Jordan's Abdullah tells Israel: We share the same enemies

[oberliner]

Jordan's King Abdullah II Thursday told a delegation of Knesset members that "we are in the same boat, we have the same problem. We have the same enemies." The king reiterated the comments a number of times, which those at the meeting said referred to Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Abdullah also emphasized that he spoke not only for Jordan but for a group of states in the region. The king asked at one point: "Do you want Iran on the banks of the Jordan?"

Former Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin said in response: "I have seen Jordanian openness that does not hesitate to scold extremist Muslims." MK Shlomo Breznitz said that the comments raise the first hope that moderates plan to set the tone in the Arab world. "The style and daring are new," he said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/850494.html

[Redstone]

1. Make sense. I'm old enough to remember how Jordan suffered in 1970, when the PLO

tried to take the country over, and the agony that Jordan had to go through to get rid of them.

And, by the way, I'm NOT one of the anti-Israel people, so let's not anyone accuse me of being so because I said somethign negative about the PLO, OK?

The country of Jordan is the only island of rationality in a region consumed by madness, and I admire them for being able to be just that.

Redstone

[regnaD kciN]

2. The Saudi plan was an attempt by moderates "to set the tone in the Arab world"...

...and it was unceremoniously blown off by Israel not once but twice.

Sorry to say it, but the only "moderates" Israel wants to see setting the tone are those that won't contest Israel's claim to perpetual control over however much of the West Bank it wants.

[pelsar]

3. the saudi plan...

you're actually comparing saudi arabia to jordan?..

you mean those guys who have "only muslim roads/cities"....gender apartheid.....cut off arms in the public square kind of thing?.......dress their women in potatoe sacks?......support hamas and have their own fanatic version of religion?

wont let jews on their soil

yes those guys are really moderates (what does it take to be fanatic/extremist in your definition?
____

[regnaD kciN]

4. Neat way to sidestep the issue...

...instead of answering why there will be no consideration of a plan that was about the only thing that could have settled matters, you switch immediately into personal attack mode.

The Saudi plan was a moderate proposal (remember, it was initially designed by Thomas Friedman, who is anything but an enemy of Israel) which had the possibility of bringing lasting peace, so let's ignore that and roll out the rhetoric about burquas and Shar'ia instead!

But, let's face it: for hardline Israeli supporters, there is no such thing as a "moderate Arab," unless it's "one who is willing to stand by and let us take over as much Palestinian land as we want." Any suggestion that a solution has to include a viable Palestinian state automatically puts the one suggesting it into the evil/fanatic/extremist/terrorist/antisemite camp (as we have all seen with the disgraceful mudslinging campaign against Jimmy Carter). Only those who are "moderate" enough to let Israel have everything they want are "worthy" to talk to...which is why, for Israeli hardliners, there will never be a "partner for peace" unless it is someone who's willing to unconditionally surrender. :eyes:

[pelsar]

6. there is consideration the plan...

instead of answering why there will be no consideration of a plan

so your wrong....
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/832406.html

____________________

my comment is those who are presenting it are racists themselves.....would a proposal by the KKK concerning blacks be taken seriously?

[IndianaGreen]

5. Then why don't you settle the Palestinian problem by getting the HELL OUT

of all the lands taken in the June 1967 War. Yes, including East Jerusalem! It won't kill you, and there is no God upstairs to get upset. After all, where was God during the Holocaust? AWOL, that's where!

We are all alone, you know. We only have ourselves to save us. I believe in a Jewish state in the Middle East as much as you do, I just don't share the same vision of what that state is supposed to look like, or what borders it ought to have.

Religion is a private matter, and there is where it should be confined! Here we are in the 21st century and we are still slaves to ancient myths and beliefs. In America, in particular, we are goose stepping into the Dark Ages!

[pelsar]

7. you never did answer....

why hizballa was attacking israel for the last 6 years (shebba farms belongs to syria, as they have never written the formal note in the UN transferring the lands).

figure out that answer and you'll have a better understanding of the conflict and israels reactions.

[IndianaGreen]

14. When you start looking at this tit-for-tat as nothing but two spoiled children

you will realize that the accusations being hurled by each side is nothing more than what parents see when a child responds with "he started it."

When kids fight over one toy, we usually take the toy away. We also don't care who started the fight, the point is that having a bad thing done to you does not justify doing a bad thing in response.

If we were to play this game, the other side would say that there was no Hizbollah in existence until after Israel invaded Lebanon. You see... tit-for-tat.

This is why neither Israel nor the Arabs can be relied upon to make peace with one another. This is also why the United States, the grand enabler of the I/P conflict, can not be trusted to play a constructive role in resolving this conflict.

As long as the I/P conflict was confined to the borders of that pathetic spot in the world, the rest of the planet could go on its merry way minding its own business. The world can no longer afford to do that. The I/P violence has spilled out of the region and threatens the peace and stability of the entire planet.

This is why the world community will have to impose a peace settlement, and the first step is the implementation of an arms embargo on Israel and her neighbors.

[pelsar]

16. honesty and truth is a good place to start

when simple facts cant be take as facts and all of those involved cant face those same simple facts and truths..then it gets hard to solve the problem:

case in point, those who think israels reluctance to give up the west bank is based on "god"

second point, those who defend hizballas attacking israel across the intl border

[Shaktimaan]

21. Historically, the question of who started any given conflict is not seen as

irrelevant. Attempting to distill the I/P conflict into a metaphor of how two children might fight is guaranteed to give you a perspective on the subject that has no bearing on reality. The nations in question are not children. The Haram-al-Sharif is not a toy. And the UN is certainly not a parent with the ability, will or right to take it away.

