Abbas Tears off the Mask
For years, America, Britain and the EU have insisted that Mahmoud Abbas is a moderate and a statesman-in-waiting who deserves to be rewarded with a state of Palestine. For years, they have insisted that he is prepared to live alongside the state of Israel. For years, they have blamed Israel for intransigence in not believing this and thus not agreeing to give him land that they thought he would use to threaten the lives of its citizens.
For years some of us have argued that Abbas should be considered instead a political and diplomatic pariah. We have said he is a deep-dyed antisemite, having written his “doctoral” thesis on denying the Holocaust. We have drawn attention to his regime teaching its children about seizing the whole of Israel, and that their greatest goal should be to murder Jews.
Jordan’s King Abdullah disrespects America because he can
Vice President Mike Pence met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman, Jordan on Sunday and praised the U.S.-Jordan alliance. In particular, Pence applauded Jordan’s role in the campaign that defeated the Islamic State caliphate in Syria and Jordan.
Abdullah was less enthusiastic.
Sitting next to Pence, Abdullah reinstated his outspoken opposition to President Donald Trump’s December 6 announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and committing the U.S. to moving its embassy to Jerusalem, in accordance with U.S. law.
Last month, Abdullah attacked Trump’s move and referred to it as “null and void.” In the weeks that followed Trump’s December 6 announcement, Abdullah went to Europe to lobby European governments to oppose the American move.