Peres: Netanyahu will repay Ahmadinejad

President Shimon Peres told schoolchildren in the north that "the prime minister will be demonstratively absent from a meeting with one of the most evil and horrible people of modern history, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who lies through his teeth about the existence of the Holocaust and curses Israel".

Referring to the Iranian president's speech at the upcoming UN General Assembly, Peres added that Ahmadinejad "is pessimistic and has no future, and I'm sure Prime Minister Netanyahu will repay him."

During his visit to the agricultural school 'Kaduri', Peres also spoke about the trilateral summit called by US President Barack Obama, who plans to meet with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the UN event.

He commended the initiative and said, "Each side lowers its expectations but no one can lower our expectations for peace – they will always remain high and I am sure the prime minister will carry them higher. President Obama has promised to contribute to peace, and I hope Abu-Mazen (Abbas) will go back to talks and progress towards peace."

Peres appeared to feel at home among the 1,660 Kaduri alumni, including the sister of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Rachel. He addressed them and said, "We must not launch negotiations by saying east Jerusalem is a settlement. This has not and will not happen."

Referring to Arabs living in the West Bank, Gaza, and the entire region he added, "I know they are not romantic. They don't love us, and that's an understatement. But peace will not come from love, it will come from calculation. Peace that doesn't come from love also has a chance, and we will fight for such peace."

Part of the problem IMO goes to the Sunni/Shiite ‘rivalry.’

Iran views itself as head of the Shiite world. As we all know, there are many Shia in Iraq and Lebanon. In addition, the ruling cadre in Syria consists of members of the Alawi sect, which is an offshoot of Shiism.

What many people don’t realize, though, is that many Shiites also live in the Arabian peninsula, on the eastern part - where most of the oil is located. IINM, the Arab countries of the Gulf are worried/concerned/terrified that should Iran become a nuclear power, it will claim (and assert) dominance over any territory in the Middle East where the Shi’ia live.

I think that most Arabs are more peaceful than Iran. Many are a different Muslim Sect than Iran and don't want the strict religious laws. They don't want the continual wars that the radical Muslims have waged for 1600 years.

I would disagree somewhat - I think most Arabs are more silent than Iran. And I think that a distinction between the average joe muslim and Islamic leadership needs to be drawn.

In my self-educated opinion, most muslims are muslim by culture and many don't even read the koran for themselves; in fact they are often told not to bother, that they must read it in Arabic (regardless of country of origin), and that the imams in the mosque will tell them what it says. As a result, many are ignorant of its actual contents. With that in mind I think that a significant number of muslims DO want war or at least recognize its inevitability - they are taught that conquering the world for Allah is the ultimate goal.

With regard to the leadership...yes, Iran is a different sect - they are Shia, while the rest of the Arab world (except half of Iraq and pockets in Lebanon) is Sunni. The difference is a split in succession just a generation or so after the death of Mohammed, and both sects vehemently insist that theirs is the correct Islam. The only thing that unites them is a common enemy such as Israel - both sects agree that Israel is an occupier of Islamic land.

However, they differ little when it comes to radicalism and religious persecution. One example - Saudi Arabia, the leader of the Arab world and the origin of the very radical Wahabi sect, is the second most oppressive nation in the world (behind North Korea). Iran is third. The Saudi religious police are horrific. We have all heard so much about the Taliban, but SA gives them a run for their money in practice.

You said "they [Arabs, contrasted with Iran] don't want the strict religious laws." Actually Iran's people are much more vocal against the mullahs and Ahmadinejad than their Sunni neighbors; meanwhile sharia is practiced more and more in Sunni countries on three continents. And if the average muslim doesn't want sharia, why are immigrants pushing for its implimentation in European countries?

However, all that said, I think that SA et al will gladly look the other way (even silently assist) when Israel finally drops the bomb on Tehran - the Sunni world wants a radical, vocal, unstable, unpredictable Iran even less than we do I think. And SA hardly wants to lose its power grip on the middle east.

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