|
Revive the peace initiative, but this time, do it right
The Daily Star
Jordan's King Abdullah II reiterated Wednesday an idea that he and
other Arab leaders have broached for some months: reviving the "land for
peace" initiative that was first spelled out at the Arab summit in Beirut in
2002.
That initiative offered Israel full recognition by all Arab countries in
exchange for full withdrawal from all territory occupied in the Arab-Israeli
wars of 1967 and 1973.
The revival of a two-year-old novel idea that never got off the ground
when it was first launched might sound like a risky venture. It is. But the
risks are worth taking though only if the perpetrators are more serious and
diligent this time around. Good ideas with a real constituency tend to have
a long shelf life, and the 2002 Arab summit peace plan was and remains a
good idea. Yet even good ideas that are amateurishly launched will always
fail to garner an audience.
The main problem in 2002 was that the sponsors of the plan the Arab
leaders neither identified the correct target audience that they should go
after nor made any serious efforts to give their plan credence or longevity.
Collective Arab diplomatic imprecision and apathy killed the peace plan
before it even had a chance to walk. You should always learn from your
mistakes, though. The Arab summit in Tunis later this month should do things
right this time, if it is seriously pondering relaunching the Arab Peace
Initiative. Standard operating procedures of Arab diplomacy are not good
enough.
If the Arab world is offering to make peace with Israel, it must
unambiguously grasp the imperative of speaking directly, honestly, clearly
and often to the Israeli and Jewish people. We are not trying to make peace
with CNN, the New York Times or Chatham House. The critical missing step in
the 2002 offer of peace with Israel was communicating the Arab desire for a
fair and honorable peace accord to the Israeli and Jewish people. The lack
of a serious diplomatic and public opinion-directed communication campaign
allowed Ariel Sharon to wriggle free from one of his most difficult moments.
This mistake should not be repeated.
It is very much worth relaunching the pan-Arab peace plan. But it should
be bolstered with a well-thought-out campaign with two aims: to compel
Israelis to understand the historic opportunity for peace and normalcy that
stares them in the face, and to help Jews around the world understand that
blind support for Israel is a recipe only for perpetual warfare in Israel
and Palestine.
Source: Daily Star, March 12, 2004.
dailystar.com.lb
The Power of Incitement
In light of recent suspected involvement of Jewish and Arab Israelis in
violent acts against each other’s communities, this editorial states that
the ‘task of Jewish and Arab leaders in Israel is to educate their
communities toward tolerance of the views of the other side, to cultivate
the recognition of freedom of speech, and to remove stereotypes that derive
from racist and preconceived notions from public discourse.” (Source:
Ha’aretz, March 7, 2004)
The Palestinian’s Long Wait for Peace
Elias H. Tuma, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of
California reflects on the Palestinian strategy of waiting for external
intervention to resolve the conflict with Israel. He further advocates for
the Palestinians to “initiate and propose solutions that Israel cannot
reject, even if such solutions entail serious compromises on their part”.
(Source: AMIN.org, March 1, 2004)
Scaling the Middle Ground
Bill Broadway reports on the recent Breaking the Ice expedition that will be
awarded a Common Ground Award from Search for Common Ground. The awards
honour those who have made important contributions toward bridging the
divides between people, finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems,
and providing hope where there often was none. (Source: The Washington Post,
March 6, 2004)
|
