March 08, 2009

Solana: "No peace without implementing Arab Peace Initiative"

IMEMC (Link) - Saed Bannoura (March 8, 2009)

EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, stated on Saturday that there can be no peace in the Middle East without implementing the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002. In an interview with the al-Ahram Egyptian weekly, Solana said that Israel must understand that without peace with its Arab neighbors it can’t have peace and security.

Commenting on the Sharm al-Sheikh Summit for rebuilding Gaza, Solana stated that this summit was a message of hope to the Palestinians and the Israelis. This message, he said, reaffirms the importance of resuming peace talks in order to achieve a two-state solution.

In 2002, Arab leaders convening at the Beirut Summit of the Arab League proposed a comprehensive peace initiative. In 2007, Arab leaders endorsed the initiative during their Summit in Riyadh.

The initiative offered normalization between the Arab countries and Israel in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. It also called for a just solution to the issue of the Palestinian refugees.

Israel did not accept the initiative and Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, stated that Israel has several reservations regarding the plan and cannot accept it as it is.

Mar 8, 2009 7:56:00 PM | Islam, Israel, Solana

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