Thursday, June 19, 2008

Mussa, Peres exchange harsh words


Press TV

"Arab League chief Amr Mussa and Israeli president Shimon Peres have exchanged harsh words about the stalled Middle East peace process.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa withdrew from the session [why was he there to begin with? Is this not normalizing the "Arab" League with Israel while the latter finishes off what is left of Palestine?]after verbal exchanges with Israeli president Shimon Peres over who blocked the Middle East peace process.
The dispute erupted on Wednesday at a conference of Nobel Prize Laureates in the historic Jordanian town of Petra.

Peres said in a speech that Arabs "should follow the path of peace like the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and (late) King Hussein" of Jordan, who both signed peace treaties with Israel, sparking Mussa's ire.

Mussa interrupted Peres and told him: "You are a maestro in talking, but don't take us for granted because we are not fools [as a matter of fact, by their actions, the Arab leaders whom Mussa is defending are worse than fools, they are cowards and their word is worthless; Israel and the whole world knows that!]".

"You talk about peace, but we did not hear Israel's opinion about the Arab peace initiative," Mussa reportedly added.

Mussa was referring to the 2002 plan by which the Arabs offered to fully normalize relations with Israel in return for a full Israeli withdrawal from territories it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

In a tit-for-tat reply Peres said: "We have withdrawn our army from Gaza and removed our settlements there, but Hamas continues to fire rockets. Stop the rockets and we will give you something fair."

But Mussa rebuked him saying: "Stop building settlements. You keep constructing settlements and demolishing Palestinian homes. What peace are you talking about?"

Mussa then stormed out of the room only to return [as if an example of a fool and a coward was needed!] after being persuaded by Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashir, the source added.

Mussa told reporters later that he was forced to respond to Peres' remarks "because Israel was fooling the Arabs by alleging that it was making peace."

A least 280 politicians, economists and academics in addition to 30 Nobel Prize winners are taking part in the conference held under the title "Advancing Access to Science Education as a Critical Driver of Economic Growth and Social Progress." "


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