via memeorandum
In an interview with Reuters, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former ambassador to the United States and Britain and adviser to King Abdullah, said Israel and the Arabs could cooperate in many areas including water, agriculture, science and education.Asked what message he wanted to send to the Israeli public, he said:
“The Arab world, by the Arab peace initiative, has crossed the Rubicon from hostility towards Israel to peace with Israel and has extended the hand of peace to Israel, and we await the Israelis picking up our hand and joining us in what inevitably will be beneficial for Israel and for the Arab world.”The 22-nation Arab League revived at a Riyadh summit last year a Saudi peace plan first adopted in 2002 offering Israel full normalization of relations in return for full withdrawal from occupied Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese land.
Israel shunned the offer then, at the height of a violent Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
There’s a nice response from the Spectator:
Here is a message to Prince Turki al Faisal: that if the Arabs stop trying to occupy Jewish land and attack the west, they can join the civilised world.
The problem is that he isn’t kidding. He actually believes that the ‘Saudi peace plan,’ which calls for Israel to return to the pre-1967 Auschwitz borders in exchange for ‘full recognition’ of Israel – but not diplomatic relations, let alone peace – is something an Israeli leader can accept.
There’s something surreal about Turki reviving this offer. First of all, if Abudullah ever meant it seriously he quickly showed his insincerity by accepting Syrian claims that Shebaa farms is Lebanese effectively denying that Israel fully withdrew from Lebanon.
Still it’s hard to credit any of these Saudi overtures. One of the hallmarks of peacemaking has been the concept of “confidence building measures.” Well as a confidence buidling measure why doesn’t Saudi Arabia offer to allow the Mogen David Adom as a full symbol of the ICRC? Or lead the fight against antisemitism in the Arab media? Neither of those actions would necessarily be the equivalent of recognizing Israel and could be ascribed to promoting co-existence.
In the end this offer is worthless because it isn’t an offer of peace with clearly defined terms of what the Saudis and the rest of the Arab world are offering Israel, it is a list of demands. Peace does not come from ultimatums.
But then there’s the delicious irony that if Israel successfully helps create a Palestinian state that stifles the free press and restricts freedom of religion (yes, I’m assuming that past performance predicts future results) then it will be fit to join a group despots who rule by divine right or force and deny their citizens a voice in how to run their own lives.
Now that’s something to aspire to.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
Wow, I’m impressed. Maybe in a millenium or so they’ll agree to shake a Jewish hand.
If they keep up this jihad nonsense, making war on the whole rest of the world, in much less than a milennium there may be no Arab or Muslim countries left.