Further evidence that Israel/Palestine is going to be on Obama's front burner. Today in Washington at the National Council on US-Arab Relations, the well-spoken Iraqi Ambassador to the US, Samir Sumaida'ie said the most essential task the new administration faces in the war with Islamic terrorists is resolving the "festering" Arab-Israeli conflict.
"It has to be solved fairly. It has to be solved in a way that provides for the security of all parties and not the security of one over another," he said. "If this problem is solved… it will defuse a lot of the bitterness and hatred that fuel much of this terrorism around the world. I'm not saying this will totally stop terrorism… But it will pull the rug from under the feet of the terrorists… That one issue is at the core of it."
Great, helpful. Obvious. I think Obama's going to push, too, especially with the lobby weakened by Bernard Madoff. And by the way, compare Sumaida'ie's comments with Dan Kurtzer's comments at Princeton a couple of years ago. rtsp://128.112.130.84:554/wws/lectures/20060426kurtzerlectureTAPE56K.rm That's the link, I got it bad yesterday. Anyway, Kurtzer keeps talking about the need for Palestinians to guarantee Israel's security, or they don't get a state. It never ends. Israel must have its security guaranteed. And meanwhile it utterly demolishes any hope for a fulfilling life let alone a functioning government in what's left of Palestine for the Arabs. It's just not fair. That's Sumaida'ie's word: fair.
