The 19th Arab Summit begins in Riyadh today. The focus of the two-day summit will be the Arab peace initiative proposed by King Abdullah when he was crown prince and later endorsed by the Arab summit held in Beirut in 2002. This is the second and concluding part of Dr. Abdullah Ibrahim El-Moneif’s article dealing with Saudi Arabia's efforts for a just and comprehensive Middle East settlement.
Saudi Arabia's main concern was to support a unified Arab effort to revive the peace process. In a statement from the holy site of Mina on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha in 2003, addressing more than two million pilgrims gathered for Haj and the Muslims worldwide, King Abdullah said:
...The (Kingdom) set in motion the call to Islamic solidarity ... to bring Muslims together, overcome dissensions and eliminate their causes, promote all that may lead to harmony and eliminate all that may lead to misunderstanding ... Toward this end the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia submitted a peace initiative to the 14th Arab Summit held in Beirut (in March 2002). The Saudi initiative was adopted by the summit and became an Arab peace plan with international support.
Saudi Arabia expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the Beirut summit describing it as successful and a step toward Arab solidarity and the achievement of the joint interests of the Arab community. Saudi Arabia also called on the UN Security Council, the United States, Russia, and the European Union "to support the Arab peace plan and to put pressure on Israel to withdraw from the Arab territories, end its aggressive policies that run contrary to international laws and norms, accept the Arab peace initiative and recognize the rights of the Palestinians, if it really wants security and peace".
Edward W. Said writes in "From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map": "The Saudi peace proposal has become the point of discussion and of hope". Dr. Natana J. DeLong-Bas in an interview with the author argued that the reasons for introducing this measure by King Abdullah include:
(1) Daily destruction and death in the conflict; (2) rising terrorism, both domestic and international, fueled in part by frustration and anger over this conflict and the daily deaths and maiming of Palestinian civilians, particularly children; (3) rising global awareness of the personal cost of the conflict for Palestinians as shown in constant media coverage.
Dr. Delong-Bas goes on to describe the personal qualities of King Abdullah that have contributed significantly to his leadership on this and other related matters.
The only leader in the Middle East with strong enough political and religious credentials and the financial power to back a resolution of this conflict was King Abdullah. His achievement of regional consensus in drafting the 2002 proposal was remarkable because of his ability to build consensus over the most contentious issue in the Middle East of the 20th and 21st centuries. "I believe that his leadership in this regard, particularly in building strong regional consensus, demonstrates his ability to move forward with regional cooperation on other issues - both political and economic (Interview 2005).
Col. (rtd.) Terence Taylor, president and executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the United States, in an interview, said that Saudi peace initiative of 2002 is important. King Abdullah's peace initiative should be seen as a significant step forward because it adds to Saudi prestige and will influence the discussion of and thought about Saudi Arabia in the future. For this and other related reasons, he recommended that it be carried forward since the initiative has great potentials.
Dr J. D. Anthony points out that Saudi Arabia has consistently played an outsized role in regional and world affairs.
"...Among the Kingdom's contributions to regional peace and stability has been Crown Prince Abdullah's bold, far-reaching, and historically unprecedented proposal for settling peacefully the long-festering Arab-Israeli conflict. At an Arab League heads of state summit in Beirut, on March 30, 2002, there was unanimous acceptance by all twenty-two members of his proposal that addressed virtually every major concern that Israeli national leaders had articulated to the Arab world since 1948. The proposal called on the Arab countries to recognize Israel and its right to exist within secure borders in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands it occupied in the June 1967 war and its recognition of an independent Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. Therefore, in many different areas related to the Middle Eat, Saudi Arabia has been a moderating force and has provided an element of stability over the years in a region that has experienced little of it in recent times.
The achievements of the Beirut summit make it the most significant in its history. For the first time since 1948, Arab states collectively offered to normalize their relations with Israel in return for Israel's complete withdrawal from the territories it occupied during the 1967 War. The historic decision that Arab states collectively adopted to normalize relations with Israel in return for its withdrawal from occupied territories took place at a time when the objective conditions for peace in the Middle East did not exist.
Writing on the Middle East situation from the perspective of a former US secretary of state, George Shultz, in his article on Possibilities for Mideast Peace, captures the nature of the problem and the contributions the Kingdom could make:
"For the first time in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, important Arab states have stated a willingness to promote peace between Israel and Palestine. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan are the keystones of this structure. Recall the important initiative of Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Under his initiative, in the event that a peace agreement is reached between the State of Israel and a state of Palestine, the Arab League states would recognize Israel as a permanent, legitimate state in the Middle East and in the international state system."
