More prominent Arab leaders speak out against terrorism
December 9th, 2002
On Saturday, King Abdullah II of Jordan made a speech about how the “true voice of Islam” is against terrorism and violence. And while he included the seemingly requisite criticisms of Israel and the “balanced” call for an end to “all” violence, it’s at least a step.
Now Nabil Shaath, a top Palestinian cabinet minister has added his voice to the rising condemnation of violence:
Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said attacks on all Israeli civilians must stop, including on Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. “Stopping targeting Israeli civilians is a step that needs to be implemented,” Shaath said.
I’m sure we could find plenty to criticize in both those leaders’ motives, politics, or even actions. But that’s besides the point. The point is that – whatever their motives – prominent voices are criticizing terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. Hopefully this is the beginning of a trend.
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And don’t forget it was the IAF which
came to Hussein’s aid when the Syrians
invaded Jordan in the ’70’s. When the
Syrians saw the IAF jets ready to pounce on
their tanks they made a quick exit.
Abdullah is the most enlightened out of
all those despots.
The Hashmonite (sp?) Kingdom deserves credit for its efforts fighting terror.
For example, the late elder King Hussein, after the incident when Israeli school kids were murdered by a deranged Jordanian army officer (in Jordan), personally made a point of visiting all the houses of the victims to appologize and console the families–and begged their forgivness.
This move by King Hussein showed a lot of class and real committment.
yes, well while the Jordanian monarchy may be reasonable, a good deal of the Jordanian population is not. While King Hussein was begging for forgiveness, that murderer was being called a hero by much of the civilian population, and lawyers from Amman to Aqaba were lining up to defend that him pro bono.
You make a good point, which I overlooked. I think the stats currently are that 70% of the Jordanian population is “Palestinian”; and there is tention between this group and the Hashmenites (and the monarchy).
This came to the forefront a long time ago, during the infamous “Black September’
The Hashemites realize that their kingdom was built by the British at the expense of what was to be the National Home for the Jews. In any event, the Hashemites have always tried to steer a middle course in their relationship with Israel contrary to the feverish anti-Israel agenda of all their brethren. No doubt Arafat and the PLO’s involvement in the attempted overthrow of King Hussein with the help of the Syrians (noted above as “Black September”) had a further very moderating effect on them. Hussein’s Bedouin army slaughtered thousands of Palestinians and indeed it was none other than the IDF which came to the help of the remnant of the Palestinian insurgents fleeing for their lives.
King Hussein didn’t want anything to do with Yasir Arafat, it was Bill Clinton who brought Arafat out of exile in Tunisia.
I might add that the arabs were very grateful for this. They demonstrated their appreciation by flying jumbo jets into the WTC.