Jordan Times
Sunday, April 18, 2010
King reiterates Arabs’
desire for peace
AMMAN (Petra) - His Majesty King Abdullah has underlined Arabs’ commitment to
achieving peace with Israel based on its withdrawal from all occupied Arab
territories and the creation of an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian
soil.
In an interview with the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune published on
Friday, King Abdullah said confidence in the peace process is waning as required
progress has not been made.
In the interview, the Monarch highlighted that the Arab Peace Initiative, which
provides Israel with normal ties with 57 Arab and Muslim nations, entails the
required mechanisms to attain peace but faces pressure, underlining that in the
last two Arab summits, some countries are saying: “Look, the Arab peace proposal
doesn’t work, dialogue doesn’t work with Israel, and we should take the Arab
peace proposal off the table.”
In response to a question, the King warned that the only alternative to peace is
an isolated Israel, which would lead to a rise in regional conflicts.
Regarding Israel’s security, King Abdullah pointed out that in addition to
offering Israel normal peaceful ties with Arab and Muslim countries in return
for withdrawal from occupied Arab and Palestinian lands, the 2002 peace
initiative also provides collective security.
“I believe Israel’s future is to be integrated into the region. But if the
powers that be look at Israel’s future as Fortress Israel, that means bloodshed
will continue for decades. America is not immune to the problems that we have in
our part of the world,” the King said, stressing the need for launching serious
negotiations to realise peace.
“What we are hoping for is active engagement by the Palestinians with the
Americans, the Israelis with the Americans” as soon as possible, he said.
The Monarch referred to recent statements by US President Barack Obama
indicating that Middle East peace is in America’s national interests, noting
that Obama is fully committed to the two-state solution in resolving the
Israeli- Palestinian conflict.
Responding to a question on the future generation and the peace process, the
King said: “It would be a catastrophe if our children have to talk about this,”
underlining the need to realise peace “today”.
Regarding Israel’s position on negotiations, the King said discussions with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have not led to any progress on the
ground.
The King also rejected Israel’s stance that there is no Palestinian partner for
peace.
In the interview, the Monarch described any military action against Iran as
“disastrous for all of us because it would ignite the region”, stressing the
need to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels.
Following his visit to Chicago, King Abdullah headed to Dallas where he met with
former US president George W. Bush and former US secretary of state James Baker,
who currently chairs Baker & Botts Company.
King Abdullah discussed with Baker means to attract investments to Jordan and
increase cooperation in the fields of energy, renewable energy, infrastructure,
IT and trade.