AL SHARIF: Attempt to bypass Palestinians August 6, 2009
Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal
by Osama Al Sharif
Arab News
5 August 2009
It’s been a while since the Arabs publicly rebuffed Washington over the longstanding issue of resolving the Palestine question and concluding a comprehensive peace deal in the Middle East. But last week Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal did just that. Last Friday in Washington, the prince politely but firmly reminded his American counterpart that “incrementalism and the step-by-step approach has not, and we believe will not, achieve peace.”
The Saudi foreign minister was responding to earlier calls by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other US politicians for the Arabs to adopt so-called confidence-building measures toward Israel. More blatantly Washington has been pressuring its Arab allies to take steps to normalize relations with Israel ahead of a possible restart of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and, more importantly, before reaching a deal on a final settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Prince Saud laid out the Arab position one more time. Normalization of relations will not come before a comprehensive agreement is reached that addresses final-status issues such as Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlements. The Arab stand, the prince reminded his hosts, was spelled out in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
In effect, the Saudi position is not new. But it is essential for Arab governments to inform Washington that Riyadh’s stand represents Arab consensus on the future of peace and the requirements for a just and final conclusion to the conflict with Israel. It is important that they do it now.
The US call on Arabs to provide Israel with free rewards is audacious and suspicious. It is a rude attempt to bypass the Palestinian issue. It undermines Arab confidence in a new American approach to the Middle East as promised by President Barack Obama few months ago. At a time when a right-wing government in Israel is refusing to budge on the settlements issue or affirm its commitment to concluding peace with the Arabs based on withdrawal from occupied territories, the Americans choose to step in with fresh demands on the Arab side.
THESE demands are perfectly aligned with latest Israeli announcements and, once more, they cast doubts on Washington’s sincerity to play the role of an honest broker. Normalization with Israel would remove one of the few pillars still holding up a possible comprehensive peace agreement between the Arabs and the Jewish state.
In the past few weeks US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell has made the freezing of Jewish settlements in the West Bank a central issue between Washington and Tel Aviv. Israel has brushed aside American demands and at times had taken steps to challenge the US administration. But it would be wrong to make illegal settlements the prime cause of US mediation.
Restarting peace talks with the aim of reaching a final and just agreement over remaining issues must remain the declared intention of US diplomacy. Moreover, Israel cannot be rewarded for “freezing” settlement activities in parts of the territories it occupies, when in fact the entire colonization of Arab lands remains illegal and in violation of international law.
FOR the Arabs, the settlements challenge is only part of the larger conflict. And as much as Israel’s activities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are detrimental to the just and comprehensive peace deal that they rightly want, they should not be separate from the quest for the real deal. So much valuable time has been wasted putting together interim arrangements and transitional agreements that the world had lost sight of the core conflict.
Peace in the region cannot arrive in small parcels only to be assembled into a comprehensive scheme later on. Partial peace with Egypt and Jordan has not brought us closer to a just conclusion to the century-old plight of the Palestinian people. We have seen wars, regional instability, land confiscation, civilian deaths, displacement of people and despair sweep this part of the world more often than not in spite of half-baked and shaky interim arrangements. The need for a comprehensive and just conclusion of the Arab-Israel conflict remains the only assurance for all parties involved.
America is once more barking up the wrong tree. It is repeating the mistakes of the past by asking the Arabs to make gestures toward Israel, when in fact they are in desperate need to be assured themselves. We have not seen any evidence that Israel is ready to give the Palestinians their full rights or allow them to set up their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Americans should be asking Israel about its commitments to deliver on the requirements of a genuine and lasting peace instead of pleading with the Arabs to normalize relations with a belligerent state.
The Saudi stand is a sober reminder to Arabs and others that the fruits of peace cannot be delivered when its tree has not yet been planted. Rewarding Israel in such a way is a sure ticket to many more years of conflict and instability in a region that has had both for decades. Furthermore, such a skewed approach to resolving a complex problem only betrays America’s inability to face up to its responsibility in the Middle East and erodes the high hopes that the people of this region have pinned on President Obama.
Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and political commentator based in Jordan.
LINK: http://www.arabnews.com/?artid=125180
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