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There Are Going To Be A Lot Of Questions, Not Just In My Country, But Across The Middle East. Is Israel Going To Continue To Be "fortress Israel"? Or, As We All Hope, Become Accepted Into The Neighborhood, Which I Believe Is The Only Way We Can Move Forward In Harmony. And No Matter What's Happening In The Middle East - The Arab Spring, Et Cetera, The Economic Challenges, High Rates Of Unemployment - The Emotional, Critical Issue Is Always The Israeli-palestinian One.

-Abdallah II

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There Are Going To

Abdallah II

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There Are Going To Be A Lot Of Questions, Not Just In My Country, But Across The Middle East. Is Israel Going To Continue To Be "fortress Israel"? Or, As We All Hope, Become Accepted Into The Neighborhood, Which I Believe Is The Only Way We Can Move Forward In Harmony. And No Matter What's Happening In The Middle East - The Arab Spring, Et Cetera, The Economic Challenges, High Rates Of Unemployment - The Emotional, Critical Issue Is Always The Israeli-palestinian One.

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Political Development Should Start At The Grassroots.

What Keeps Me Up At Night Is Poverty And Unemployment.

Is Israel Going To Continue To Be 'fortress Israel'? Or, As We All Hope, Become Accepted Into The Neighborhood, Which I Believe Is The Only Way We Can Move Forward In Harmony.

If You Look At Military And Intelligence Positions From The 1950s, The Israeli-palestinian Conflict Has Always Been Against American National Interests.

I've Benefited From The Best Of Both Societies And Both Cultures, East And West.

We Want To Be, I Think, An Example For The Rest Of The Arab World, Because There Are A Lot Of People Who Say That The Only Democracy You Can Have In The Middle East Is The Muslim Brotherhood.

If You Believe That The Killing Of Innocent People Is Right, Then You Are Not Part Of My Future.

Our Response Has Been, "well, Let's Then Make An Effort To Get The Israelis And The Palestinians To Sit Around The Table." That Hasn't Happened. So We Only Have Ourselves To Blame For This Crisis.

If Everybody Is Happy, Then Something Is Wrong With The Democratic Process.

Democratic Process

The Arab World Is Writing A New Future; The Pen Is In Our Own Hands.

Blowing Up Buses Will Not Induce The Israelis To Move Forward, And Neither Will The Killing Of Palestinians Or The Demolition Of Their Homes And Their Future. All This Needs To Stop. And We Pledge That Jordan Will Do Its Utmost To Help Achieve It.

Mr. President, Prime Ministers, Let Us Have Ambitions: Ambitions To Move Beyond The Violence And Occupation, To The Day When Two States, Palestine And Israel, Can Live Together Side By Side In Peace And Security.

When There's A Status Quo, Usually What Shakes Everybody Up Is Some Sort Of Military Confrontation, At Which Point We All Come Running And Screaming To Pick Up The Pieces.

I Think It's Almost Impossible For Any Expert To Predict For The Rapid Changes We See In The Middle East. They Are Rapid And They Will Continue For Quite A While.

The Security And The Future Of Jordan Is Hand-in-hand With The Future Of The Palestinians And The Israelis.

We Have Peace With Israel. We're Actually The Last Man Standing. So There Is Going To Be Immense Pressure And People Asking, 'why Are We Having This Relationship When It's Not Benefiting Anybody?' Obviously, My Answer Is You Always Benefit From Peace.

I'm Just Very Wary That Once You Start Military Operations In Any Country, It's Very Difficult To Predict What The Outcome Is.

Through Hamas, Iran Has Been Able To Buy Itself A Seat On The Table In Talking About The Palestinian Issue. And, As A Result, Through Hamas It Does Play A Role In The Issue Of The Palestinians, As Strange As That Should Sound.

Prime Minister Sharon, Prime Minister Abbas, I Urge You Today To End The Designs Of Those Who Seek Destruction, Annihilation And Occupation, And I Urge You To Have The Will And The Courage To Begin To Realize Our Dreams Of Peace, Prosperity And Coexistence.

