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Arab leaders
gathering in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday unanimously approved the
“Arab Peace Plan” which offers Israel peace and normalization in return
for putting an end to its 40-year-old military occupation of the West
Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem as well as a just settlement of the
refugee problem pursuant UN resolution 194.
The initiative has
been praised by the bulk of the international community, including
European states, Russia, UN and even some small sectors within Israel
itself.
Saudi King Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz, who last month brokered the Makkah
Accord between Fatah and Hamas, which eventually led to the formation of
the Palestinian national government, described the initiative as
“sincere,” “historic” and “expressing the good-will of the Arabs.”
Saudi Foreign
Minister Saud al-Faisal pointed out that the ball was now in the Israeli
court and that Arabs did all they could and all they should for peace.
“It is now up to Israel, if Israel rejects the Arab Peace Initiative, it
means it is not interested in reaching a peaceful solution with its
neighbors. If Israel refuses, that means it doesn’t want peace. Then the
conflict goes back into the hands of the lords of war.”
Arab League Chief Amr
Mousa spoke along the same lines, saying that Israel ought to accept the
initiative in principle at least.
“We are at a
crossroads, it is either we move towards a real peace or see an
escalation in the situation.”
Notwithstanding, it
is very likely that the Arab Peace Initiative will eventually face the
same fate and same failure which numerous other peace initiatives have
met since 1967, when the Israeli occupation began.
The reason for that
is very simple. Israel, encouraged by nearly unlimited American backing,
is simply unwilling to pay the price for genuine and durable peace with
the Arab world, especially the Palestinians, namely a full withdrawal
from the occupied territories and allowing Palestinian refugees uprooted
from their ancestral homeland in 1948 to return home.
None the less, Israel
is not going to say an absolute and clarion “NO” to the Arab initiative.
Israel is smarter than appearing before the world as the perpetual nay-sayer.
Instead, the Jewish government will probably praise the initiative as “a
step in the right direction” and may even voice willingness to accept
some components of the initiative.
However, such
posturing on Israel’s part should be viewed by the international
community as no more than public relations gimmickry.
Indeed, Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livini have already said
that Israel rejects completely the backbone of the Arab initiative,
namely ending the occupation and settling the refugee plight in
accordance with international law, which means that Israel wants to have
the cake and eat it at the same time, to have peace and normalization
with the Arabs but without giving up the stolen goods.
But it is also amply
clear that neither the Palestinian people nor the Arab states will ever
accept any peace arrangement with Israel not including the creation of a
viable Palestinian state on 100% of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East
Jerusalem and repatriation and indemnification of the refugees.
Unfortunately, Israel
believes that it can reject peace with impunity, keeps up stealing Arab
land with impunity and flies in the face of international law with
impunity. Needless to say, the main reason for this arrogance and
intransigence is the immense influence Israel’s lobbies and pressure
groups exert on American politics and policies.
Israel feels, rather
correctly, that the current Bush administration is not in a position to
pressure Israel, apart from the futile trips to the region by Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice.
Earlier this week,
Olmert almost ordered Rice, whom he met in West Jerusalem, to shut up
and stop talking about “the final-status issues.”
Rice immediately
complied, saying that “this is not the time to discuss the final status
issues between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Rice didn’t say when,
if ever, the time for discussing these fundamental issues will come.
However, one wouldn’t be going too far by saying that the former
Kremlinologist whose knowledge and expertise of the Middle East are
quite superficial at best, think that only when the Palestinians
capitulate to Israel’s Talmudic whims will the time be ripe for “peace”
with Israel.
In light, it is
probably safe to conclude that true peace in the region will remain a
distant dream, probably more distant than many people think, which might
mean that the Palestinians and Arabs ought to explore other alternatives
to safeguard and protect their vital interests. |
