Following are excerpts from an interview with former Jordanian prime minister Abdelraouf Al-Rawabdeh, which aired on the Al-Jazeera network on April 1, 2013:
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
Abdelraouf Al-Rawabdeh: "The preacher speaking from the pulpit, the philosopher, the politician, the university professor, the school teacher – they are all attuned to the conscience of the nation. Listen carefully to what I am saying. They are attuned to the conscience of the nation, and they are true to what they believe in, but they are not responsible for its implementation.
"A preacher steps up to the pulpit and declares: 'We must confront America, the spearhead of heresy.' Fine. What does he want us to do about it? He doesn’t say? Along comes the politician, whose job it is to understand the local, regional, and international balance of power, and he talks only about what he can accomplish.
"Once, when I was running for office, someone tried to give me a hard time. He approached me and asked: 'What do you think about America?' I asked him: 'Are you asking me as a politician or as a candidate?' He said he was asking me as a candidate, so I said: 'America is an enemy state, which provides weapons to Israel, kills our Palestinian people, controls our Arab countries, expropriates our oil, and destroys our economy.' So he was pleased, but then he said: 'And as a politician?' I said: 'America is our friend. It stands by us and provides us with aid.'
"He said: 'Don’t you see that as a moral contradiction?' 'No,' I said. 'I say that America is an enemy in order to appease you, and I say it is a friend in order to get you food. You tell me which you prefer.'" […]
