00:00I'd like to start by asking you for your response to the latest comments made by the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee,
00:08who has suggested that a two-state solution is not really one of Washington's policy goals right now.
00:15And he's also floated this idea of somehow carving out a state for Palestinians using territory from existing Muslim countries.
00:23What do you make of that?
00:24There are two parts to – first of all, thank you for having me on.
00:30There are two parts to the question.
00:31I'll begin with the latter part in reference to what the ambassador had to say about Arab Muslim countries carving out space for Palestinian states
00:41and then move on to where Washington is on this important question.
00:46Mr. Huckabee, from all I know about him and his background, has long been in a space of delusion, maybe even lunacy,
00:56that is heavily populated by idiotic ideologues who believe that we Palestinians are an invented people.
01:04So, in a way, of course, what he had to say about this in terms of carving out a space in Arab Muslim countries for Palestinian state is ludicrous.
01:15But it's not surprising, given that particular background.
01:21Only under torture can I see some evolution, maybe positive evolution in his position,
01:26because from where this crowd is, which is not recognizing us as a people and describing Palestinians as an invented people,
01:37well, it seems to me that he has moved on now to recognize that we actually need a state.
01:45Where we back to differ with him, of course, substantially, is on where that state needs to actually be established.
01:51So, obviously, this is delusional. It's not surprising, given his background.
01:57The more important question is where Washington is on this issue.
02:02I noticed from media reporting that the State Department has declined comment on the ambassador's position, or what he had to say.
02:10Ambassadors are known for many things, but the one thing that is constant about what ambassadors are supposed to be and do
02:17is to project the position of their own governments.
02:20So, I hope that the State Department will go beyond declining comment and reaffirm a position or state a position of clarity
02:28as to where it really actually stands on the question of Palestinian statehood.
Comments