FOTO A convoy of Israeli tanks heads toward the compound of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 29, 2002. Israel declared Palestinian leader Arafat its enemy and sent troops into his presidential compound. Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters **** After: the Text of the Arab-Israeli peace initiative, translated from Arabic by the Arab League, proposed by Saudi Arabia, and adopted yesterday by the 22-member league at the Beirut summit

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The Council of the League of Arab States at the Summit Level, at its 14th Ordinary Session,

- Reaffirming the resolution taken in June 1996 at the Cairo Extraordinary Arab Summit that a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East is the strategic option of the Arab Countries, to be achieved in accordance with International Legality, and which would require a comparable commitment on the part of the Israeli Government.

- Having listened to the statement made by His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in which his Highness presented his Initiative, calling for full Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territories occupied since June 1967, in implementation of Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, reaffirmed by the Madrid Conference of 1991 and the land for peace principle, and Israel's acceptance of an independent Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in return for the establishment of normal relations in the context of a comprehensive peace with Israel.

- Emanating from the conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the parties, the council:

1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well.

2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:

a. Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights to the lines of June 4, 1967 as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.

b. Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian Refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.

c. The acceptance of the establishment of a Sovereign Independent Palestinian State on the Palestinian territories occupied since the 4th of June 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

3. Consequently, the Arab Countries affirm the following:

a. Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.

b. Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.

4. Assures the rejection of all forms of Palestinian patriation which conflict with the special circumstances of the Arab host countries.

5. Calls upon the Government of Israel and all Israelis to accept this initiative in order to safeguard the prospects for peace and stop the further shedding of blood, enabling the Arab Countries and Israel to live in peace and good neighborliness and provide future generations with security, stability, and prosperity.

6. Invites the International Community and all countries and Organizations to support this initiative.

7. Requests the Chairman of the Summit to form a special committee composed of some of its concerned member states and the Secretary General of the League of Arab States to pursue the necessary contacts to gain support for this 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.

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The Peace Offer and the War Offer - Sharon made his choice
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On one and the same evening, the state of Israel got two diametrically opposed offers. At the Beirut Summit, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia offered Israel a
full peace with the entire Arab World in exchange for ending the occupation and withdrawing to the 1967 borders - "total peace for total withdrawal, and no further claims upon Israel."
One hour later, the suicide bomber who arrived in Netanyah made to Israel, on behalf of Hamas, a counter-offer - an offer of eternal war and indiscriminate mutual killing. By all indications it seems that the Sharon Government is about to reject the peace offer and accept the war offer.
Acceptance by Israel of the Saudi peace initiative - which, despite the squalid power struggles evident at the Beirut Summit, enjoys the support of the Arab world's important leaders - could open up new horizons, make it possible to
achieve an immediate cease-fire and an end to suicide bombings, convince many desperate Palestinians that a diplomatic way out of the occupation does exist,
and provide the Palestinian Authority with the strength and credibility to deal firmly with cease-fire violators.
Acceptance by Israel of the Hamas war initiative will lead the two peoples deeper into the abyss of bloodshed and destruction. The Israeli army will be sent again to invade the Palestinian territories, which will entail the killing
of hundreds and perhaps thousands - but it will not put an end to suicide bombings, on the contrary. In the end, Israel will withdraw from the Occupied territories - after much more blood is shed *unnecessarily .
There can be no question where Prime Minster Sharon stands. He has no intention of giving up the occupation and the settlements, and therefore he did all in his power to sabotage the Saudi peace initiative. Not only did he refuse to let Arafat go to Beirut, but he also was not willing to remove the ongoing encirclement and siege of cities and villages in the Palestinian occupied territories.

As we had another terrible proof yesterday, that siege cannot stop a few determined and desperate people on their way to perpetrate a suicide bombing, but it does cause untold suffering and hardship to the entire Palestinian population, strangles and dislocates the Palestinian economy and thus creates the very breeding ground for new suicide bombers.

For the moment, Sharon got what he wanted. The carnage in Netanya totally overshadows the peace initiative. But Sharon has no solution to offer the people of Israel who elected him a year ago - neither peace, nor security, nor
an end to sucide bombings. As we had another terrible proof yesterday: siege does not the desperately determined on their way to blow themselves up, an on the other hand it
increases the suffering and hardship of an entire population, strangling its economy and thus creating the very breeding ground from which such acts of despair
spring.

For further details call Adam Keller +972-3-5565804, +972-56-709603

NB: Full transcript of the war crimes panel available on the Gush site
For Hebrew http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum.html
For English http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/forum_eng.html
French available at request.

Also on the site:
photo's - of action or otherwise informative
the weekly Gush Shalom ad - in Hebrew and English
the columns of Uri Avnery - in Hebrew, Arab and English
http://www.gush-shalom.org

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