Beirut Summit

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Israeli-Palestinian peace process

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The Beirut Summit (also known as the Arab Summit Conference) was a March 2002 summit meeting, held in Beirut, Lebanon, between leaders of Arab nations to present plans to defuse the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It became especially noteworthy for the adoption, by the Arab states attending, of a proposal offering a comprehensive peace between the Arab nations and Israel, called the Arab Peace Initiative.

The proposal, from Saudi Arabia (itself something of a novelty, as the Saudis usually prefer to be less forward on the world diplomatic stage) stated that should Israel:

then the Arab countries would in turn recognize Israel, enter into peace agreements with it, and establish normal relations with it.

Jordan's foreign minister said:

The Arab initiative put forth at the Beirut Summit in March offers comprehensive peace in the region based on the internationally recognized formulation of "land for peace" -- a return to June 4, 1967, borders in exchange for normal relations and a collective peace treaty.

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres welcomed it and said: "... the details of every peace plan must be discussed directly between Israel and the Palestinians, and to make this possible, the Palestinian Authority must put an end to terror, the horrifying expression of which we witnessed just last night in Netanya," [1] referring to Netanya suicide attack perpetrated on previous evening which the Beirut Summit has failed to address. Many in the Israel camp argue that this proposal carries a lot less weight coming after the Palestinian Authority rejected Ehud Barak's offer at Camp David.

Contents

[edit] Arab Peace Initiative

The Arab Peace Initiative was floated by then acting Saudi regent Crown Prince Abdullah as a potential solution to both the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was published on March 28, 2002, during the meeting of the Arab League at the Beirut Summit, and achieved the unanimous consent of all members of the Arab League.

Considered a progressive proposal , it calls for the state of Israel to withdraw its forces from all the Occupied Territories, including the Golan Heights, to recognize "an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees. In exchange the Arab states affirmed that they would recognize the state of Israel, consider the Arab-Israeli conflict over and establish "normal relations" with Israel.

[edit] Guiding principles

The initiative is based upon:

  • The principle of Land for peace
  • The conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the parties

[edit] The plan's goals and targets for addressing the issues

The goals of the initiative are:

The somewhat obscure 4th section was inserted at Lebanese insistence and reflects its concern that the settlement of the refugee problem not be at what it considers the expense of Lebanon and its "demographic balance."

[edit] Implementation steps

The initiative calls for the establishment of a special committee composed of a portion of the Arab League's concerned member states and the Secretary General of the League of Arab States to pursue the necessary contacts to gain support for the initiative at all levels, particularly from the United Nations, the Security Council, the United States of America, the Russian Federation, the Muslim states and the European Union.

[edit] Reactions

In response, on March 28, 2002 Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres welcomed the initiative and said:

"Israel views positively every initiative aimed at arriving at peace and normalization. In this respect, the Saudi step is an important one, but it is liable to founder if terrorism is not stopped. We cannot, of course, ignore the problematic aspects which arose at the Beirut Summit and the harsh and rejectionist language used by some of the speakers.
It is also clear that the details of every peace plan must be discussed directly between Israel and the Palestinians, and to make this possible, the Palestinian Authority must put an end to terror, the horrifying expression of which we witnessed just last night in Netanya."[2]

The last phrase references the Netanya suicide attack, ignored by the participants of the Beirut Summit. Hamas later claimed that this attack was specifically designed to derail momentum from the peace initiative. ([3])

[edit] Current status of the initiative

The initiative does not appear to have gained momentum since its publication. However, as of January 30, 2004, it appeared that the Saudis were preparing a supplementary initiative in preparation for the next Arab League summit meeting. The Kuwaiti newspaper, as-Siyasa, has reported that the supplementary initiative would call for the resettlement of up to 2 million refugees in Arab countries and the rest in a Palestinian state.[4] [5] However, the Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath called the report "nonsense," and Saudi officials denied such a plan was in the offing. The central committee of Fatah, the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority at that time, issued a statement describing the Saudi initiative as another "stab" against the struggle of the Palestinian people. At the 2002 Beirut summit, Lebanon and Syria campaigned for the inclusion of a reference to United Nations Resolution 194, which emphasizes the Palestinian right of return to Israel. A compromise was eventually reached, citing the resolution but stating that the league would support any agreement between Israel and Palestinians on the issue. Similar Palestinian criticism greeted the Geneva initiative's formula to send most of the refugees to third countries and only a symbolic number to Israel.

[edit] What is left out by the initiative

The initiative does not address the following matters:

  • The nature of the envisioned Palestinian state
  • The nature of the "just solution" to the refugee problem
  • The level of militarization of the Palestinian state
  • The use of water resources
  • Access to Jerusalem and its holy sites
  • Access to other holy sites within the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine
  • Access between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
  • The dismantling of non-governmental armed groups within the West Bank and Gaza Strip
  • Border controls between Israel and the Palestinian state
  • The fate of Palestinian prisoners

[edit] Arab-Israeli peace diplomacy and treaties

[edit] External links

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