by Marilyn Silverstein
NJJN Staff Writer

March 06, 2008

The time is ripe for Middle East peace — but time is running out, Jordan’s King Abdullah II told an overflow crowd at Princeton University on Feb. 29.

“Yes, at long last, this year, right now, we are in the best possible position to resolve 60 years of conflict between Israel and Palestine,” Abdullah said, sounding a note of urgency that resounded again and again during his remarks.

“The Arab and Muslim states have committed to an unprecedented and unanimous peace initiative,” he said. “We have a chance to answer this third of the world who are not at peace with Israel and who demand freedom and dignity for the Palestinian people. But time is running out….”

Invited to the university by the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs, Abdullah mixed his urgent call for peace with tough words for Israel. Calling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the “core problem” in the Islamic world, he warned Jerusalem that its security “cannot depend indefinitely on occupation, walls, and the Israeli military.”

Abdullah was in Princeton en route from a Feb. 28 meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York to a scheduled March 4 meeting at the White House with President Bush.

The program in Princeton, which took place as new violence was erupting in Gaza, was the king’s only public address during his visit of several days to the United States.

Security was tight as more than 800 students, faculty, and community members streamed into Princeton’s Alexander Hall to hear the monarch. Bomb-sniffing dogs stood sentinel at the entranceways.

As the program opened, university president Shirley Tilghman introduced the king as “a voice of moderation.”

“He stands at the forefront of those who seek a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict that has divided the Middle East for decades,” she said.

The king then spoke for just 15 minutes, but his brief remarks were both pointed and passionate.

“I am not here today to speak only of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” he told the gathering. “I am here to speak to you…of the critical importance of a long-term strategic American involvement in the development of the Middle East. I am here to explain that such a commitment is an opportunity to transform the strategic landscape of the Middle East for years to come.”

America’s involvement is critical to his vision of a viable, stable Middle East, Abdullah said.

“We need a strong authority that can act and act swiftly. We need to act now, for time is running out,” he said. “The continuing confinement of the Palestinians in Gaza every day creates a greater radicalism amongst Palestinians and invites other actors within the region to operate on their behalf.”

Adding to the volatility of his region, the king said, is the fact that young people now make up 70 percent of the population — the largest youth cohort in his region’s history.

“We must meet the expectations of this younger generation,” Abdullah said. “In my region, we expect to need 200 million new jobs by 2020. Creating these opportunities will require investment and partnerships to develop new infrastructures, meet energy and water needs, and improve public services and education. A strong, cooperative Arab-American strategic partnership must be created.”

That partnership must begin with the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Abdullah stressed. He characterized the conflict as the core issue for the 57 countries that are not at peace with Israel today — countries that not only represent one-third of the members of the UN, but also encompass populations greater than that of the United States and Europe combined.

“America is the only world power capable of ensuring that the parties stay on track and on time in their current negotiations,” he said. “Israeli’s security cannot depend indefinitely on occupation, walls, and the Israeli military. Real security for Israel will occur when it is a neighbor among neighbors, an economy among economies, a people among peoples working together towards the achievement of common goals and bright futures.”

If today’s opportunities are missed, Abdullah warned, peace could be set back for decades.

“If we fail to take the necessary steps to resolve the core problem of the region, it will become significantly harder for the countries of the Middle East to work in partnership with America in the future,” he said. “I fear radical ideologies will determine the political and social agendas in many of our countries. The region will move further away from our vision of moderation, prosperity, and peace.”

As he ended his remarks, Abdullah invited questions from his audience — but only one or two, and only from students. One student challenged the monarch to explain why he sees this as the time for Middle East peace, when the players in the process — Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — are said to have little political strength among the peoples of the region.

“Why do we need to move by the end of the year?” said Abdullah. “We’ve gained some ground. There is a process in place now. The fear is, if it falls apart, radical elements will hold the higher ground, and it will take two-thirds of a year before another American president will be willing to take a look at the Middle East.

“So I see this as a last chance.”

But even the few Moishe House requirements are beginning to take their toll on Grudnikov, a third-year medical student, who has time for little beyond his studies. He said he plans to move back to his parents’ Elizabeth home, but will continue to hang out when he can at Moishe House.

Einstein and the third apartment mate, David Rosen, the Conservative Jew, already have a candidate to fill the slot. Mark Fiedler, a bartender at a restaurant, said he didn’t grow up with Judaism and wants to spend some time exploring his Jewish identity.

And what happens when these 20-somethings age out of Moishe House?

“Our hope is that existing programs and institutions will pick them up,” said Cygielman. “There are many organizations focusing on Jews in high school and college, as well as in their 30s and families. Moishe House is focused on the gap years in between.”

In the meantime, there are conversations to be had about what it means to be Jewish, which movies to watch, and what to fill the hookahs with.

As Einstein pulled the burgers out of the oven, the group shifted from the television to the counter, and the cigar smoke continued to waft around the room.

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