The upcoming Arab summit in Beirut has become the main political focus following Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s peace proposal, which appears to have raised Syrian and Lebanese concerns about conditions for a settlement with Israel.
Although the Saudi proposal called for an Israeli withdrawal to 1967 borders in return for a full Arab recognition of the Jewish state, it failed to address the return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. Lebanon, however, will not approve any peace deal that fails to provide permanent accommodation for the estimated 350,000 Palestinians living in 12 refugee camps throughout the country.
According to the Daily Star, Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud discussed the preparations for the March 27-28 summit on Friday with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa as well as Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohammed Bin Issa.
The summit agenda dominated Lebanon’s Friday prayer sermons, with Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah citing “Arab peace plans” that have been mentioned in the news “now and then.” He called for the rejection of any plan that did address the issue of the Palestinian refugees’ right of return.
Fadlallah said the Arabs had already made several compromises to the Israelis, but that Israel and the US were intent on leaving the Palestinians homeless, turning them into “mere laborers for the Jews.” “I would like to tell the Palestinian people that Israel, the United States and, I fear, most of the Arab and Islamic nations, want you to be left with only remnants of Palestine,” he said.
Meanwhile, the official Syrian press has made no mention of the Saudi initiative, while still commenting in strong terms on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calling for continued support for the Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
"This silence is indicative of reservations, perhaps even disagreement, above all on the timing of the initiative," a Western diplomat who declined to be identified told AFP.
The diplomat suggested that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad considered that a hard Arab line was necessary at a time when the tough tactics of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon towards the Palestinians seem to be losing support in Israeli public opinion. "For Syria, this is not the moment to loosen the grip on Sharon," he said.
This certainly seems to be the view of the Syrian press. "Israel is going through a real crisis," the ruling Baath party daily claimed Friday. "Sharon has implicitly admitted failure to suppress the intifada and ensure security for the Israelis."
For the second day running Al-Baath called on Arab leaders meeting in Beirut to voice their full backing for the intifada, saying it "needs clear political and material support from Arab countries.
"The next Arab summit in Beirut would perhaps be the best opportunity to work out the Arab stance necessary to deal with an enemy which threatens all Arabs without exception," the daily added.
The Western diplomat also said Syria could well point out that the Saudi initiative adds nothing to the commonly endorsed policy of Arab states, which says peace is only possible with a total withdrawal of Israel from the land it seized in the 1967 war. (Albawaba.com)
