I once flew to Palestine, and the flight lasted only 10 minutes in a Jordanian military helicopter from Marka Airport, to Ramallah.
Palestine is within striking distance of a heartbeat. Very close. I remembered that trip two days ago when I accompanied the interior minister after dawn prayers on a surprise visit to the King Hussein Bridge, where Palestinians travel. Palestine is also within striking distance of a heartbeat. Close but not available to many. Perhaps you are ashamed of the luxury of comparing a short flight with a long, arduous road trip.
اضافة اعلان
The tour lasted hours, and many travelers approached the minister with all courage and politeness and told him about their remarks, and they also did justice to Jordan in their words, and what you discover here in terms of complexities makes you realize that relieving the Palestinians is essential, while Jordan's reputation must also be preserved, especially when you read a comment written by a hater who says that traveling through Jordan represents a state of humiliation, and this is a very shameful and unacceptable expression, and it is not appropriate in the context of a one-blood relationship, and what the administrative and security cadres of the bridge are trying to do Presenting it.
The bridge knot is basically formed by preventing Israel from entering more than 3,000 people daily, and within specific working hours, and this knot is the basis of the crisis, and it left a setback on the movement of the bridge, and this setback was represented by the fact that travelers had to come early due to the fear that the bridge would be closed at any moment, and you see them gathered since five in the morning, while the summer heat with the sun shining in the Jordan Valley increases their suffering until they enter the halls, although the reservation of the platform determines the time of arrival, and without a doubt The Israeli ban has produced negative phenomena that are currently being addressed, just as the VIP passenger file needs to be developed in a way that befits the title and its privileges.
There are observations made by Palestinians to the minister about the exploitation of baggage carriers when the bridge reaches passengers financially, and some of them offer illegal black services in cooperation with partners, and this imposes security control, determining the fees for carrying bags, how to manage the scene, and preventing any legal violations, by monitoring what is happening at the gates of the bridge, especially private cars that kidnap passengers and harm the bridge's cladding.
There are excesses by the so-called cigarette dealers who come from the West Bank and acquire large numbers of tickets from the platform, and send their workers to enter Jordan, reach the duty free market and buy cigarettes in large quantities, where the price of the cruise is about 20 dinars, and these return immediately after the purchase and sell the cruise in Palestine for 60 dinars, which means that they control the entry tickets to Palestine, and this is a file that must be addressed by limiting the amount of cigarettes for the traveler, or preventing the return of the same person.
Many have called for the cancellation of the platform and the opening of the door to travel, but it seems that Jordan will not cancel the platform, because the cancellation means a huge chaos, and tens of thousands of passengers are crowded without the ability to admit them, and the truth here is that the management of reservations must undergo a radical review, especially with some travelers complaining about the existence of a black market for tickets, which imposes new procedures that put the passenger's name and passport number on the ticket, with security checks when stamping the passport to prevent the purchase and sale of tickets.
Jordan's treatment of Palestinians is good, dozens of cases come suddenly and say that they have an emergency circumstance, a death in the West Bank or a health condition, and the problem is that most of the emergency cases have no evidence of the truth of their words, and the ability to enter emergency cases actually means affecting those who originally booked through the platform, amid a stressful scene, especially since the platform's reservations are not available, for example, for the next month, and this is a story that needs a political solution, by pressuring to increase the number of Palestinians traveling, and working hours, and yet it helps Jordan in emergency admissions if it is convincing.
The King Hussein Bridge needs to be developed, and there are projects to develop specific services, and the bridge needs a development project that may exceed 160 million dinars, and there is no solution in this scene except investment.
These are quick observations and I will return tomorrow to deeper details, but the minister collected a lot of observations during his two tours and directed to solve them in order to ease the suffering of the Palestinians.
The bridge knot is not Jordanian, and one does not be harsh on oneself, while acknowledging that there are complications that need to be resolved.
