Summary:
The Arab Peace Initiative, brainchild of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, offers Israel normal relations with the Arab world in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from land occupied in 1967 and a "just solution" to the refugee problem based on United Nations Resolution 194. The initiative was adopted by the Arab League at its March 27, 2002 summit in Beirut, and support for the proposal has been renewed numerous times. US President Barack Obama’s administration also adopted the API as part of its Middle East policy and the Quartet, a working group on the Middle East that comprises the European Union, Russia, the United
Nations and the United States, has backed the initiative in its statements. Despite these nods to its importance, the API has gained little traction on the ground. Believing the initiative is key to regional peace efforts, the creators of the bitterlemons publications, Yossi Alpher and Ghassan Khatib, dedicated editions of the web magazines to the initiative during the years 2002-2010. This volume presents the best of those efforts.
Table of Contents
Preface
Palestinian Foreword - Ghassan Khatib
Israeli Foreword - Yossi Alpher
The Text of the Arab Peace Initiative
1. Conceiving the Arab Peace Initiative - “To gain support for this initiative at all levels”
Genesis, development and present status - by Nabeel Shaath
Not only still relevant, but desirable - by Marwan Muasher
Happy to be proven wrong - by Ezzedine Choukri Fishere
We come in peace - by Amre Moussa
2. Responding to the Arab Peace Initiative
Consistent support - by Ghassan Khatib
The iron wall - by Tamar Hermann
Putting opponents of the API on the defensive - by Nizar Abdel-Kader
Stillborn - an interview with Salah Bardawil
Resistance tooth and nail - by Heiko Wimmen
American public opinion and the Middle East peace process - by John Zogby
The real issue is political leadership - by David Pollock
Two-plus-two is four - by Mark Perry
3. Examining the Text This chapter examines the wording of the Arab Peace Initiative, one section at a time.
Everybody but Israel - by Yossi Alpher
The Arab states were never that interested - by Ferry Biedermann
A view from Russia - by Irina Zvyagelskaya
Pakistan: in lockstep with Saudi Arabia - by Irfan Husain
Only then - by Faiza al-Araji
Arabs yearn to move on - by Hussein Ibish
The illusion of normalization - by Dan Schueftan
The API prize: full normalization or just normal relations - by Koby Huberman
“Security for all the states of the region”
Middle East security from a Palestinian perspective - by Mkhaimar Abusada
The API and the regional security deal - by Amor Boubakri
The Arab world cannot deliver - by Efraim Inbar
The API promise of security is insufficient - by Shlomo Brom
“End of conflict and peace agreement”
Not a clear enough incentive - by Yossi Alpher
The magic Arab clause - by Adil Awadh
Ending the conflict - by Laila el-Haddad
If not now, then when? - by Elias Samo
On refugees
Solution to Palestine refugees imperative for peace - by Chris Gunness
The API and the Palestinian refugees - by Nadim N. Rouhana
Rethinking Palestinian refugeehood - by Ruba Salih
Permission to return or right of return? - by Maurice Stroun
Clarifications needed - by Itamar Rabinovich
The refugee issue in the API: contradictory or complementary? - by Matti Steinberg
Divergent views from Lebanon, but one common goal - by Franklin Lamb
Not at Jordan’s expense - by Hassan Barari
On borders
A package deal - by Ghassan Khatib
A double standard - by Shlomo Brom
A Palestinian state within the 1967 borders: settlements vs. sovereignty - by Philip C. Wilcox
Settlements, borders and the Israeli plan - by Khalil Toufakji
The border is not the heart of the conflict - by Yisrael Harel
The politics of illusion - by As’ad Ghanem
Syria’s two red lines - by Elias Samo
A Syrian perspective - by Imad Moustapha
On Jerusalem
Arab demand for East Jerusalem is an obstacle to peace - by Efraim Inbar
Jerusalem challenges the API - by Daniel Seidemann
What state without Jerusalem? - by Huda Imam
Protecting my rights - an interview with Jamil Hamammi
“A sovereign independent Palestinian state”
The nature of Palestinian sovereignty - by Mkhaimar Abusada
A perspective from Jordan - by Hassan Barari
The initiative vs. the reality - by Shlomo Gazit
Just Arab wishful thinking? - by Ghada Karmi
4. Israeli Ideas on the Arab Peace Initiative Why the API was ignored by Israel in 2002 - by Yossi Alpher Save a generation - by Omar Rahman A sensible future - by Mennat Maassarani We need a very different Arab League approach - by Mordechai Kedar The best policy alternative for Israel - by Alex Mintz and Yosi Ganel Accept with minor interpretations - by Yossi Alpher The IPI, a pragmatic yes to the API - by Yuval Rabin and Koby Huberman The best possible deal - by Saleh Abdel Jawad What peace process? What peace? - by As’ad AbuKhalil
5. Arab Revolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative
The API in thrall to the Arab spring - by Nathalie Tocci
Saudi dilemmas and the API - by Madawi al-Rasheed
Time for a positive Israeli response to the API - by Mark A. Heller
An empowering Arab peace plan - by Akram Baker
6. Contributors
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