Israelis were targeted last week by the Arab world with a new, different kind of offensive, one that did not require them to run to the nearest bomb shelter: an advertising campaign. The negotiating department of the PLO purchased full page ads in four English and Hebrew-language daily newspapers in an effort to persuade Israelis to support the Arab League peace plan of 2002.
On a full broadsheet framed by the flags of 56 countries, the Palestinian and Israel flags appeared side by side near the top of the page under a large, 50-point size headline Arab Peace Initiative. Under the two flags appeared a smaller but still dominant sub-headline “57 Arab and Muslim Countries will Establish Full Diplomatic and Normal Relations with Israel in Return for Comprehensive Pease [sic] Agreement and Ending the Occupation.”
The ad said it contained the “official translation of the full Saudi-inspired peace plan adopted by the Arab League Summit in Beirut on March 28, 2002.” It also appeared in Arabic in a number of Palestinian papers.
As was pointed out by the government of Israel some six years ago when the plan was first made public, it falls short of certain minimum conditions. For example, the provisions regarding Arab refugees are untenable, as are the demands for total withdrawal to the pre-Six Day War borders.
It’s significant that the Arab League is floating the plan once again, at this time, and that Mahmoud Abbas’ PLO is casting it directly into the pool of Israeli public opinion.
Beyond the rooms where Palestinians and Israelis have been meeting these past many months, events are moving at a new pace. The imminent change in the American administration will undoubtedly bring change in the Middle East status quo. Yet neither Palestinians nor Israelis know what that change will be. More importantly however, the Sunni Arab and Muslim world grows increasingly alarmed at the prospect of a nuclear-armed Shia regime with grandiose hegemonic aspirations in Iran. The Arab League would like to solve the Palestinian-Israeli puzzle to remove it as a pretext for the Iranian involvement in the region.
The spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office, Mark Regev, said last week “We see this initiative as an important step forward. The Arab League has called for recognition of Israel and for peace with Israel. This is important progress. We are willing to engage in open dialogue with all our Arab neighbours on the basis of the Arab initiative.”
The question for Israelis is whether the Arab League and the PLO intend the plan to be all-or-nothing or a starting point for serious negotiations. Irrespective of the outcome of the general elections on Feb. 10, after Barack Obama is sworn in as U.S. president, they will know.