King Abdullah blames Israel for derailing peace hopes

His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday warned that the Israeli stance on peace talks and the turbulence in Syria pose new risks to the security and stability of the Middle East, according to a Royal Court statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra. The King, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Jay Solomon on Monday in New York, expressed concern about the future of the peace process if no efforts succeed in bringing the Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table in the coming couple of days, the statement said. The Monarch, who is currently in New York heading the Jordanian delegation to the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, added that if no progress in the peace process is achieved soon, this will have a negative impact on all. “If we can’t get the Israelis and Palestinians together in the next couple of days then what signal is that for the future process? In other words, we’re normally back to the drawing board; I think we’re back beyond that and as a result, the end of 2011 to 2012 is very bleak and it has a very negative impact I think on all of us in the region,” the King said. On the Jordanian-Israeli relationship, the King said: “There is an unhealthy people-to-people relationship today because although the benefit of peace is always peace, the inability of Israel to address the justice of the Palestinian problem has not come down well with the people and we’re just seeing - from the Jordanian street - Israel is being more and more difficult in coming to the table and finding an agreement that is acceptable to both sides.” The Monarch added that what is seen on the ground is the exact opposite of what Israeli officials announce. “The Israeli leaders still bury their heads in the sand, pretending that there no problem yet there is,” he said. Responding to a question about the situation in Syria, the King said the government is following up on the developments in the Arab state and their effects on the whole region, according to the statement. “I discussed with the Syrian President Bashar Assad the challenges facing the region and how can we learn from the lessons…, but the Syrians seemed disinterested,” the King said. Moreover, the King explained that, in response to public movements demanding reform and more freedom in the region, the Jordanian government embarked on political and constitutional changes aiming ultimately at reaching parliamentary governments. “We are moving forward, and because we rely on a concise and well-prepared plan, there will be soon a new Jordan and I don’t know if regional countries will be like us,” the King noted, according to the statement. The King underlined that democracy in Jordan will become “more mature” with the development of partisan life that will incorporate all the Kingdom’s political parties formed on principles of transparency and justice, adding that, when this takes place, the Islamic Brotherhood movement is then required to reconsider its decisions to move towards active engagement in the political life, said the statement. Meanwhile, His Majesty attended yesterday IBM Centennial “THINK” Forum, where he delivered a speech that focused on the need to empower youth to become leaders, especially in the Middle East. He said: “In my region, three of four people are under the age of 34. They have vast potential to achieve and to lead. They have also come of age at a time of great challenge. Our countries like others have been hit by the global crises in food, energy and finance. Regional unemployment is at crisis levels. Regional conflict continues to drain resources and attention.” The King also acquainted his audience at the ICT giant’s ceremony with reforms under way in Jordan, a major part of which is educational reform, through market-oriented skills training. He also cited the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as the primary source of instability in the region and the world. “The central threat, a source of global division and instability, remains the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I do not need to tell you that today, the situation is at a critical point. The people of the region reject a status quo in which Israel continues to build settlements and defy international law, and Palestinians continue to be sent to the back of the bus to wait for change”.