Jumblatt calls for firing Tony Blair from Middle East Quartet post

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Blair and  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a file photo
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a file photo

While welcoming the resignation of US diplomat Martin Indyk from his post as chief negotiator of the failed Israeli Palestinian peace negotiation, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt called on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to resign from his post as representative of the Middle East Quartet

The Middle East Quartet is a four nation body involved in mediating the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

In his weekly article in PSP’s al Anbaa Jumblatt wrote:

“How great it would be if Tony Blair, the wholesaler of all, was dismissed from the leadership of the Middle East Quartet.”

“We [can] see [that] his mercantile touches [are] creeping in through his primary mission at the expense of [the group.]” He added.

Jumblatt’s comments come 6 days after a group of former British ambassadors joined a campaign calling for Blair to be removed from his role as Middle East envoy after his recent attempt to “absolve himself” of responsibility for the crisis in Iraq.

The letter, organised by the makers of George Galloway’s film The Killing of Tony Blair, says the 2003 invasion of Iraq was to blame for the rise of “fundamentalist terrorism in a land where none existed previously”.

The signatories, led by Blair’s former ambassador to Iran Sir Richard Dalton, describe the former prime minister’s achievements as Middle East envoy as “negligible”.

Other former diplomats to sign the letter are Oliver Miles, who was ambassador to Libya when diplomatic relations were severed in 1984 after the killing of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, and Christopher Long, ambassador to Egypt between 1992-95.

Other signatories include former London mayor Ken Livingstone, the human rights barrister Michael Mansfield QC, the former Liberal Democrat peer Lady Tonge – who resigned her party’s whip in 2012 after declaring that Israel would not last forever – the former Tory prisons minister Crispin Blunt, George Galloway, the Green MP Caroline Lucas and the Daily Telegraph columnist Peter Oborne.

martin indykCommenting  on Indyk’s resignation Jumblatt wrote:
“So he has finally resigned.” He added:

“In theory Indyk was the man of the historic mission to achieve compromise and realize peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but in reality he was only a man of discussions for the sake of discussions only .”

“The mission of Indyk and his predecessor [Dennis] Ross achieved nothing but swift failure. How couldn’t this happen when the fundamental principle of both [men] was equality between the occupied and the occupier?” He stressed.

Dennis Ross is an American diplomat and author who has held important positions connected to the Middle East since the early nineties.

Dennis B. Ross is an American diplomat and author, who has served as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush, the special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton and as a special adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia (which includes Iran) to the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Dennis-Ross with netanyahu
Dennis Ross ( R) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a file photo

Ross was criticized by people on both sides of the conflict. Former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath described him as being more “pro-Israeli than the Israelis.” Some conservative Israelis branded him “self-hating” — each questioning his ability to be unbiased, though Palestinians involved in the negotiation process would insist that his perceived lack of objectivity had little to do with his religion. Ross, who embraced the Jewish faith after being raised in a nonreligious home by a Jewish mother and Catholic stepfather, has been accused of being too close to the American Jewish community and Israel to be an honest broker with Iran or Arabs.

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11 responses to “Jumblatt calls for firing Tony Blair from Middle East Quartet post”

  1. MekensehParty Avatar
    MekensehParty

    Who is this bug jumblat to call on one of the finest statesman of recent history to resign…
    Yalle staho meto

    1. Hannibal Avatar
      Hannibal

      Mekenseh,

      You sound like a Lebanese when you say who is this bug etc… Wait a minute YOU ARE A LEBANESE! 😉

      In all fairness, the best sentence EVER you can reiterate is:
      ” the 2003 invasion of Iraq IS to blame for the rise of “fundamentalist terrorism in a land where none existed previously.” rings so very true.

      The West made more of a mess of an area already messed up. Some may say it was actually planned but I doubt it as the world is run by wannabes hacks like Blair…

      I hear it coming: who are you to call the finest statesman wannabe hack? 😛

      1. MekensehParty Avatar
        MekensehParty

        Sorry to disappoint you Hani, but any citizenship document that holds the signature of Jamil el Sayyed is no citizenship of mine. I do love and appreciate the diversity of Lebanese insults though, and don’t miss an opportunity to give it homage. So yeah, who’s that bug jumblat? :-)))
        I wanted actually to comment on the “best sentence ever” but I thought that the highlight of the article is the bug buzzing and the trees going on growing.
        If after what’s happening today you still agree that “none existed previously”, buddy, you’re missing a lot.
        So guys going on beheading, crucifying, terror bombing… learned all this in the past 10 years? So you’re going to agree that before the US invasion of Iraq there was a moral compass in the region and amongst its people that totally refused terrorism and fanaticism?
        After the IS’s grab of Syria-Iraq, can someone still doubt that a majority of the Arab population love and are fanatics? That these guys fighting for IS right now used to be doves who aspired for a house around a lake where beautiful kids plaid in the water?
        C’mon Hani please.
        Those are savages sons of savages descendant of the worst savages for a 100 generation.
        Terror existed and still exists in the minds and bodies of a good 80% of Arabs.

        1. Hannibal Avatar
          Hannibal

          I still believe (or want to believe) that there is the good the bad and the ugly in every race or nation… That being said, and to agree with you, my statement was indirectly hinting to your point of view, as the behavior was largely contained by dictators… 😉

        2. barabie Avatar
          barabie

          Your opinon would be taken more seriously if u just once admitted that america is the biggest terrorist of all.
          Hypocrisy is so frustrating and infuriating.

          1. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            you still haven’t swallowed that very well deserved hypocrisy charge that landed on you on day one on this blog?
            Tell me blablabie how many little girls have been raped by your fellow islamists? How many men have been shot in the head on the orders of your new Caliph? How many crucified on bridges? How many were charged and sentenced? why don’t you have their thousands of pictures as your avatars.
            You know why little hypocrite, your brother or dad is allowed to kill, rape and terrorize but it’s haram for the infidels to do 1 millionth of a percent of that.
            So, when are you moving to the new country of IS?

          2. sweetvirgo Avatar
            sweetvirgo

            Oh wow….very blunt but also valid questions.

          3. MekensehParty Avatar
            MekensehParty

            No answer huh?
            I thought so too
            Back to your corner hypo

          4. barabie Avatar
            barabie

            I’ve already swept the floor with u once no need to sweep it again.

    2. arzatna1 Avatar
      arzatna1

      Frankly the Quartet has very little to show for its decade-long involvement in the peace process and Blair has been branded as useless on several occasion. He rarely traveled to Gaza during the nearly 100 times he traveled to the region, reportedly for security reasons and spent most of his time traveling to Jerusalem .

      1. MekensehParty Avatar
        MekensehParty

        I agree, the quartet has done little but it’s more because there is little to be done and not for lack of clever people. Israelis and Palestinians in their majority do not want peace. Put Jesus Christ in the Quartet and there won’t be peace…
        Should we fire JC then?
        And who’s asking for firing him? Jumblat? Who the heck is this leader of 100K half-sedentarized men living in some mountain of a fake country?

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