Queen Noor of Jordan charged today that the United States, by its continued support and financial aid to Israel, encourages a continuation of what she said was Israel’s abuse of human rights of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
“It is time that you see that your generous aid grants are not being used in the service of extremism and denial of a people’s fundamental human and political rights,” she said in an address to a luncheon sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Washington at the Madison Hotel.
“It is time that you wield your influence in a more even-handed manner on both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide. It is time you reaffirmed to yourselves, and to both Arabs and Israelis, that you will neither tolerate nor finance the abuse of human rights, even if the abuses are perpetuated by a nation you consider a close friend.”
The Queen, who was born in Washington, said Israel’s actions against the Palestinans were aimed at driving them out of the area. “Ever since 1967, and its occupation by force of Arab territories, Israel has been in the process of trying to retain its illegal hold on those lands — changing their demographic character and annihilating the national existence of the people that have lived on this land for all the time,” she said.
She maintained that her husband, King Hussein, “has made it his priority to reach agreement with the Palestinian leadership on a political formula to enter into negotiations for a regional peace settlement with Israel.” She did not refer to Hussein’s statement last night, refusing any negotiations with Israel at this time.
HUSSEIN AGAIN RULES OUT TALKS
Queen Noor’s address followed yesterday’s appearance by Hussein from Amman on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation” in which the King again ruled out negotiations for the present. “We want a basis for ainegotiation and we can’t find it so far,” he said. Hussein stunned the White House last week with a sharp attack on U.S. Mideast policy in an interview with The New York Times. It came a day after President Reagan, addressing the National United Jewish Appeal Young Leadership Conference in Washington, urged American Jewry to support the sale of U.S. arms to Jordan.
Hussein said yesterday that if the move in Congress succeeds to deny Jordan the Stinger mobile ground-to-air missile, Jordan will seek arms elsewhere. “We need very very badly, but not at this kind of price,” he said. He added that if the price of the missiles means “for the dignity of Jordan to be affected, then it’s too big a price for us to pay in this way.”
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