King Abdullah: Time is running out to make peace, page 1

My initial reaction to this story was to read this as a veiled threat against Israel. But after a couple of hours of it sinking in I think he's actually making an extremely profound statement.

Bare with me and I'll take you through my thought processes.

Firstly, one cannot deny the reality. Regardless of whether it is justified or not, there is a great deal of hatred directed towards Israel as a result of the Palestinian situation. In my view the majority of that hatred has been fuelled by propaganda and incitement, however I appreciate that not everyone agrees with that position. But that the hatred exists, whether the Israelis have deserved it or not, cannot be disputed, and it's only going to get worse as time goes on.

Secondly, at some point that hatred will start to drive Arab foreign policy. There is no way that monarchies such as the Saudis or the Hashemites can continue to govern effectively as long as they are seen as Zionist / US stooges by their own increasingly radical populations. Something has to give. It seems that at the moment, it is being exploited and channelled into religious fundamentalism, creating a powerful and global political movement which is opposed to Israel's existence, Western influence, and injustices (real or fictitious) in the Arab / Muslim world.

Thirdly, all that hatred directed towards one country is making people in that country feel increasingly threatened and vulnerable. Whether you think it's justified or not, you only have to read the comments and blogs from Israelis on the internet to know that they are starting to feel very isolated by the world.

The fourth part of the equation is Benjamin Netanyahu. If you haven't read his book "A Durable Peace", read it. It is the single best resource if you want to know how the current Israeli leadership thinks. Rightly or wrongly, he sees himself as the protector of the Jewish people and the Jewish faith in the face of a world filled with hatred. He sees the State of Israel as the protector of Judaism and he sees worldwide hatred of Israel as the embodiment of anti-Semitism. He is also very personally and emotionally involved in Israel's past and future, having lost a brother in the Yom Kippur war and several family members in the Holocaust.

It doesn't matter what we think - whether he's correct or not - it's what he thinks and it's what people in Israel and the Arab world think that matters. And what all of the above says to me is that things are not looking rosy for the future. Iran, the UNHRC report, are all just distractions from the main goal: Peace - not just between Israelis and Palestinians, but between the West and Islam.

Now, Abdulla is quite correct: It is up to Obama, and therefore the West to sort this problem out. Why? Because of two big reasons:

1) We are neutral - ask a random sample of people interested in the Middle East and you will find support for both Israelis and Palestinians in equal measure. Typically this results in conflict and wars of words, but why can't we turn that conflict into a good thing? After all isn't conflict just a type of balance?

2) We have all the instruments to do it - high speed communication, free and open debate, and a LOT of people that care about lasting peace in the region.

It seems to me that the Middle East crisis is a pivotal point in the history of humanity and that it's soon coming to a head. If we can find a peaceful and non-violent way through it then I see a fantastic future for us all. If we can't, I don't think it will end well for anyone.

Until we can stop bickering with each other and start cooperating, listening, and working together for solutions to this problem, we're going to get nowhere.

The clock's ticking...

Abdullah: US focusing too much on Iran