Reply #29: UAE won't recognize Israel 'til Israel withdraws from Occupied Territories

[Wordie]

That is not "hate" and it's not unreasonable.

BTW, the UAE said this in response to Israeli overtures for setting up diplomatic relations with them in 2004. If Israel believed that the UAE was either a true threat, or that the UAE "hated" them, would they have made the overture, do you think? Essentially, the UAE is saying that until Israel is willing to take meaningful steps towards peace with the Palestinians, it will not recognize Israel. What's unreasonable about that?

The UAE "is fully committed to the Arab peace initiative announced at the Beirut and Algiers summits (in 2002 and March this year) which links any normalisation of ties with Israel with recognition of the Palestinian people's legitimate rights, including their right to the establishment of an independent state with holy Jerusalem as its capital", the source said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/184FCB4A-39BD-4A...

I know that very many people aren't aware that there is more to the issue of recognition of Israel than we frequently hear. Both Human Rights Watch and the UN have declared the Israeli occupation illegal under international law. The non-recognition of Israel isn't a valid reason for the United States to have to nix a deal with the UAE.