, who enjoy independent and balanced thinking and are keen on the public interest, where the results of the survey were discussed. This meeting, which was held at the Dead Sea Hotel on 13-14/4/1995, resulted in the issuance of a  “position paper” This project included conducting a survey on the Jordanian-Palestinian relationship with its external dimension in December 1997 to achieve the same objectives included in the previous project in relation to this dimension, in addition to examining new issues. Six workshops were held that brought together specialists in Jordanian-Palestinian relations. Primarily from within the Jordanian and Palestinian societies, as a first stage in this joint project. This was accompanied by the publication of a book in the winter of 1997 entitled “Jordanian-Palestinian Relations: Where to, – Four Options for the Future”The Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan and the Center for Palestinian Research and Studies in Nablus published two copies in Arabic, and the Royal Institute for International Affairs in London published the book in English. In the continuation of the second phase of this project, two workshops were held in Amman and Nablus. Through them research papers to discuss important topics in each of the following areas: economic laws, political freedom laws, energy, educational relations, criticism, and citizenship. The first workshop, which was held in Amman, dealt with money, citizenship, and educational relations. The topics of economic laws, political freedoms, and energy laws were also discussed in the second workshop, which was held in Nablus. In 1999, the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan will issue the results of the aforementioned workshops.