The Arab League "Peace
Plan"
(March 27, 2002)
Folowing is the text of the "Arab Peace Initiative" adopted at the Arab League summit in Beirut.
"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 Abdullaziz, 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 UN 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."
Sources:
Jerusalem Post (March 28, 2002) |