Middle East Inside Line: Jordan's Warning; Lieberman's Threat; Gaza's Unity; Turkey's Israel Tension

King Abdullah's Warning to Israel: In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Jordan’s King Abdullah warned on Tuesday that “Israel’s long-term future is in jeopardy unless there is permanent solution to the Middle East conflict”. He continued:

Over the Israeli-Lebanese border, if you spoke [to some Lebanese] today they feel there is going to be a war any second. [It] looks like there is an attempt by certain groups to promote a third intifada, which would be disastrous. Jerusalem as you are well aware is a tinderbox that could go off at any time, and then there is the overriding concern about military action between Israel and Iran.

So with all these things in the background, the status quo is not acceptable; what will happen is that we will continue to go around in circles until the conflict erupts, and there will be suffering by peoples because there will be a war.



The job of Jordan and the other countries in the international community is to keep common sense and keep hope alive until America can bring its full weight on the Israelis and the Palestinians to get their act together and move the process forward.

Lieberman's Threat over Ramallah's Plan: With no concrete steps towards the confidence-building measures demanded by the Netanyahu government, the Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio on Tuesday that Washington has reached a dead end in its attempts to revive Middle East peace talks. Erekat pointed to Israel’s failure to give guarantees, demanded by the US, that it not issue any more tenders to build on land where the Palestinians aim to establish a state, including East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, referring to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s statement that there would be a Palestinian state by 2011, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned the PA against plans to declare independence unilaterally, saying such a move could prompt Israel to annex parts of the West Bank and annul past peace agreements.

The Gaza Factions Meet: The four Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip --- Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine --- met on Sunday, as a senior Egyptian official said that Cairo is concerned that the recent escalation of tensions on the Gaza border could lead to another Israeli invasion. On the same day, all factions said that they will cease firing Qassam rockets at Israel.

Israel-Turkey War of Words Continues: At a ceremony to mark the opening of an Arab-language television and radio company,  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey will come to the defense of Muslims around the world:

We cannot be indifferent to the problems of the Islamic world of Jerusalem.

Our task is the integration with the Western world but we did not turn our back to the East. Arabs and Turks are brothers and we share the same values.

We cannot watch the murder of children in Gaza with indifference. We worry about the Gaza children but our hearts are also for the children of Haiti and Chile.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s response was immediate.  A statement issued in West Jerusalem said:

Israel is not interested in confrontation with any country, including Turkey. The impression that is being created is that the Turkish prime minister is seeking to integrate with the Muslim world at Israel's expense.

We suggest he find a more creative way, and to try to integrate with both the Muslim and Western worlds without turning into an extremist leader in the style of Hugo Chavez.

The Israelis also advised Erdogan to “be equally concerned for the killing of innocent civilians in Pakistan and Iraq at the hands of terrorist groups.”

Ankara's Search for "Balance of Power": In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Erdogan repeatedly called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad his “dear friend”, as he sent two messages to two different fronts. On the one hand, Erdogan reminded his “dear friend” that there should be no arms race in the region. On the other hand, he criticized countries pushing for another round of sanctions in the United Nations Security Council:

We consider that this question should be resolved diplomatically. Sure, sanctions are an issue at the moment, but I don't think that the ones being discussed can bring results.

Comments

[Bill]

Ali,

While I can see why Israel's actions are a catalyst I can't help but notice the majority of the rhetoric for violence is coming from those outside the issue--ie Turkey, Iran(especialy so--nothing like a good distraction for them), Syria, and to a lesser extent Lebanon. It seems like they want a conflict which sadly would only play into Israels hands. They would get thrashed by the IDF, declare another "victory" for the resistance, thousands would die, and were all back at square one. What are your thoughts on this?

Thx
Bill

[Ali Yenidunya]

Bill,

Sorry for the late reply. Of course, if there is water boiling somewhere, it always draws attention of outsiders. Some see their interest through involvement with hard power in the violence and prefer provoking through which various political gains are aimed during the tension and some put their interest more in potential political gains until the violence erupts. Though there is mostly no clear and precise line between the two, Lebanon's Hezbollah might be considered closer to the former (of course if both regional and international conjuncture is appropriate for such an involvement) whereas Turkey, Iran and Syria can be put under the latter. However, all do benefit from ongoing frictions between Israelis and Palestinians since any "abuse of rights" against Palestinians or Israeli "aggression" strengthens these countries' regional political agendas based on claims against Israeli "injustice."

[Bill]

Ali,

Thanks for the reply. Frankly if left up to the common Israeli and Palestinian I think the issue would have been solved long ago. Alas the politics of the regions keep it going. The far right on either side won't give an inch and thus the stalemate continues. Arrggh! We have much bigger humanitarian issues in the world right now and it just irks me.

Thx
Bill

[jbdiuq jbdiuq]

Ban on women driving should be considered world wide... :-) I would never allow my wife driving my car.. :-) cjabox cjabox - mulberry bags uk factory.

[mduxkp mduxkp]

so pretty.You are a good teacher. Lucky student! lzbbyq lzbbyq - Tory Burch Shoes Sale.