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| Israel-Palestine |
| Mubarak: Sharon can make peace |
| 2004-12-06 |
| Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday described Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as the Palestinians' best chance for peace. Mubarak's comments echoed those of his foreign minister, who returned the day before from a rare trip to Israel, that were strikingly upbeat and could mean warming relations between the Jewish state and an important Middle East peace mediator at a crucial time. "I think if they [Palestinians] can't achieve progress in the time of the current [Israeli] prime minister, it will be very difficult to make any progress in peace. He [Sharon] is capable of pursuing peace, and he is capable of reaching solutions, if he wants to," Mubarak told reporters in Port Said, where he had gone to inaugurate a new port project. Mubarak urged the Palestinians, who are to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat on January 9, to unite behind Mahmoud Abbas, the interim Palestinian leader. He criticized rival Marwan Barghouti's decision to run in the election. "Israel's prime minister said he was ready to do what the Palestinians want, to facilitate the election and help in removing the checkpoints. He only asks for one thing: the end of the explosions, so they can work together on a solid basis," Mubarak said. Israel will not launch attacks or raids against Palestinians if the situation remains calm and it is not provoked, Sharon said at a meeting of newspaper editors on Thursday. However, Israel would act if it had information about "ticking bombs" or if Palestinians fired rockets at Israel, he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Abbas beating Bargouti, and Mubarak pushing Pals to vote for Abbas against Bargouti, may not be everything wed want, buts its a good step. Mubarak telling Pals that Sharon is their best chance for peace, is a massive piece of reality centeredness on his part - something not only other arabs need to know, but lots of people in the West. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-12-06 11:51:41 AM |
| #3 Mubarak is a no good hypocrite who does what is convenient for him at the moment. We should not judge him by his declarations but by what he does. Egypt had a large part in the weapon smuggling into Gaza through the egyptian border. They have their own agenda to push (which we should not blame them for) and we must not be misled by PR stunts they ocassionaly perform. |
| Posted by: Elder of Zion 2004-12-06 10:27:41 AM |
| #2 That will be hard for him, BaR. Mubarak's government sponsored a 10-part TV special based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion during Ramadan last year. The ancient Jewish communities of Egypt, some founded during the time of Alexander the Great, were eradicated after 1948. And how can the West demand such things of the Muslim world, when our own universities teach that Israel is the root of all evil? (I have a 14 year old daughter who will head to a good university in a few years -- if she keeps up her grades. She tests for her black belt this Friday, and does not tolerate idiocy well. I am very concerned about her college experience, as they like to call it.) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-12-06 6:18:32 AM |
| #1 Mubarak urged the Palestinians, who are to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat on January 9, to unite behind Mahmoud Abbas, the interim Palestinian leader. Uniting behind Mazen is not enough. The Paleos need to give up the Jew-hating. They must stop the constant conspiring to attack Israel, the constant teaching of Jew-hatred in Paleo schools, and crush all the organizations dedicated to Jew-hating. There must be no ground given to the Paleos until these things happen. Is Mubarak willing to lead the way? He can, by making these points nice and clear. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-12-06 1:11:29 AM |