The Oslo architects' "New Middle East" appears to be on the verge of becoming a reality - that is, if this week's Jordan Times is any indication. According to the Wednesday edition of the paper, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi has invited Israel to actually join the Arab League. Following is an excerpt from the Jordan Times article:
?If you want us to recognize Israel, I have no objections. But I have three conditions,? Gadhafi said behind closed doors at an Arab summit after demanding that his speech not be broadcast live by Jordan Television. ?All the Palestinians must return to the occupied territories, Israel must agree to eliminate weapons of mass destruction and solve the question of Jerusalem,? Gadhafi said. ?Then, and only then, we can recognize Israel and even invite it to join us in the Arab League,? he said as he broke out in laughter, said the official who declined to be identified. But if Israel refuses to accept Gadhafi's offer, the Libyan leader urged the Arabs to ?wage an armed resistance? against the Jewish state.
Showing an unusual degree of tolerance, Gadhafi "Derid[ed] Arabs for being 'obsessed' with liberating the holy shrines of Arab East Jerusalem from Israeli occupation: 'You solve it or you don't, it's just a mosque and I can pray anywhere," he said." The Times was quick to note that the Libyan dictator "was referring to Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine. Palestinians call their six-month-old revolt against Israeli occupation the Aqsa Intifada." Also citing the official French news agency, AFP, the Times quotes Gadhafi as asserting: ?Jerusalem is only a mosque. It is not important where we stay...It (Jerusalem) is even a holy place for the Jews.?
?If you want us to recognize Israel, I have no objections. But I have three conditions,? Gadhafi said behind closed doors at an Arab summit after demanding that his speech not be broadcast live by Jordan Television. ?All the Palestinians must return to the occupied territories, Israel must agree to eliminate weapons of mass destruction and solve the question of Jerusalem,? Gadhafi said. ?Then, and only then, we can recognize Israel and even invite it to join us in the Arab League,? he said as he broke out in laughter, said the official who declined to be identified. But if Israel refuses to accept Gadhafi's offer, the Libyan leader urged the Arabs to ?wage an armed resistance? against the Jewish state.
Showing an unusual degree of tolerance, Gadhafi "Derid[ed] Arabs for being 'obsessed' with liberating the holy shrines of Arab East Jerusalem from Israeli occupation: 'You solve it or you don't, it's just a mosque and I can pray anywhere," he said." The Times was quick to note that the Libyan dictator "was referring to Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine. Palestinians call their six-month-old revolt against Israeli occupation the Aqsa Intifada." Also citing the official French news agency, AFP, the Times quotes Gadhafi as asserting: ?Jerusalem is only a mosque. It is not important where we stay...It (Jerusalem) is even a holy place for the Jews.?