King Abdullah's offer to normalize relations with Israel in return for Israel's withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza, and most of East Jerusalem was hailed in the West as a major breakthrough. The impression given by most news reports was that after 54 years of hostility to the Jewish state, Arab leaders finally were willing to make peace with Israel. European Union ministers of foreign affairs praised the Saudi plan as a 'significant contribution' to the search for a peace in the Middle East. Arab responses were also largely positive and the PA expressed full support for the formula; full acceptance. This stance was endorsed by GCC foreign ministers meeting with their EU counterparts in Spain on February 2002.
There has not been vision or a plan that has gathered as much international support as quickly as the Saudi plan. This suggests that there is so much desperation on both sides for a way out that they all lined up behind this vision. The Saudi peace initiative brought immediate declarations of support from international community. Below are some examples:
1. US President George W. Bush (April 4, 2002): "The recent Arab League support of Crown Prince Abdullah's initiative for peace is promising, is hopeful because it acknowledges Israel's right to exist. And it raises the hope of sustained, constructive Arab involvement in the search for peace."
2. Bush on April 25, 2002: "I told the Crown Prince how much I appreciate his vision ... and how I appreciate his leadership in helping rally the Arab world toward that vision. ... (We) will be continuing our discussions, with the hope that our efforts can help return us to the path of peace, a lasting peace."
3. US Secretary of State Colin Powell on March 2, 2002: "I think Crown Prince Abdullah should be congratulated and thanked for putting this (peace initiative) on the table as a way of breaking through some of the barriers that we now have toward finding a way into the Mitchell peace plan."
4. Colin L. Powell, Capitol Hill Hearing, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Feb. 6, 2003: "But the president's policy remains the same. He is committed to the vision he outlined to the world on the 24th of June last year, which also picked up the important initiative of Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia - and that vision remains the same - to find a way to reach the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side, in peace, with Israel."
5. US Representative Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) on April 1, 2002: "To my way of thinking, the only candle that's flickering here in the midst of all the darkness and violence is the Saudi peace proposal."
6. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Feb.23, 2002: The initiative contains "positive and bold ideas on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process at a serious time when violence has reached an unprecedented level."
7. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Feb. 19, 2002: "This is part of the efforts constantly made by Saudi Arabia, and for which it is thanked, to support the peace process and support Arab states to obtain their rights."
8. Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Al-Mashar on Feb. 20, 2002: "The ideas of Crown Prince Abdullah constitute a clear political vision for the settlement of the Arab-Israeli dispute in a manner that serves all parties."
9. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on Feb. 25, 2002: "For the first time we can see the readiness on the part of a very important Arab country to take a position to encourage peace, and that we welcome."
10. EU Commission Spokesman Gunnar Wiegand on Feb. 20, 2002: "All good ideas that break the current impasse are welcome. We are encouraged by this type of initiative".
United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1397
On March 12, 2002, the UNSC adopted Resolution 1397, demanding "immediate cessation of all acts of violence; and calling upon the two sides to implement the Mitchell and Tenet plans, referring to the Saudi initiative and the Quartet's then-ongoing work. More importantly, for the first time, it affirmed "a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders.
Quartet's Roadmap and
Solution with Two States
The United States proposed its "Road Map to Peace" on April 30, 2003. This proposal, called for a Palestinian state and the dismantling of some Israel settlements. . The "road map" for peace was proposed by a "Quartet" of international entities: The US, the UE, Russia, and the UN. The principles of the plan were first outlined by US President George W. Bush in a speech on June 24, 2002, in which he called for an independent Palestinian state living side by side and in peace with the Israeli state. President Bush is the first US president to have called and articulated support for a solution for the conflict with two states, Israel and Palestine.
"My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security.... Ultimately, Israelis and Palestinians must address the core issues that divide them if there is to be a real peace, resolving all claims and ending the conflict between them. This means that the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 will be ended through a settlement negotiated between the parties, based on UN Resolutions 242 and 338, with Israel withdrawal to secure and recognized borders. We must also resolve questions concerning Jerusalem, the plight and future of Palestinian refuges...." (Concluded)
- Abdullah Ibrahim Elmoneif, Ph.D. is currently working at the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG). Before joining SANG, he held various positions at the Ministry of Justice and SANG. Dr. Elmoneif taught public administration at King Kahiad Military Academy. He was a Teaching Assistant (TA) and Research Assistant (RA) in the field of international relations and public administration /public policy at Howard University with Prof. M. Frazier. He got his B.A. from Concordia University, Portland, Oregon, and his M.P.A. from California State University, Chico, California. Dr. Elmoneif wrote a Ph.D. dissertation focusing on King Abdullah's foreign and domestic policies, which he submitted to Howard University's Department of Political Science. He can be reached at [email protected]
