Posted on 06/19/2002 12:46:39 PM PDT by Thinkin' Gal
Jordan's King Abdullah(L) with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak review Bedouin guards of honor at Amman's military airport June 19, 2002. Both nation's foreign ministers cast doubt on proposals for a provisional Palestinian state being considered by the U.S. and criticized Israel's threat to reoccupy Palestinian land in response to new suicide attacks. Photo by Pool/Reuters
Egypt, Jordan condemn Israel's military escalation
Wed Jun 19, 1:18 PM ET
AMMAN, Jordan - The leaders of Egypt and Jordan on Wednesday condemned Israel's military escalation in response to a Palestinian suicide bombing, with President Hosni Mubarak ( news - web sites) warning Israel against expelling Yasser Arafat ( news - web sites).
A joint statement following their meeting in Amman did not mention the Tuesday bombing on a Jerusalem bus, which killed 19 Israelis. Israel responded to the attack by saying it will gradually reoccupy Palestinian areas until terrorism stops, and raided three West Bank towns on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ( news - web sites) "must understand that the only way to ensure the security of the Israeli people is through political process that leads to the implementation of the policy of two states living side by side," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters.
Mubarak warned against Israeli threats of expelling Arafat, blamed by Israel for failing to stop suicide attacks.
"There is no alternative to Arafat, except if some people want to remove Arafat in order to seize the Palestinian territories, which means the continuation of violence," Mubarak told reporters aboard his plane, according to Egypt's Middle East News Agency.
"Those who believe that expelling Arafat will pave the way for a solution are disillusioned," he said. "His expulsion will pave the way for anarchy. Frankly speaking, no Palestinian leader will be able to lead negotiations that would result in realistic and expectable outcome except Arafat."
Mubarak first flew to Amman for talks with King Abdullah II, then to Syria, where he met with President Bashar Assad, in a bid to forge an Arab consensus on a possible Mideast peace conference and democratic reforms in Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority ( news - web sites).
Maher said he hoped that U.S. President George W. Bush ( news - web sites)'s Mideast policy announcement, not expected before Thursday or Friday, will refer to a final, not provisional solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He also said Bush should set a deadline for peace negotiations.
"What is provisional is the Israeli occupation. The Palestinian state should be permanent and sovereign with Jerusalem as its capital," Maher said.
Bush envisions a step-by-step process on Palestinian statehood, with each step conditioned on changes designed to develop a democratic state that would live in peace alongside Israel. His proposal will make hefty demands for Palestinian reforms, making them a requirement for statehood, said a senior White House official.
Bush is considering proposing a specific date for Palestinian statehood, though aides say he is leaning toward leaving the deadline vague.
Meanwhile in Cairo, Arab information ministers meeting at the Arab League headquarters reiterated their support for Palestinian resistance of Israeli occupation, saying that only an end to occupation will bring about an end to Palestinian suicide bombings.
"Our position is clear: what (the Palestinians) do as a form of resistance to occupation is a legitimate right and is not terrorism," Safwat el-Sherif, Egypt's information minister, told reporters. "We condemn occupation and incursions. Security in the region will not be achieved without the return of all rights to their ... people."
The information ministers, who oversee state media policy in the Arab world, were meeting to discuss the implementation of a common Arab media strategy approved by the Beirut Arab summit in March.
The strategy devised last August to deal with what Arabs call "fact falsification" of the Arab-Israeli conflict by the Israeli government and media was never implemented. Lebanese Information minister, Ghazi Aridi, said "political differences among Arab states, and different readings" of the conflict have delayed the implementation of the policy. He did not elaborate.
Yeah, the Israelis are really escalating the conflict, primarily by being near enough to homicide bombers to get blown up.
It's a joke anyway. Who cares at all what these two countries have to say about the conflict? The only thing that both countries are good at is losing wars.
Let's see. . .Arafat tried to take over Jordan, so Jordan doesn't want Amman as the capital.
Egypt's papers routinely praise Hitler--and fault him for not finishing the job.
Now, Egypt and Jordan squint through the looking glass from their Orwellian rat holes where the sky is red. . . .
. . . and "condemn Israel's military escalation". . . .
I missed their condemning blowing up innocent civilians--oh, that's right: They praise that.
Then they should welcome all the Palestinians with open arms--at least until the Palis start shooting five year old Jordanian and Egyptian girls in their beds. . . .
...aa ..bu ...nevermind :(
Land for peace means no peace, no land.
I dont think that it would take very many such retalitory bombings before their funerals would be held in doors and not be such public displays. Also, it's easier to say "I will die for my cause" than to realize that if you carry out the attack, you could be causing the death of many of your friends and family.
Israel can only stand by for so long.
Which line to help the Palestinians are Egypt and Jordan standing in?
When are the Arab brothers going to give anything but rhetoric to the Palestinians?
Sounds harsh. But one has to wonder what else possibly could disincentivize these kids from blowing themselves up---knowing mama and papa and brothers and sisters will bite the bullet, too?
Throughout history many regimes have used this tactic (killing the family) with sucess, usually to prevent disloyal acts or other betrayal.
When you see the photos of Pali parents and their smiling children---with the kids wearing fake shaheed belts for fun---it seems the next generation will be even more eager to murder and die.
if someone keeps punching you in the face, and you cant escape or negotiate, the solution is not to block the punches.
the solution is to eliminate the source of them.
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