Arab League rhetoric ignores the facts

Thursday's declaration by the Arab League that it favored direct negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel whenever PA President Mahmoud Abbas agrees to participate is the height of arrogance. After all, the intransigence of the very 21 countries that make up the League of Arab States is responsible for the perpetually unsettled political situation in the Middle East and the political and economic isolation of the Palestinian people. Of course, the league is free to continue to blame the situation on Israel, but false rhetoric does not become truthful merely by how often or how vehemently it is repeated. The league issued its declaration after Abbas briefed members of its peace process committee at a meeting in Cairo, according to the Reuters international news service. League members agreed to send a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama outlining Palestinian concerns over the negotiating process with Israel in the face of that country's refusal to extend a 10-month partial ban on settlement construction after Sept. 25, Reuters said. "There is a green light from the Arabs to go to direct negotiations if we receive terms of reference (for the negotiations) in line with the letter," Nabil Abu Rdainah, a senior Abbas aide, told Reuters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants direct negotiations with Abbas to begin immediately, but his coalition is tied to pro-settler political parties that adamantly oppose extending the partial settlement freeze. The prospects for a breakthrough in such talks is, of course, unclear. But nobody should forget how the situation got to this point. Instead of accepting Palestinians and Jews as brothers and neighbors, which they clearly are, Arab states have chosen to keep Palestinians who fled the three wars they started in refugee camps for decades and to keep maintain a constant state of hostilities against Israel, first as warring enemies and now through radical proxy groups.

Iraqi court cuts shoe thrower's 3-year sentence

From Baghdad comes word that an Iraqi judge has cut most of the prison sentence of Muntadar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi broadcaster who infamously threw his shoes at President George W. Bush last year at a press conference. Zaidi was convicted of assaulting a visiting head of state for the attack, according to the Washington Post. The throwing of shoes was said to be a show of disrespect in the Arab world. Bush avoided both thrown shoes but Zaidi was wrestled to the ground and taken away after the attack, which occurred during a Dec. 14 press conference with Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone. Zaidi was convicted in an Iraqi court and sentenced to three years in prison. The April 6 decision, which came as Zaidi's lawyers appealed his sentence, reduced his term to one year. Zaidi, a Sadr City resident who worked for al-Baghdadia, a satellite channel based in Cairo, threw his leather shoes at Bush and shouted, "This is your farewell kiss, you dog," during the news conference, which came during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president. Zaidi said at trial that the attack was the result of his years of anger over the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Post said. Zaidi gained wide fame in the Arab world as a result of the attack, which was broadcast around the world. But three years in prison certainly seemed excessive, since the attack occurred in a country where people get murdered with astonishing regularity. Plus, Bush was able to duck and was not struck by either shoe. Zaidi could be released as early as this fall, according to the Post.