SHIR HEVER, TRNN PRODUCER: The Arab Peace Initiative was unanimously endorsed by the
Arab League in 2002 at the Beirut Summit of the Arab League.
The initiative has been ignored by the Israeli government, but has recently resurfaced in
a way which exposes Israel's reluctance to engage in the peace process.
The Arab Peace initiative is also nicknamed the ?Saudi initiative?
because it was originally proposed to the Arab league by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia,
who was then the crown prince.
The proposal is simple.
Israel will withdraw to the legally recognized 1967 borders, find an agreed upon solution
to the future of Palestinian refugees expelled from Israel in 1948, and in exchange all Arab
countries will normalize relations with Israel.
Israel's response, or lack thereof, to the Arab Initiative demonstrates how Israeli politics
have changed as a result of the 1967 occupation.
Prior to that occupation, the Zionist movement strived to sign peace treaties with its neighbors
in an effort to stabilize its presence despite the occupation and ethnic cleansing of 1948.
Shortly after the occupation of 1967, the Israeli government referred to the newly occupied
territory as a bargaining chip, with the aim of exchanging these territories back to Syria,
Jordan, and Egypt in exchange for peace treaties.
But the occupation has gained a foothold in Israel's society and political sphere.
Israel has illegally colonized 550,000 colonists in the occupied territory and built extensive
infrastructure for the illegal colonies, including water services, electricity, roads, industrial
zones, and countless security measures that separate the colonists from the indigenous
Palestinian population.
In 2002, when the occupation was 35 years old, the Arab League's initiative was met
by a wall of silence from Israel.
Even though the same offer would have been gratefully embraced by Israel before 1967,
the Israeli prime minister at the time of the offer was Ariel Sharon, who himself owns
an apartment in occupied East Jerusalem.
Despite Israel's lack of reaction, the Arab League ratified the offer year after year
for the past decade.
U.S Secretary of State John Kerry has recently referred to the Arab Initiative as a possible
starting place for negotiations.
Although President Obama's administration has proven through its policies to be extremely
supportive of Israeli policies and of the occupation, Kerry's mention of the Arab Initiative
has put Israel in a tight spot.
In a speech in the Bar-Ilan University in 2009, Israeli prime minister Netanyahu reluctantly
agreed to the two-state solution, albeit with many reservations.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (VOICEOVER TRANSL.): If we receive this guarantee
regarding demilitarization and Israel's security needs, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel
as the state of the Jewish people, then we will be ready in a future peace agreement
to reach a solution where a demilitarized Palestinian state exists alongside the Jewish
state.
HEVER: But despite this claim, he has continued to delay and evade any concrete steps towards
that goal, while still constructing illegal colonies in the occupied territory.
Kerry re-awakened interest in the Arab Initiative, and after consideration, the Arab countries
agreed to soften their proposal to make it even more appealing to Israel.
On April 30, Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani spoke in Washington and
emphasized that mutual land swaps between Israel and the Palestinians would be accepted
within the framework of the Arab initiative.
HAMAD BIN JASSIM BIN JABER AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: Peace between the Palestinian
and the Isaeli is starting.
It's a strategic choice for the Arab state, referring to the Arab initiative, peace initiative,
as sound, as sound peace for reaching a joint justice and peace between the Palestinian
and the Israeli and stability in the Middle East.
The Arab League delegation affirmed that agreement should be based on the two-state solution,
on the basis of the 4 June 1967 line, with the possible of comparable and mutual agreed
minor swap of the land.
HEVER: This change has been included to appeal to Israel, because Israel could negotiate
to keep the most densely populated colonies in the West Bank, reducing the number of colonists
that would have to be evacuated.
In exchange, Israel could offer the Palestinians empty lands.
Palestinians expressed skepticitism about this plan, concerned that these land swaps
will not be handled in good faith and could entrench Israel's control over the occupied
territory.
Tzipi Livni is considered the most moderate voice in Israel's government, despite serving
as minister of foreign affairs during Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip in the winter of
2008-2009.
She currently holds the position of minister of justice.
She responded positively to the news about the softening of the Arab Initiative.
But a source close to Prime Minister Netanyahu said to the Haaretz newspaper that Netanyahu
is displeased with the offer and wish it ?had never been made.?
Netanyahu sent Livni and a personal representative, Yitzhak Molcho, to Washington for urgent conference
with Kerry in an attempt to prevent the U.S from endorsing the Arab initiative.
Even if the U.S will endorse the Arab initiative, however, there is no political will in Israel
to end the occupation or to recognize the rights of Palestinian refugees.
It also seems unlikely that the U.S will impose sanctions on Israel or will even reduce its
aid to Israel in light of Israel's reluctance to work towards the two-state solution.
Members of the Arab League of course know this.
They have continued to ratify the Arab Initiative not because they believe that Israel will
accept it, but because it helps to expose the fact that Israel has no intention of ending
the occupation unless external pressure will force it to do so.
This is Shir Hever for the Real News.