Israel Matzav

US joining Alliance of Civilizations

In yet another attempt to kiss up to Muslim countries, the Obama administration has signed up the United States for the Alliance of Civilizations:

The Alliance of Civilizations is an initiative proposed by the President of the Government of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, at the 59th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in 2005. It was co-sponsored by the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The initiative seeks to galvanize international action against extremism through the forging of international, intercultural and interreligious dialogue and cooperation. The Alliance places a particular emphasis on defusing tensions between the Western and the Islamic world.

But of course. And the Alliance's positions on Israel?

The Alliance of Civilizations, created to oppose the clash of civilizations, that is jihad, has also added pressure. On 13 November 2006, the High-Level Group of the Alliance of Civilizations presented its report, which sums up the request of the OIC at its Mecca Summit in 2005, after the Cartoons affair. First, it adopts the Islamic view of history and politics by claiming that everything was fine between the three monotheistic religions until the 19th century, when the evil of European colonialism and Zionism destroyed this harmony."

... the Alliance "affirms that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the main source of Christian-Muslim antagonism, not the jihadist war and ideology that deny for others the right to exist.

Why wasn't the US a member of the Alliance until now?

The Bush administration boycotted the group when it was established in 2005, out of fear that it would be used to advance anti-Western agendas – a fear that subsequently came true a year later, when it issued a report blaming Israel and the U.S. for most of the world's problems.

And since Bush refused to join it, the anti-Bush just has to join it. But don't worry, the Alliance has promised to behave itself.

Until now, the U.S. had been the only G-20 country that was not a member. American officials said that the decision to join was made after the current head of the group, former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, said that it would attempt to have a “more positive” view of Israel.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:26 AM