Israel’s president praises Saudi king
King Abdullah addresses the Culture of Peace meeting of the UN General Assembly yesterday. — AP pic
Speaking to hundreds of guests in the General Assembly chamber, where Israel has often been villified by its Arab neighbours, Shimon Peres appealed to Abdullah to maintain his leadership in the Arab world during the difficult peace process.
Minutes earlier, Abdullah said it was "high time" the world learned the harsh lesson of history — that differences between followers of different religions and cultures "engendered intolerance, causing devastating wars and considerable bloodshed without any sound logical or ideological justification."
The Saudi monarch, who initiated the two-day UN conference as well as another interfaith meeting in July in Madrid, called for all peoples and nations to promote peace, harmony and tolerance, saying "terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilisation."
When Peres took the floor, he told delegates that building a new future in the Middle East "seems more feasible today in light of the Saudi proposal which evolved into an Arab peace initiative." The 2002 Saudi plan calls for Arab recognition of the Jewish state in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
Then, looking directly at Abdullah, the Israeli president interrupted his prepared speech.
"Your Majesty, the king of Saudi Arabia," Peres said. "I was listening to your message. I wish that your voice will become the prevailing voice of the whole region, of all people. It's right. It's needed. It's promising."
Later, Peres told reporters "the king's initiative created a U-turn in the policies of the Middle East, because until quite recently the formal Arab position was ... based on three `No's' ... no recognition, no negotiation, no peace with Israel."
Peres called the Saudi leader a voice of "frankness" and "understanding."
"There is a real change, basically positive. I don't deny there are open and difficult questions, but if there is a will — as the Arabs are saying — there is a way. What was today demonstrated was the will. We know that we have to work for the way," Peres said.
Both Peres and Abdullah attended a private dinner on Tuesday night for leaders attending the conference, but the Israeli president would not say whether they had any personal contact — or whether he talked with other Arab leaders.
The Saudi king did not directly mention Mideast peace efforts, and he made no mention of criticism from Human Rights Watch and others about Saudi Arabia refusing to allow the public practice of any religion other than Islam.
"Terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilisation," he said, adding that they have appeared because of the absence of tolerance. Abdullah said constructive dialogue among peoples and nations can revive "these lofty ideals."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned the conference that globalisation has increased communal strife, extremist ideologies and the polarisation of societies.
"Anti-Semitism remains a scourge," he said. "Islamaphobia has emerged as a new term for an old and terrible form of prejudice. And other kinds of racism and discrimination show a dismaying persistence."
"One of the great challenges of our time must now surely be to ensure that our rich cultural diversity makes us more secure — not less," Ban said.
That challenge was echoed by other speakers at the conference which continues today with speeches by President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Jordan's King Abdullah II warned that "extremists — Muslim, Christian and Jewish — are thriving on the doubts and divisions" stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I can think of no more effective way to ease East-West and inter-faith tensions" than to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a peace based on justice, respect for international law and the right of all people to live in dignity, he said. — AP
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