Mar
30
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
AMMAN, Jordan — Hugh Robertson, Britain’s minister of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, has opposed calls to arm the Syrian rebels, instead insisting that all sides need to return to the negotiating table.
“Generally speaking if you want to end a war, arming both sides is not the way to do it,†he told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview on March 26, on the sidelines of his tour of Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Robertson noted that Britain has additional motivation for peace because of the presence of some 400 British jihadists that are fighting in Syria. “This increases the importance of a political settlement in Syria. Without it, there will be instability, which will increase extremism and bring about an increase of jihadists.â€
On the Palestinian peace process, Robertson noted that his government does not recognize Israel as a Jewish state and does not back demands for Palestinians to do so.
Robertson admitted that the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip amounts to collective punishment, but laid the blame for the humanitarian situation on Hamas, which he called a “terrorist†organization. “The single best thing to alleviate the situation in Gaza is to have progress in the peace talks,†he said.
Talking about US President Barack Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Robertson stressed the need for the West to “stand by our traditional allies†in the Gulf, noting that Gulf states felt an “existential threat†posed by Iran’s nuclear program.
When asked if success over Iran’s nuclear talks would result in greater pressure on Israel over its nuclear program, Robertson said it had not been mentioned. Continue Reading »
Mar
30
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
When Palestinian leaders agreed to suspend their efforts to join various United Nations agencies last summer, the United States assured them that all 104 long-term Palestinian prisoners held by Israel would be released. This was not the first time that the United States had made such a promise. At the 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh summit, attended by US, Egyptian, Palestinian and Israeli leaders, agreement was reached that these particular prisoners would be released. Nothing happened, however, until last year, when US Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a quid pro quo. Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for Palestine suspending its bid to join UN agencies. Failure to release the prisoners would relieve the Palestinians of their commitment.
The Israelis keep trying to get something new for the same goods. In fact, Israeli attempts to sell the same goods more than once are at the center of a dispute that could blow up this fragile agreement. Israeli officials, including Tzipi Livni, justice minister and head of negotiations, now want the Palestinians to commit to the continuation of the peace talks after the April 29 deadline in return for Israel releasing the last tranche of prisoners. Palestinian officials have rejected this request and warn that they will restart their efforts to join some 63 international agencies if the Israelis carry out their threat not to release the prisoners by the end of March.
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