Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Mousa said that there are no new Arab initiatives for peace in the Middle East other than the one presented in Beirut, Palestine News Network (PNN) reported on Monday.
Mousa said, this initiative will be the base for any future negotiations between the Arabs and Israel.
During their summit in Beirut in March 2002, the Arab countries proposed full normalization with Israel in exchange to its withdrawal to the 1967 internationally recognized borders, which include all the West Bank and Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.
Israel rejected the initiative and launched a wide-scaled military offensive in the West Bank known as, ‘Operation Defensive Shield’ during which the Israeli military re-occupied all the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, known according to the Oslo accords as ‘Zone A’. During this 40-day military operation, Israel besieged the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in his presidential compound in Ramallah, claiming that he hide Palestinian militants in his compound.
Referring to the latest fights between Hamas and the PA, Mousa, reported PNN, slammed the internal Palestinian disputes saying that it makes all Arab efforts to end Israeli aggressions obsolete. He called for self restraint and unity.
Mousa also said that the latest anti-disengagement protests reflect ‘the racist nature of Israel.’
He denied that the Arab League dropped the proposed peace initiative, saying that any initiative for peace with Israel must be within the boundaries of the Saudi peace initiative which was adopted by the Arab League in Beirut and became known as the Arab Peace Initiative.ÂÂ
PNN reported that secret information was leaked from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs related to post-disengagement Israel’s policy that aims to recruit more International support for Israel.
According to this leaked information, PNN said, Israel will adopt the Road Map to cut the road for other peace initiatives to be implemented, and to minimize chances for taking international resolutions against Israel. The new policies include more economic cooperation with the Palestinians and some other countries and prohibiting weapon import to the PA areas, said PNN.
