Haya writes open letter to Netanyahu

July 24, 2014

In an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Princess Haya Al Hussain, the daughter of the Late King Hussain of Jordan, and wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, accuses the PM of letting people who believe in peace down. Published by the Huffington Post, Princess Haya writes the letter in using his words taken verbatim from previous speeches and interviews of her late father. “You are a person who will be judged by time. I never condoned the use of violence. I gave you all the support I could. I think you are letting yourself down, letting the people of Israel down, and letting the people who believe in peace down, if this is to continue.” “Politicians can talk, but what do ordinary people feel? What do they go through everyday? What humiliation do they suffer? What indignation do they suffer? We have no right to dictate through irresponsible action or narrow-mindedness the future of our children and their children’s children. There has been enough destruction, enough death, enough waste, and it’s time that, together, we occupy a place beyond ourselves, our peoples, that is worthy of them under the sun, the descendants of the children of Abraham. Which comes first? Security or Peace? We seem to be going around these issues. But peace can only be achieved if people believe in it, if people work for it, if people are ready to contribute to it. And with it comes security, because then you feel on both sides that you have got something worthwhile protecting and that we are attempting to put an end to the past and the tragedies that had occurred. However if this is not achievable, you can’t have security and then begin to talk about peace. That is impossible.” Princess Haya concludes her father’s letter with words of hope. “I do not lose hope. I will never lose hope. It is so very, very important for the future of our region for all our peoples to seize the opportunity and not permit conditions to deteriorate beyond what they have reached now. And I have a great belief that people with vision and knowledge of what is at stake will eventually make their voices heard and prevail,” she writes.