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.
ABDULLAH IIIt’s a burden, but it needs to be done, and you have to have the courage and wisdom to see it through.
More Abdullah II Quotes
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There are so many different sub-societies inside of Syria.
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I believe strongly in the rights of women… my mother is a woman, my sister is a woman, my daughter is a woman, my wife is a woman.
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We have peace with Israel. We’re actually the last man standing. So there is going to be immense pressure and people asking,
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Jerusalem is a time bomb that I fear is just waiting to go off.
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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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And 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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The monarchy that I hand over to my son is not going to be the same one that I have inherited.
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And it’s about time that officials take their responsibility and are responsible in front of the people. Because today, if you’re appointed by the king, they don’t feel that they’re responsible for the people.
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For me, I am left leaning when it comes to health and education, on the right when it comes to defense. So I don’t know where I come on the political spectrum. And I think this the challenge that a lot of Jordanians have to deal with.
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The incentive that you give to your youth is going to be the make-or-break future of the country.
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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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I don’t think the Middle East could afford another war.
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We’re never going to be able to get rid of terrorism, because there is always going to be evil in the world.
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It is always dangerous to underestimate anybody.
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You’re always going to have terrorism.
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Extremists, who thrive on conflict; who do not tolerate diversity; who seek power through division and destruction.
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Over the past few years, the road to confrontation has shown its consequences: loss of innocent lives, destruction and fear. Most costly, however, was the loss of hope.
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The global system they hope to create is one of new walls and new isolation, and radically smaller horizons. It is an anti-democratic, anti-economic-growth, and anti-progress agenda.
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Peace with Israel is a strategic imperative for Jordan.
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Many will view the compromises that will be made during your negotiations as painful concessions. But why not view them as peace offerings,
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In our view, successful reform is not an event. It is a sustainable process that will build on its own successes – a virtuous cycle of change.
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I think the success of democracy is not really police security; it’s the presence of a broad middle class.
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What keeps me up at night is poverty and unemployment.
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Is Israel going to continue to be ‘Fortress Israel’? Or, as we all hope, become accepted into the neighborhood, which I believe is the only way we can move forward in harmony.
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If everybody is happy, then something is wrong with the democratic process.
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That frustration does translate into the political sphere when people are hungry and without jobs.
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