Saudis don't want peace with Israel either
Published by Avi Green on Monday, August 03, 2009 at 8:53 AM.
No sooner did Fatah announce its sticking to its PLO-crafted charter, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, himself a prince, told the awful George Mitchell that it's business as usual regarding Israel (Hat tip: Power Line):
The part where no Arabic countries have told what they're ready to do tells something, perhaps that if they are willing to do something, it's to declare war.
Saudi Arabia praised the Obama administration Friday for its "early and robust focus" on the Middle East while rebuffing its efforts to push Riyadh to take confidence-building steps toward Israel.Correction - demanding land concessions and promoting segregation is not the way to peace. But creepy people like this political prince, in all his hate-indoctrinated headset, won't realize that.
"Incrementalism and the step-by-step approach has not, and we believe will not, achieve peace," said the visiting Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at his side. "Temporary security, confidence-building measures will also not bring peace."
Former Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell, President Obama's special envoy for Middle East peace, has traveled almost monthly to the region, seeking to coax the Israelis and Palestinians into peace talks while also encouraging Arab states to offer incentives to Israel to take bold steps, such as a freeze on settlement growth in the Palestinian territories.
Working on what amounts to a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, Mitchell has attempted to gather chits from various Arab nations to take partial steps toward normal relations, such as opening air corridors or granting some visas, if Israel at the same time takes steps on settlements. Obama has buttressed that effort by writing private letters to Arab leaders making the case for confidence-building measures.
U.S. officials insist they are making slow but steady progress behind the scenes. But the pressure on Israel to halt settlement expansion has generated a backlash there against the United States, while no Arab states have publicly revealed what they are prepared to do. Meanwhile, the Palestinians have hardened their position, refusing to talk to Jerusalem unless there is a settlement freeze.
Saudi officials have privately been highly critical of the U.S. approach -- even rejecting appeals from Obama when he visited Riyadh -- but Saud's decision to offer such a public critique, in Washington, raises the stakes for the administration. It could also be a form of public posturing designed to blunt the impact of future concessions by Saudi Arabia.
Saud insisted that Saudi Arabia would not take any incremental steps in relation to Israel, saying the burden was on Israel to make good-faith gestures. "Today, Israel is trying to distract by shifting attention from the core issue -- an end to the occupation that began in '67 and the establishment of a Palestinian state -- to incidental issues such as academic concerns and civil aviation methods," he said. "This is not the way to peace."
The part where no Arabic countries have told what they're ready to do tells something, perhaps that if they are willing to do something, it's to declare war.
Labels: anti-semitism, House of Saud, islam, Israel, United States
