By Ted Belman
Don’t forget the Khartoum Conference in ’67 where Arabs declared “no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it.”
Nothing has changed.
Saudi Arabia gave birth to its baby The Saudi Plan just before the invasion of Iraq in the expectation that it would come of age in the Roadmap. Thomas Friedman was the midwife. The Roadmap, making reference to the baby, was announced just days after the invasion. I forcefully recommended that Israel Reject the Roadmap and later traced the genesis of the Roadmap to the Saudis in Perfecting the Unifying Theory. To my mind there was undeniable linkage.
On March ’02, JCPA issued a Brief Saudi Arabia’s Op-Ed Diplomacy:A Public Relations Ploy or a Serious Initiative? and asked rhetorically Has Saudi Arabia’s Position Really Changed? It thought not.
But it was an unwanted baby even from the beginning. It suffered from child neglect but no one called the parent, Saudi Arabia, to account.
Now, apparently, the Saudis have abandoned their baby. Not to worry, Bush and Olmert have adopted it.
This story is so huge that the mainstream media has ignored it. It doesn’t accord with their agenda and spin.
On February 8/07, Saudi Arabia brokered the Mecca Accords stressing unity between Fatah and Hamas and favouring the later. This reflected the split within Saudi Arabia as to which side to support and also its concerns about Iran.
My take was expressed in Saudi Arabia stabs the US in the back
Ever since Hamas was elected a year ago, the US has pursued a policy whereby it sought to isolate Hamas and starve it for money while at the same time building up Abbas as the great white hope. It insisted that Hamas recognize Israel, forswear violence and agree to be bound by all previous agreements. It also provided money to Abbas and trained his security forces to take on Hamas.
Saudi Arabia engineered the Mecca Accords whereby they brought Hamas in from the cold, agreed to finance them to the tune of one billion a year and forced Abbas to turn his back on the US and join in with Hamas. Hamas was not required to change its policy one iota.
In one fell swoop, it gutted American foreign policy in the conflict and left them powerless.
On the signing of the Accords, Hamas Said: We Will Never Recognize Israel
On March 4/07, NYT reported on an historic meeting, Saudi-Iran Meeting Yields Little Substance. Was this true?
The US was not pleased and continued their policy of isolating Hamas. This culminated in the Hamas coup in Gaza on June and I speculated Did US order Fatah to take a dive? . Then confirmed my speculation with Yes, the US orchestrated Fatah’s dive in Gaza.
I argued that the US believed, only by jettisoning Hamas and Gaza could the “peace process” go forward. Obviously a huge rift was developing between the US desire to isolate Hamas and the Saudi desire to keep it in the process. Many European countries are joining the Saudis in this effort. So is Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell and NYT.
In effect, the pro-Hamas people are aligning with Hamas’ policy of rejecting the Roadmap and rejecting recognition of Israel. It would suggest that there never was an intention on the part of the Arab League, which endorsed the Saudi Plan and added the “right of return”, to recognize Israel. They only offered to discuss “normalization” after Israel gave up the land.
Undaunted, last week Bush delivered an insipid version of his vision speech. I reported Bush distinguishes between “must†and “shouldâ€. He announced an international conference which Saudia Arabia and others “should” attend. Within a day, Saudi Arabia declined. Why?
Debka reports because of the rejection of Hamas.
In essence then Hamas, is supported because it rejects recognition of Israel and all its supporters do too.
Asafi: Iran will never recognize Israel
What do I think about the “peace process”? Its all about ending the “occupation†and not about achieving a peace agreement.
Bush and Olmert have already accepted the Saudi Plan providing it ends in recognition.
This, the Arabs are not prepared to do.
