Middle East News
Arab League chief walks out on Israel's Peres at Petra conference
Jun 19, 2008, 6:56 GMT
Amman - Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa withdrew from a conference session in Jordan after verbal exchanges with Israeli President Shimon Peres over who blocked the Middle East peace process, the daily Alarab Alyawm reported Thursday.
The incident occurred Wednesday at a conference of Nobel Prize laureates in the historic Jordanian town of Petra.
Peres held Arab countries responsible for the stumbling peace process and blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for not discussing peace between Israel and Syria directly, the report said.
Mussa reacted angrily, citing Israel's failure to respond positively to the Arab peace initiative which was adopted by Arab leaders in Beirut in 2002.
He said Israel's continued settlement activity in Palestinian lands was 'changing the demographic situation on the ground, and we are not able to know where you are taking us,' the paper said.
Mussa told reporters later that he was forced to respond to Peres' remarks 'because Israel was fooling the Arabs by alleging that it was making peace.'
At least 280 politicians, economists and academics in addition to 30 Nobel Prize winners are taking part in the conference held under the title 'Advancing Access to Science Education as a Critical Driver of Economic Growth and Social Progress.'
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Older Talkback
page: 1
What was Mussa hoping to achieve by his petulance in Petra? Clearly he is very frustrated as he sees the Roadmap disappearing down the diplomatic drain as the Arabs continue their intransigent demands that Israel return to the 4 June 1967 borders and 450000 Jews pack up and vacate their homes.
His remarks repeated the tired old mantra castigating the Jews for wanting to live in any part of their biblical heartland whilst serving to detract any attention from the ineffectual role played by the 22 members of the Arab League in realising the objectives of the Road Map in these four key areas:
1. Failing to prevent Gaza and the West Bank being split into two separate territorial units under two different power structures.
2. Failing to persuade either Egypt or Jordan to offer part of their lands to the Palestinian Arabs as an inducement to moderating the Arab League demand for 100% of the West Bank and Gaza
3. Failing to have the border between Gaza and Egypt opened to allow the humanitarian flow of food and medicine into Gaza or to allow Gazans the opportunity to emigrate through Egypt to other Arab States either temporarily or permanently.
4. Pledging no more than a miserly 20% of the total pledges made at the international donors fund set up in Paris to help their own brothers and allowing many pledges to still remain unpaid.
Mussa’s grandstanding has only lowered - not elevated - his own standing. The Arabs may not be fools - Mussa certainly is.
page: 1
Yaakov SullivanJun 20th, 2008 - 03:48:13
As a gay Catholic I realize that Egypt jailed my previous lover 2 years ago. He is still in jail. I am married now but I still miss him.Mr. Emr Moussa needs to look at the mirror!
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