MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell sat down with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on her Wednesday show where she engaged in both side-ism, suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is just as much an obstacle to peace as Hamas.
Mitchell started out well enough, asking Safadi, “Hamas's charter is against a two-state solution because they don't recognize Israel's right to exist. So, how can Israel remove Hamas as the government, get rid of its leaders and try to save the lives of as many people as they can? How can they have an exit strategy, some way to live next door to Hamas-led enclave?”
Safadi proceeded to give a long, rambling answer where he never actually answered the question. Instead he urged viewers to consider the “context,” of the situation, “I'm going to be quite frank here because the seriousness and the horrific scenes that we're seeing and the pain we are seeing demands that all of us speak the truth. We’ve got to put things in context. Why did we get to where we are now? How many times have we warned that the absence of horizons, the absence of any real chances for a political solution that will, again, fulfill the legitimate rights of both people, is going to drive us into the abyss? And it did.”
Claiming he was answering the question when he really wasn’t, Safadi continued, “We are exactly in the space that we’ve worked so long and so hard not to be in. So, to answer your question, I think offer an alternative. Offer people hope. … So, that is what needs to be done and I think we’ve got to put things in context and putting things in context is no way would justify what happened, let’s be clear on that, nobody would justify what happened.”
How do you offer hope when Hamas is in power? Mitchell didn’t ask, but she did ask about a French proposal for a post-Hamas Gaza, “France’s President Macron is in Amman today, he was in Israel before that, he’s proposing a coalition of the anti-ISIS coalition, the coalition of fighters that are in Iraq and Syria, which includes Americans and a multi-national force in Gaza. Is that an option?”
“It is not,” Safadi declared, pouring cold water on the idea, “we need a coalition for peace to be honest and instead of arms to the region, let’s send delegations that will get the parties back to the table?”
Again, instead of asking how you can send a peace delegation to meet with Hamas given its charter, Mitchell interrupted to wonder, “Can that be done with the Netanyahu government since they say they agree with the two-state solution, but they keep expanding settlements?”
On one hand, Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization, on the other, Israel is building some apartment buildings. Mitchell thinks these are equal obstacles to peace.
As for Safadi, he declared that, “I think we’re hoping with the tragedy that now with the enormity of the tragedy that has befallen both the Palestinian and Israelis that people will speak up and will say, don't have our lives hostage to political ambitions and to political aspirations.”
And none of that will happen so long as people like Mitchell and Safadi pretend that Hamas and Israel, whether it’s under the premiership of Netanyahu or anybody else, are somehow equal obstacles to peace.
Here is a transcript for the October 25 show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
10/25/2023
12:22 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: Hamas's charter is against a two-state solution because they don't recognize Israel's right to exist. So, how can Israel remove Hamas as the government, get rid of its leaders and try to save the lives of as many people as they can? How can they have an exit strategy, some way to live next door to Hamas-led enclave?
AYMAN SAFADI: I'm going to be quite frank here because the seriousness and the horrific scenes that we're seeing and the pain we are seeing demands that all of us speak the truth. We’ve got to put things in context. Why did we get to where we are now? How many times have we warned that the absence of horizons, the absence of any real chances for a political solution that will, again, fulfill the legitimate rights of both people, is going to drive us into the abyss? And it did.
We are exactly in the space that we’ve worked so long and so hard not to be in. So, to answer your question, I think offer an alternative. Offer people hope. By the end of the day, whether you are Palestinian or Israeli, mother or father, you just want to live peacefully and put food on the table for your kids. Offer a different alternative. Palestinians themselves would say, we want to live in peace. We don't want violence. So, that is what needs to be done and I think we’ve got to put things in context and putting things in context is no way would justify what happened, let’s be clear on that, nobody would justify what happened, but we have to learn from the past so that we make sure the future is not just another –
MITCHELL: Is – France’s President Macron is in Amman today, he was in Israel before that, he’s proposing a coalition of the anti-ISIS coalition, the coalition of fighters that are in Iraq and Syria, which includes Americans and a multi-national force in Gaza. Is that an option?
SAFADI: It is not, we need a coalition for peace to be honest and instead of arms to the region, let’s send delegations that will get the parties back to the table?
MITCHELL: Can that be done with the Netanyahu government since they say they agree with the two-state solution, but they keep expanding settlements?
SAFADI: I think we’re hoping with the tragedy that now with the enormity of the tragedy that has befallen both the Palestinian and Israelis, that people will speak up and will say, don't have our lives hostage to political ambitions and to political aspirations. Think instead of, again, instead of sending weapons, let’s send peace delegations. Support Israel, but you are not supporting Israel by supporting this war and I'm not saying you. I'm talking to those who are -- support Israel by making sure we have a path to peace. That's how we protect Israelis who want to live in peace and that's how we protect Palestinians who want to live in peace.
