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H. Murad: Address to World Summit 2013
Written by Dr. Hamdi Murad, Professor, World Islamic Sciences and Education University, Jordan
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Prepared text
In the name of God the Merciful we pray for peace upon all the prophets, messengers, and believers who are carrying love, harmony, coexistence, and the call for tolerance, true security, true peace, and true justice in the world. May God's mercy, blessings, and peace be upon you all.
The Arab region is still living in the so-called Arab spring, both those who have experienced change but did not yet reap its harvest, and the ones who are still seeking reform and change.
We believe that the maturity of democracy, social justice, economic development, security, and stability are all essential and necessary in Arab societies and other societies, and this requires more joint Arab cooperation in addition to international and global cooperation with the peoples of Arab countries.
We believe that the international community has a mission to support the Arab peoples in the process of reform and transformation toward justice, democracy, and human dignity. This means that the international community also has to move with full force to stand in the face of the dictatorial regimes and thwart their plans and crimes against their peoples -- not to remain silent or stand by hesitating to move against these bloody and unjust regimes.
The Middle East region is still experiencing tensions instead of peace, especially between the Palestinians and Israelis, although the way to resolve this outstanding problem is easy and clear, following the realistic vision, laws, and international conventions and resolutions of the United Nations and its Security Council.
- Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories it has occupied since 1967 and return to its borders before the occupation of June 6, 1967, including East Jerusalem,
- Evacuate all the settlements that were established by Israel after 1967 on the occupied Palestinian territories,
- Establish an independent Palestinian state on all the territories that were occupied by Israel in 1967, including East Jerusalem, without any settlements on the occupied land,
- The United Nations and its Security Council take over protecting the security and stability of the Israeli state and its neighbor, the Palestinian state, following international laws and norms,
- And, thereafter, make neighborly relations based on lasting reconciliation and mutual cooperation between the two states, Israeli and Palestinian, and also with the other Arabic countries, in addition to building bridges of good relationships between the Palestinians and Israelis.
We do not believe that the policy of dialogue which lasted for decades created any results on the ground; instead, it actually worsened, complicated, and deepened the occupation. The time has come for the international community, if it wants real peace in the Middle East between the Israelis and Palestinians, to impose this equitable solution, which is expressed in dozens of UN Security Council resolutions. These resolutions have not been applied between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but on the contrary the situation has gotten worse.
We are not talking here about the peace agreements between Israel and Jordan or Israel and Egypt, because they are subsidiary. The origin is the Palestinian people's issue -- first and last -- and the need is for true peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Without this we do not believe that any peace between them could be true or realistic or fair. Throughout the long decades from 1967 until this day, the peace process has gone backward and not forward.
We may want to talk about establishing peace, security, and human development in the Middle East. But this cannot happen in the absence of a clear solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians, imposed by the international community, which establishes an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the Palestinian territories that have been occupied since 1967.
My wish is that our conference can contribute through its blessed efforts in the Middle East to mitigate this crisis, for which there is no equivalent in the world, through the work of Ambassadors for Peace and the leaders of the Universal Peace Federation who are passionate about peace in the Middle East and beyond.
I believe that in Jordan, our king, our government, and our people are always seeking to achieve peace in this region and especially between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We pray to God Almighty, from the sincerity of our hearts and souls, for security and peace to be achieved in the world generally and in the Middle East particularly.
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