Israel Matzav

Al-Quds Al-Arabi: Change to Saudi plan?; UPDATE: UN Flag to fly over Jerusalem Holy sites

Israel Radio reports that the London-based pan-Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi reports that the Obama administration has asked Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to make changes to the 'Saudi plan' to address some of Israel's concerns. The changes would provide that 'Palestinian refugees' would receive citizenship in the Arab countries in which they currently reside, although they would still have the right to settle in the 'Palestinian state' (but apparently not in Israel).

Good luck with that. The odds of the Arab countries - which have used the 'right of return' to hold the 'Palestinians' hostage for more than 60 years - accepting what is in effect the abandonment of the 'right of return' are somewhere between slim and none.

UPDATE 12:10 PM

Arutz Sheva adds this little detail from the al-Quds article:

President Obama also reportedly told the king that he wants the United Nations flag raised over holy sites in eastern Jerusalem, where the PA would have total sovereignty under the Saudi plan.

Oh and remember how Obama told AIPAC last year that Jerusalem should remain united under Israeli sovereignty and then quickly backtracked? Listen to this:

The president’s master plan calls for Arab countries to set a timetable for raising the Israeli flag in their capitals, a sign of recognition of the Jewish State. Simultaneously, the PA flag would be raised in Jerusalem neighborhoods, a move that would virtually make the Fatah-led government the de facto government in a significant portion of the Jewish capital.

And here's a historical fact that I didn't know:

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, whose father was an underground fighter in pre-state Israel during the British Mandate, has said he is anxious to arrange an Arab-Israel peace ceremony, as he did during the Clinton administration. It was Rahm Emanuel who staged the handshake between former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, then-head of the Palestine Liberation Organization that he founded as a terrorist group.

I wonder if Emanuel's father shows his face in public these days. If so, he ought to be ashamed of his traitorous son.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:00 AM