I Look At Jerusalem As Being A Beacon For The Three Monotheistic Religions.

Many Occasions I've Sat Down With Israelis To Say, Where Do You See Your Country In 10 Years Time, And Work Me Back, So We Can Figure Out The Synergies And The Connections Between Israel And The Rest Of The Arab World. No Israeli Has Ever Been Able To Answer That Question.

There Are Going To Be A Lot Of Questions, Not Just In My Country, But Across The Middle East. Is Israel Going To Continue To Be "fortress Israel"? Or, As We All Hope, Become Accepted Into The Neighborhood, Which I Believe Is The Only Way We Can Move Forward In Harmony. And No Matter What's Happening In The Middle East - The Arab Spring, Et Cetera, The Economic Challenges, High Rates Of Unemployment - The Emotional, Critical Issue Is Always The Israeli-palestinian One.

When I Talk To People In Need, They Tell Me They Want To Hope; They Are Eager For Opportunity; They Are Ready For Better Days. And I Can Tell You That Every Time Their Hopes Are Disappointed, All Nations Lose.

Many Will View The Compromises That Will Be Made During Your Negotiations As Painful Concessions. But Why Not View Them As Peace Offerings, Ones That Will Provide In Return The Priceless Gifts Of Hope, Security And Freedom For Our Children And Our Children's?

At The End Of The Day We Want To Bring Stability And Hope To Iraq. That's The Only Way To Defeat Terrorism.

The End Of The Day

Extremists, Who Thrive On Conflict; Who Do Not Tolerate Diversity; Who Seek Power Through Division And Destruction. The Global System They Hope To Create Is One Of New Walls And New Isolation, And Radically Smaller Horizons. It Is An Anti-democratic, Anti-economic-growth, And Anti-progress Agenda.

Historic Changes And Challenges. Breakthroughs In Human Knowledge And Opportunity. And Yet, For Vast Numbers Across The Globe, The Daily Realities Have Not Altered.

Over The Past Few Years, The Road To Confrontation Has Shown Its Consequences: Loss Of Innocent Lives, Destruction And Fear. Most Costly, However, Was The Loss Of Hope. The Most Precious Gift That You Can Present To Your Peoples Over The Coming Weeks Is Renewed Hope Born Out Of Tangible Progress On The Ground.

I Think This Is Really A Defining Moment For The Arab World. The Problem Is, It Is All Going To Be About Blood, Sweat And Tears. In Certain Countries It May Be Just Sweat, And In Some Countries Sweat And Tears, And In Some Countries, As You Can See, A Lot Of Blood. I Think Initial Instability Is Something That We Are All Extremely Nervous Of.

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For Me, I Am Left Leaning When It Comes To Health And Education, On The Right When It Comes To Defense. So I Don't Know Where I Come On The Political Spectrum. And I Think This The Challenge That A Lot Of Jordanians Have To Deal With.

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In Our View, Successful Reform Is Not An Event. It Is A Sustainable Process That Will Build On Its Own Successes - A Virtuous Cycle Of Change.

Jerusalem Is A Time Bomb That I Fear Is Just Waiting To Go Off.

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The Arab Spring I Think We Will Look Back Whether It's Two Years, Five Years, Ten Or Fifteen. And Say It's A Good Thing.

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I Like To Look At The Glass Half Full.

Chemical Weapons Are Something That Scares Everybody.

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I Believe Nuclear Energy In Jordan Will Be Done In Such A Way Where It Is A Public-private Partnership So Everyone Can See Exactly What's Going On.

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When We Try To Push The Envelope, There Are Certain Sectors Of Society That Say This Is A Zionist Plot To Sort Of Destabilize Our Country, Or This Is An American Agenda.

It Is Always Dangerous To Underestimate Anybody.

Don't Take 'no' For An Answer.

I Don't Think The Middle East Could Afford Another War.

I Think The Debate In Our Society Now Is That People Have To Agree On Zero-tolerance To Terrorism.

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