Opinion | Editorials
Time for answers from Israel is now
Negotiations are going nowhere while Israel continues to confiscate Arab land
- Gulf News
- Published: 01:13 February 24, 2008
At the Beirut summit in 2002 the Arab League introduced its famous peace initiative - the King Abdullah Plan.
It offered Israel "full normalisation" in return for full Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem. The plan was endorsed by most of the international community but then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected it.
His successor Ehud Olmert, however, said it was "interesting" but still ignored it as he preferred to go ahead with the futile negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The talks, supposedly overseen by the United States, are going nowhere, while Israel continues to confiscate Arab land to build more colonies in the Occupied Territories.
Palestinian despair is growing, says Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal. And that could lead to another explosion of violence in the region. He says the Israelis are "sabotaging" the Arab initiative.
The Israelis have to make up their mind now. They either publicly accept the initiative, which is considered by many Arabs as a "huge concession" to the occupation, or they say no and shoulder the responsibility of potentially yet another conflict.
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