Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, in his speech to the UN General Assembly last night, said that the UN should re-order its priorities, and "end its obsession towards Israel." He continued, "Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, that begins tomorrow is a day of self-reckoning for the Jews, but it is also a proper time for the whole world to do the same."
"The world has begun to understand what Israel has always known," Minister Shalom said. "Terrorism is a challenge to all of mankind, and not just to Israel, and the reaction to this global threat must be global as well. Otherwise, it will not work." He said that Palestinian terrorism is the reason there is no peace in the Middle East.
Earlier this week, Minister Shalom and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Alawi, seated side by side due to alphabetized assigned seats at the United Nations, shook hands and chatted with each other. The Hizbullah terror organization was outraged by the incident, accusing the new Iraqi leader of disgracing Iraq and offending all Arabs and Muslims.
"[It] is a sign of one of the most dangerous goals of the American war on Iraq, yanking Iraq from its place in the Arab and Muslim worlds and sticking it in the U.S.-Zionist political cosmos," said the Hizbullah statement, Reuters reported. "This unacceptable handshake is at once a true insult to the Iraqi people, their history, culture and Islamic and national commitment; and flagrant scorn for the suffering of Palestinian people [sic] and the sentiments of Arabs and Muslims."
Asked about Iraq before the General Assembly meeting, Shalom told reporters, "We would like not to be the only democracy in the Middle East. We would love for Iraq to join us, and after that the rest of the countries in the Middle East. It would bring more stability to the region and more stability to the entire world."
Alawi said this past July that Iraq would make no moves to normalize relations with Israel before the other Arab nations do so as part of a comprehensive Middle East peace treaty.
"The world has begun to understand what Israel has always known," Minister Shalom said. "Terrorism is a challenge to all of mankind, and not just to Israel, and the reaction to this global threat must be global as well. Otherwise, it will not work." He said that Palestinian terrorism is the reason there is no peace in the Middle East.
Earlier this week, Minister Shalom and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Alawi, seated side by side due to alphabetized assigned seats at the United Nations, shook hands and chatted with each other. The Hizbullah terror organization was outraged by the incident, accusing the new Iraqi leader of disgracing Iraq and offending all Arabs and Muslims.
"[It] is a sign of one of the most dangerous goals of the American war on Iraq, yanking Iraq from its place in the Arab and Muslim worlds and sticking it in the U.S.-Zionist political cosmos," said the Hizbullah statement, Reuters reported. "This unacceptable handshake is at once a true insult to the Iraqi people, their history, culture and Islamic and national commitment; and flagrant scorn for the suffering of Palestinian people [sic] and the sentiments of Arabs and Muslims."
Asked about Iraq before the General Assembly meeting, Shalom told reporters, "We would like not to be the only democracy in the Middle East. We would love for Iraq to join us, and after that the rest of the countries in the Middle East. It would bring more stability to the region and more stability to the entire world."
Alawi said this past July that Iraq would make no moves to normalize relations with Israel before the other Arab nations do so as part of a comprehensive Middle East peace treaty.