I think it’s almost impossible for any expert to predict for the rapid changes we see in the Middle East. They are rapid and they will continue for quite a while.
ABDULLAH IIOur response has been, “Well, let’s then make an effort to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to sit around the table.” That hasn’t happened. So we only have ourselves to blame for this crisis.
More Abdullah II Quotes
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If you look at military and intelligence positions from the 1950s, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been against American national interests.
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Our response has been, “Well, let’s then make an effort to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to sit around the table.” That hasn’t happened. So we only have ourselves to blame for this crisis.
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Fifty-seven countries in the world, a third of the United Nations, do not recognize Israel. In a way, I think North Korea has better international relations than Israel.
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Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
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I look at Jerusalem as being a beacon for the three monotheistic religions.
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If you have a government that is elected, they need to do the hard work – because if they don’t, they won’t be around the next time the ballot box is open.
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I’m easily entertained.
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I like to look at the glass half full.
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Historic changes and challenges. Breakthroughs in human knowledge and opportunity. And yet, for vast numbers across the globe, the daily realities have not altered.
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No matter what’s happening in the Middle East – the Arab Spring, et cetera, the economic challenges, high rates of unemployment – the emotional, critical issue is always the Israeli-Palestinian one.
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Blowing up buses will not induce the Israelis to move forward, and neither will the killing of Palestinians or the demolition of their homes and their future.
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The Arab Spring I think we will look back whether it’s two years, five years, ten or fifteen. And say it’s a good thing.
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Mr. President, prime ministers, let us have ambitions: ambitions to move beyond the violence and occupation, to the day when two states, Palestine and Israel, can live together side by side in peace and security.
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Earth’s dispossessed are vulnerable targets for extremists: those who teach that global justice is meaningless; that satisfaction can come only in violence, division, and intellectual isolation.
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If you have a government that is elected, they need to do the hard work — because if they don’t, they won’t be around the next time the ballot box is open.
ABDULLAH II