This is why the world community will have to impose a peace settlement,

"Impose Peace?" That's just great. Why didn't anyone think of that before? Then we can Declare Happy so no one is ever sad again, and Institute Mandatory Caring so countries have to help one another regardless of global politics or conflict. Quick, call the UN and unveil your grand plan!

[bemildred]

8. It is going to be quite odd if Israel and the Saudis wind up being "allies"

in resistance to the Shiite crescent the Bushites have created and nurtured. The King of Jordan has been put in a very awkward position by the Iraq mess too, and the Gulf principalities.

[pelsar]

10. you got it....

that is what i believe is going on......the enemy of my enemy is my friend (or something like that).

the saudis were quite happy at the last lebanon war....and rather dissapointed in the IDFs result (or so they said, inbeween the lines)

[bemildred]

11. Always a pleasure when we can agree.

I think The King got tired of waiting for Uncle Sugar to do something about the situation, and is taking his own measures now, apparently with US aquiescence, since we are still selling him fancy weapons. Israel, on the other hand, can use some local friends to balance out the loss of US influence in the region and Iran's recent good luck. So they have a "common interest".

[pelsar]

13. irans the "spoiler"...

everyone is "afraid of iran"..fantatics with guns is not good thing.

the saudis are afraid they'll cause an unprising in their own country...jordan is, as always a precarious regime with very little stability, iraq is a mess but with the tell tale bombs of what sunnia and shiites will do to each other when "given the chance" (and the outside influence of iran is involved). Lebanon may fall due to hizballa....Irans local version, ...Syria is playing everybody hoping not to get burnt too bad.

the only real stable entity that can keep iran from taking over the region?.....israel.

it occured to me that as much as israel is an "arms depot" for the US army...saudi arabia may end up being the arms depot for israel if things with Iran really get heated up.....

stability is not a characteristic of the middle east.

[Englander]

9. King calls on Israel to seize ‘historic chance for peace’

AMMAN (AFP) — King Abdullah told acting Israeli President and Speaker of the Knesset Dalia Yitzik on Thursday that an Arab peace plan was a historic chance for peace in the Middle East.

The initiative, reactivated at a summit in Riyadh last month, “constitutes an historic opportunity to achieve Middle East peace and end decades of conflict between Arabs and Israelis”, the King told Yitzik and her delegation during a working lunch in Amman, a Royal Court statement said.

He said the Arab plan “reflected the Arab commitment to peace”, and urged Israel “to accept it as a basis for restarting negotiations with the Palestinians and for finding solutions to different aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict”.

The Arab initiative offers Israel full normalisation of relations in return for its withdrawal from all Arab land captured in 1967, the creation of a Palestinian state and — in a key sticking point for Israel — the return of Palestinian refugees.

“Israelis and Palestinians need to take steps that will build confidence between them,” the King said. “These steps would build on the political momentum in the region to advance the peace process and achieve on-the-ground progress.”

http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=19523

[bemildred]

12. ROUNDUP: King Abdullah to pay historic visit to Israel: report

Tel Aviv- Jordan's King Abdullah II is due to pay a historic two-day visit to Israel next month, the Israeli Ma'ariv daily reported Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert invited Abdullah to Jerusalem in a telephone call Wednesday and the king accepted, the daily said.

It gave no source, saying only that Olmert briefed two of his senior ministers on the visit Thursday.

Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, confirmed the telephone call and invitation, but said, "we don't know if he accepted," while the royal court spokesman in Jordan was not immediately available for comment.

If the visit goes ahead, it would be the first public one to West Jerusalem by a Jordanian monarch in Israel's history.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/54290.html

[The Magistrate]

15. A Promising Development, Sir, If It Comes To Pass

[bemildred]

17. Certainly draws ones attention, if true.

I'll have to wait and see about "promising".

[bemildred]

18. Jordan confiscates video of interview with Prince Hassan

Jordanian authorities on Saturday confiscated the videotape of an interview with the country's former crown prince by Al-Jazeera Television, the Qatar-based satellite broadcaster and a Jordanian official said.

The tape was confiscated as an Al-Jazeera reporter was about to leave the Hashemite kingdom. No further details about the circumstances of the seizure were immediately known.

Nasser Judeh, the chief Jordanian government spokesman, confirmed the videotape's confiscation but said it had nothing to do with the content of the interview with Prince Hassan, the uncle to Jordan's King Abdullah II and one time heir to the Jordanian throne.

Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera aired a statement by Ghassan Ben Jeddou, the network's bureau chief in Beirut, Lebanon, who had interviewed Prince Hassan in Amman and who said the tape contained remarks by the Jordanian royal claiming that a national security adviser in Saudi Arabia was financing Sunni militants to fight the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/851089.html

[bemildred]

19. Jordan denies remarks ascribed to Abdullah on right of return

The Jordanian royal court on Saturday denied as "utterly baseless" remarks attributed by Haaretz on Friday to King Abdullah II.

"What some Israeli newspapers quoted the king to have said during his meeting on Thursday with the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Dalia Itzik, is completely baseless," said Amjad Adayleh, the head of the Media Department at the royal court.

The reported quotes had "nothing to do with the connotations of the dialogue that took place during the encounter," he added.

"The quotations carried by Haaretz represented a clear offence to Jordan and its leadership as well as a distortion of the sincere efforts the Kingdom has been leading in defense of the Palestinian people's rights," the spokesman said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/851051.html

[bemildred]

20. Jordanian King Abdullah II will not visit Israel

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1728237&Language=en