Yeah.... about that peace proposal....
Well, in their moment to formally present a peace proposal to the UN, the Saudis took a decidedly different tone that seems to have gone unreported in our newspapers. The Saudi representative framed the "proposal" as both a demand to and an attack on Israel. Quoting the Ha'aretz account of the speech, "the Saudi envoy made only one reference to Abdullah's proposal, reiterating the demands for a complete Israeli pullout and offering peace and 'good neighborly relations' in return - but he never mentioned recognition of the Jewish state." This doesn't sound quite like the tone they were advancing to Friedman a couple of weeks ago. Now here's a direct quote from the speech that certainly sounds like the Saudis are looking not only for peace, but to normalize relations as quickly as possible, "[t]he objective of Israel was and remains to expel the Arab people from Palestine and to occupy even more Palestinian territory in order to set up an exclusive state."

More? "Israel has no desire for peace, no desire to settle the Middle East problem or to implement resolutions, and thus it drags the international community into a vicious circle of security considerations to prevent it from considering the very essence and substance of the Middle East which lies in Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands."

Shimon Peres supports exploration of the "proposal" (remember it has not been formally made to anyone, while Yuval Steinitz (head of the Likud party which currently controls the government and promoted Sharon for Prime Minister) took a more catious [and I think realistic] tack, "[w]e are hearing only that which we are excited about hearing - the word 'normalization' - and it's about time, after ten years of the 'peace festival,' for which Mr. Peres is responsible, that we stop because the Saudis cannot guarantee that the Palestinians will not import anti-aircraft missles or Iranian artillery into the territories." The world is rushing to take up the Saudis on a proposal they haven't made and no one is sure they can actually deliver. Remember, the Saudis can only suggest that the other Arab states follow their lead and they don't have the same level of involvement in this issue as some of Israel's neighbors. As the Saudis further play out their position, it seems that the pessimists were correct at first when they suggested that the initiative was nothing more than an attempt to mollify the world given that their country produced the majority of the hijackers for Sept. 11. I remain skeptical both of the proposal and Saudi Arabia's ability to deliver (if it were accepted) on any of the terms (for their country or others) that the Arab states would have to accept.
- posted by levinson @ 2/28/2002 08:16:00 AM