yolland
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Interesting interview with Egypt's new foreign minister, Nabil Elaraby in Slate.
SLATE: Don't you think that [Fatah-Hamas reconciliation] makes any agreement with Israel impossible?
ELARABY: No. Who is going to negotiate with Israel? It is the PLO, not Hamas. They have accepted many things—that they will be a government of technocrats. Salam Fayyad might be the prime minister. There will be elections. Maybe [in] the elections Hamas will lose. Who knows? I don't know why the US government was lukewarm at first and then became hostile.
S: As you know, Hamas is on our terrorist list.
E: You want my answer? So was George Washington for the British. So was Nelson Mandela in South Africa. So were Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir. Begin was one of the biggest terrorists and was responsible for the bombing of the King David Hotel. Shamir was responsible for the assassination of Count Bernadotte. And they worked for peace after that. Allow someone who is fighting for a cause to see the light of day at the end of the tunnel and to enter into peace. That is the history of the world.
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S: The problem with Hamas is that they don't accept Israel.
E: Let's say you have a government—take any government, take Israel. There are leftists, rightists, Marxists—whatever they are. The main thing is that they [Hamas] accept there will be negotiations with Israel. We would like to see a recognition of the state of Palestine by the overwhelming majority of member states [of the United Nations]. We took the cue from what President Obama said last year, that he would like to see a state of Palestine by next September.
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S: I read that the majority of Egyptians want to abrogate the treaty with Israel. What kind of relations do you want to have with Israel?
E: Egypt is going to comply with every agreement and abide by every treaty it has entered into. That is the goal of treaties.
S: Moving from Palestine to Iran, you recently said Egypt intends to normalize relations with Iran.
E: No, never. I said Egypt has turned a page with every country in the world. I never specified Iran. [I was] asked if this included Iran, and I said yes. We don't want to look backward; we want to look forward. No decision has been made on Iran. Every country in the world has relations with Iran except three—[the United States], Egypt, and Israel...Your closest friends and allies—the UK and France and Germany—all have diplomatic relations with Iran. I don't see the problem. All your allies have relations with Iran.
S: Officials in the United States are concerned about the direction of Egyptian foreign policy. Will Egypt drift away from its close alliance with the United States?
E: I think they are going to be closer than ever.
S: Do you want that?
E: Yes, I have told Secretary Clinton and the various senators I have met that I want that.