Jordan Proposes New Israel Peace Strategy
King Abdullah II of Jordan has proposed a new peace strategy that drops traditional Arab demands that Israel give up all land seized in the 1967 war and offers the Jewish state normalized relations with Arab countries, according to a text of the proposal seen Friday by The Associated Press.
The proposal did not appear to have enough support to be adopted at an Arab League summit starting Monday in the Algerian capital. But even placing such a far-reaching change in strategy on the agenda would have been unthinkable in past league gatherings, suggesting new thinking in the peace process with Israel.
The Jordanian proposal does not mention specific U.N. resolutions and usual Arab demands for an Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 borders and for the right of return of refugees, according to a text of about a dozen lines seen by the AP.
The omission suggests Abdullah, whose country signed a peace deal with Israel in 1994, wants the Arabs to accept geographical changes Israel has made in the territories and to start normalization even before a full peace is reached.
The text of Abdullah's proposal calls on Arab states to declare their "preparedness to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and establish normal relations between the Arab countries and Israel through just, comprehensive and lasting peace."
The proposal calls for any settlement to be based on "international resolutions, the principal of land for peace and the (1991) Madrid peace conference."
Arab leaders have always demanded full peace with Israel - meaning a return of all occupied lands - in return for normalization.
The Jordanian proposal is meant to amend a Saudi peace initiative adopted at the 2002 Arab summit held in Beirut.
There was a good reason why I didn't report this piece yesterday: I knew from experience that if "good news" surfaces from Arab quarters, it will be denied in short order. And this is precisely what happened with the "new" peace plan and the relaxing of condition etc.
Following is the categorical denial by the Jordanian minister in charge, cited from the official Jordanian site:
Minister of Culture and Government Spokesperson Asma Khader said the draft resolution presented by Jordan to upcoming Arab Summit scheduled to convene in Algeria next Tuesday addressing Arab-Israeli conflict, was not a new initiative and did not nullify the Beirut Summit Arab peace initiative.
"The Jordanian draft resolution does not touch any articles stipulated in the Arab initiative, but rather it seeks to activate and reintroduce the Arab initiative to the world", Khader said in a press conference on Saturday adding there was misunderstanding among some Arab mass media towards the resolution that makes it appear as if it was new project.
Foreign Minster Hani Mulki expressed astonishment over the clamor on the Jordanian Draft resolution, which aims to activate and promote Arab peace initiative. The resolution didn't affect the Arab peace initiative in any way. The resolution emphasized on the Arab rights. On other hand Arab should be ready to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. There would be no normalization with Israel if the Arabs didn't regain their rights, Mulki reiterated.
Addendum and update, 2005_03_20
On 2005_03_20, AP updated the story about the Arab League deliberations. Following are selected excerpts:
Arab Summit Rejects Jordan Proposal
The Arab summit formally rejected on Sunday a proposal by the Jordanian king that would have revised Arab conditions for normalizing relations with Israel, sinking a plan that had won Israeli praise only hours earlier.
The original plan by Jordan's King Abdullah II had dropped the traditional Arab call for recognizing Israel in exchange for the Jewish state's withdrawal from land it has occupied since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Nine of 22 Arab League countries assembled for the summit which begins on Monday had objected to the proposal on Saturday, and league Secretary-General Amr Moussa declared it dead a day later.
"If Israel implements all its commitments, all the Arab countries will be ready to normalize relations with Israel. We are not going to move even 1 millimeter away from this," Moussa told reporters after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Algerian capital.
Thus, the Arab League remains its rebarbative old self.
If you like what you hear, wait five minutes
Revised and updated - see addendum at article's end
On 2005_03_18, AP carried a story about an alleged new Jordanian peace plan. The piece, which carried today's time stamp (2005_03_19), read as follows:
There was a good reason why I didn't report this piece yesterday: I knew from experience that if "good news" surfaces from Arab quarters, it will be denied in short order. And this is precisely what happened with the "new" peace plan and the relaxing of condition etc.
Following is the categorical denial by the Jordanian minister in charge, cited from the official Jordanian site:
Addendum and update, 2005_03_20
On 2005_03_20, AP updated the story about the Arab League deliberations. Following are selected excerpts:
Thus, the Arab League remains its rebarbative old self.
Posted by Joseph Alexander Norland at March 20, 2005 04:38 PM