Alternative Mideast peace plan launched
Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators gathered in Geneva today to launch their unofficial initiative to end one of the world’s most intractable conflicts in the presence of Jimmy Carter and other winners of the Nobel peace prize.
But strong opposition from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and last-minute dissension within Palestinian ranks underscored the problems facing the plan that resulted from two years of secret negotiations.
“It is unlikely that we shall ever see a better foundation for peace,” said Carter, after receiving a standing ovation from a packed conference hall.
“The people support it. Political leaders are the obstacle to peace.”
Carter also was critical of the administration of President George Bush, saying that while it had been supportive of Israel, it had ignored the well-being of Palestinians. He also criticised the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for allowing the number of Jewish settlements to skyrocket.
Carter said that Israelis had to ask themselves: “Do we want permanent peace with all our neighbours or do we want to retain our settlements?” Palestinians also must halt violent attacks on Israelis, he said.
Hollywood actor Richard Dreyfuss, master of ceremonies at the event, said that “peace is far too serious to be left exclusively to governments.”
“People are terrified of the world they seem to be leaving to their children,” he said. “This initiative is the people’s claim to their place at the table.”
The unofficial treaty known as the Geneva Accord proposes borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state close to Israel’s borders before the 1967 Mideast war, giving the Palestinians almost all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and part of Jerusalem.
It calls for the removal of most Israeli settlements there and largely side-steps the so-called “right of return” for Palestinians who fled or were driven out during the 1948-49 war that followed Israel’s creation and their descendants. It also divides sovereignty in Jerusalem.
The negotiators claim their work is in line with the road map for peace and other plans. The US backed road map spells out a formula for negotiations but leaves the trickiest issues open.
In Israel, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz – who like other current leaders opposes the initiative – said the road map remained the Israeli government’s “basis for the continuation of talks with the Palestinians.”
The Geneva plan has been welcomed by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and European leaders.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana said today that it fit in with overall peace efforts.
“This initiative is very courageous,” Solana said. “It offers solutions and parameters that can be used to find a final agreement.”
Fifty-eight former presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers and other global leaders, meanwhile, released a statement Monday expressing “strong support” for the Geneva Accord.
