His Majesty King Abdullah’s meeting in Washington with leaders of a number of Arab and Muslim organisations based in the US aimed foremost at keeping them apprised of the regional conflicts, and of Jordan’s position and role in bringing these conflicts to a just and peaceful resolution.
Another purpose was to mobilise these institutions to support the just Arab and Muslim causes.
Arab and Muslim voices need to be heard in various US circles and understood correctly.
It is no secret that some issues concerning Arabs, Muslims in general, are dealt with unfairly in the US, including in the media, and this may, and sometimes does, lead to hostility, Islamophobia and even blind association of terrorism with Islam and Arabs.
The King wishes to put the record straight on the Israeli-Palestinian and Syrian conflicts, and where Jordan stands on them.
Jordan has consistently fought for a just and durable solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian problem, based on the two-sate solution. But one country alone can do little to help; Arabs and Muslims, in the US and everywhere else, are called upon to support this sincere Arab yearning for peace.
In the case of Syria, whose raging three-year-old conflict gave rise to both regional and international concerns, Jordan wishes to see a peaceful resolution based on an all-inclusive democracy that preserves the territorial integrity of the country and ushers in a new era based on pluralistic democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights.
The Monarch’s attempt to engage Arab and Muslim leaders in the US in the efforts to find solutions to some of the major crises in the Middle East came on the eve of his meeting with US President Barack Obama, with whom the King is expected to discuss the major conflicts in the region and ways to find solutions to them.
