A House of Representatives letter asking Saudi King Abdullah to take a "strong leadership role" in the MIddle East has acquired 201 signatures. Circulated by Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Ed Royce (D-Calif.), the AIPAC-backed letter states:
We have been disappointed thus far to see the public reaction of your government to President Obama’s request. Rather than expressing willingness to break down barriers between Arabs and Israelis, your foreign minister asserted that Saudi Arabia could not take any step toward normalization before the return of all Arab land.
We urge you to assert a strong leadership role and help lead the Middle East to a new era of peace and reconciliation by stepping forward with a dramatic gesture toward Israel akin to the steps taken earlier by the leaders of Egypt and Jordan. We believe that such a step on your part can help open the door to a better future and will reinforce the initiative undertaken by President Obama in Cairo.
The names of the signatories are here. The full letter is after the jump:[[READMORE]]
Dear King Abdullah:
We have taken great interest in the Arab Peace Initiative and its evolution over the past few years. We have been encouraged by the possibility that this initiative has offered as an important element in the effort toward peace in the Middle East.
In his address to the Muslim world in Cairo, President Barack Obama called on Arab states to live up to their responsibility and recognize Israeli legitimacy. We believe that the President’s call to the Arab world to move in this direction represents an important request that can open a path to a better future.
We recall that prior successful negotiations leading toward peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors involved direct contact between the parties and a forswearing of war even before any actual movement on the ground. For example, Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem in 1977 in a transformational event that forever changed the nature of Israel’s perception of the Arab world. And Jordan’s King Hussein opened direct ties with Israel well before the realization of the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty.
We have been disappointed thus far to see the public reaction of your government to President Obama’s request. Rather than expressing willingness to break down barriers between Arabs and Israelis, your foreign minister asserted that Saudi Arabia could not take any step toward normalization before the return of all Arab land.
We urge you to assert a strong leadership role and help lead the Middle East to a new era of peace and reconciliation by stepping forward with a dramatic gesture toward Israel akin to the steps taken earlier by the leaders of Egypt and Jordan. We believe that such a step on your part can help open the door to a better future and will reinforce the initiative undertaken by President Obama in Cairo.
Sincerely,
