Rejecting the renewed Arab Peace Initiative means rejecting peace, said Prince Saud Al-Faisal- the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia who is hosting an Arab summit.
Rejecting the renewed Arab Peace Initiative means rejecting peace, said Prince Saud Al-Faisal- the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia who is hosting an Arab summit.
"If Israel refuses, that means it doesn't want peace. Then (the conflict) goes back into the hands of the lords of war,” Al Faisal told the opening session of the summit in Al-Riyadh.
Arab leaders will re-launch a five-year-old peace plan to Israel in their two-day summit. Israel rejected the plan in 2002 and responded by reoccupying the entire West Bank cities, in what has been known as operation "Defensive Shield." In Exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from all the land occupied in 1967 on which a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital would be established, the Arab countries will fully recognize Israel and establish a permanent peace agreement.
The plan also calls for a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees forced out of lands in what is now Israel. Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh called on the summit not to drop the Right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Israel, a right guaranteed by the UN security council resolution 194.
Haniyeh, however, told Reuters in an interview that his Hamas movement would not oppose the Arab peace initiative which the summit is expected to re-launch, but would not give up on the Palestinian refugees' right of return.
"What concerns me more than anything else … is not to compromise on the fundamental Palestinian rights, foremost being the right of return," Haniyeh said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the Arab initiative as a serious peace effort. "The Arab peace initiative is one of the pillars for the peace process …. This initiative sends a signal that the Arabs are serious about achieving peace," Ban told Arab leaders at the summit. "When I was in Israel I urged my Israeli friends to take a new look at the initiative. Here in Riyadh, I also urge you, my Arab friends, to benefit from this initiative and reiterate your commitment to it because the situation is dangerous."
On his part, the chair of the Arab League Amr Moussa urged Israel to accept the initiative rather than ask for changes. Meanwhile, Libyan leader Moammar Ghaddafi boycotted the summit saying that the results of the summit were prepared beforehand by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Sattlite channel, that Arab leaders should stay at home rather than, "obey orders" of the Americans by going to the summit.
