MIDDLE EAST:The Riyadh summit was uncompromising in its land-for-peace plan, writes Michael Jansen
Arab rulers have said they are no longer prepared to tolerate the sort of policies toward their region adopted by the Bush administration and accepted by the international community.
The 21 kings, presidents and prime ministers who met in Riyadh this week sent an uncompromising message to Israel, the US and Europe when they formally relaunched the unmodified land-for-peace plan adopted at the Beirut summit in 2002. By reaffirming their commitment to the initiative "in all its elements," they made it clear they expect its acceptance.
Put forward on a take-it-or- leave-it basis by Saudi's King Abdullah, the plan calls for full Israeli withdrawal from Arab territory occupied in 1967 in exchange for full normalisation of relations with the Arabs. It also calls for the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank with its capital in East Jerusalem, and a "just" settlement of the Palestinian refugee problem based on UN General Assembly resolution 194 of 1948.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas warned of regional upheavals if Israel rejects the "hand of peace", but Israeli deputy premier Shimon Peres rejected the plan and said negotiations were needed before a peace deal could be reached.
Before the summit convened on Wednesday, Israel, the US, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana pressed the Arabs to modify the plan. Israel, backed by the US, dismisses the Arab demand for the return of all land seized in 1967 since this would involve the evacuation of 430,000 Jewish settlers planted in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. While the US has proposed the establishment of a Palestinian state, Washington has refused to define its boundaries. Israel has given the US proposal lip service while expanding settlements to stake its claim to occupied land and make withdrawal impossible.
It also rejects resolution 194, claiming its implementation would involve an influx of Palestinian refugees into Israel.
This is a false claim. Nabil Shaath, former Palestinian foreign minister, said during the 2002 summit that Israel knows only a token number of refugees would return to Israel. He said the resolution speaks of their return at the "earliest practicable date" and numbers and timing would be determined by Israel and the UN. Most refugees would opt for compensation.
Saudi Arabia carefully managed the summit and drafted its communique. Riyadh was determined that Arab unity would be preserved with a firm stance on the Palestinian/Israeli problem as well as on Iraq. Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal laid down the gauntlet when he said: "If Israel refuses [ the plan], it doesn't want peace. Then the conflict goes back into the hands of the lords of war."
King Abdullah went further by demanding an early end to the "unjust blockade imposed on the Palestinian people" by the international community a year ago when Hamas formed a Palestinian government. The US and Europe have, so far, refused to end their boycott of the new Hamas-Fatah unity government.
King Abdullah proposed increasing annual aid to the Palestinians by $150 million to $900 million and maintaining $55 million in monthly payments. He also took an unprecedented swipe at Washington, the kingdom's principal ally for more than 70 years, when he called the US presence in Iraq an "illegitimate foreign occupation".
Furthermore, he characterised the US-backed Iraqi government as being a "sectarian regime" promoting "Shia hegemony". No Saudi ruler has ever uttered such public criticisms of US policies.
King Abdullah is apparently furious about the Bush administration's refusal to engage in serious peace brokering between Palestinians and Israelis and its bungled occupation of Iraq.
Last week he cancelled an April 17th White House banquet, claiming a scheduling conflict. In early March, he welcomed Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Riyadh and during the summit embraced Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Both presidents are considered untouchables by the Bush administration. Following the example of his Saudi senior, Jordan's young King Abdullah, the most frequent Arab visitor to Washington, has cancelled a trip to the US capital in September. This, too, is unprecedented in the long history of close relations between the US and Jordan.