Ambassador emphasizes Israel, Iraq

In a discussion held Monday night in Whittenberger Auditorium, Jordan’s Prince and Ambassador to the United States Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein emphasized the need for negotiations to solve issues in two main areas in the Middle East – Iraq and Israel.

The auditorium was filled for the talk, during which the Jordanian ambassador to the United States sat at a table with Feisal Istrabadi, a former Iraqi U.N. Ambassador and visiting law professor. The talk focused on a range of topics, including Jordan’s position in ongoing conflicts and actions Zeid thought the United States could take.

The first topic, which Istrabadi described as “the most important issue in the Middle East,” focused on Iraq, which Zeid has connections to – his father was head of the royal house of Iraq.

Many people have misconceptions about members of the Shiite and Sunni sects of Islam, he said, noting that the two groups have lived relatively peacefully with clashes arising from other nations. The groups shouldn’t be separated because of recent conflicts, he added.

“They can live together,” Zeid said. “What we should be doing is showing them it’s entirely possible.”

Because Jordan is politically even-handed with many surrounding countries, Zeid said half a million Iraqis have emigrated there, which is the equivalent of 30 million Iraqis coming to the United States, he said. The country is open to those seeking refuge as a service and a duty to Iraq, he added.

“We hope the situation in Iraq stays such that they’ll be able to go home,” he said
On the issue of Israel, Zeid said the reason no agreement has been reached is because of the belief that there is an alternate route. But, he said, there’s “no other way.”

“Having a wall there simply won’t solve your problems,” he said of to the wall under construction that partly divides Israel from Palestinian settlements in the West Bank. “The problem has to be solved through negotiations, settlement.”

The situation tends to draw other countries in, so it will fall upon whoever wins the presidential election to keep relations with Israel a priority, Zeid said.

Senior Stephanie Pollack said she enjoyed the talk. Pollack, who has visited Israel and has friends there, said Zeid’s comments about Israel were especially interesting to hear after having traveled to the country and seeing the country firsthand.

The Student Alliance for National Security co-sponsored the talk with the IU School of Law. SANS Director Miles Taylor said audience members told him how surprised they were at how even-keeled Zeid was in answering questions about divisive issues, which Taylor said he thought spoke to Jordan’s fairness in political affairs in general.

“It was a good talk,” he said. “It’s not enough to say he’s extremely eloquent.”

Pollack said she liked that the talk had more of a discussion than lecture format and thought Zeid and Istrabadi “played off of each other very well.”