Arab States Waiting For Israel's Response To Peace Initiative - Inter-Parliamentary Union

Arab countries have done a lot under the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and are now waiting for reciprocal steps from Israel, Fayez Al Shawabkah, the secretary general of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, told Sputnik

BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2019) Arab countries have done a lot under the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and are now waiting for reciprocal steps from Israel, Fayez Al Shawabkah, the secretary general of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, told Sputnik.

Al Shawabkah recalled that only Jordan and Egypt had concluded peace treaties with Israel, which signed the Oslo Accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1990s.

"Against the background of these agreements, there is the problem of the Arab peoples, who still believe that their rights and lands have been appropriated, the rights of the Palestinian people have not been recognized, and that Israel violates the rights of the Palestinians on a daily basis. As for the Arab peace initiative launched at the Arab League's summit in Beirut in 2002, the Arab side has done a lot and expects the Israeli response to this initiative through the respect for international resolutions and recognition that they occupied the land belonging to others," Al Shawabkah said.

The Arab Peace Initiative was proposed by Saudi Arabia and endorsed by the Arab League in 2002 and re-endorsed in 2007 and 2017.

The initiative calls for the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from disputed territories and restoration of borders that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War in exchange for the normalization of relations with Arab countries. According to the initiative, Israel recognizes a sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem and provides for a solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees.

Asked about his assessment of the progress of the normalization process, Al Shawabkah noted that no Arab state had officially launched it, adding that "each state has its own interests and the right to protect them."

The relations between Israel and Palestine have been strained for decades. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition for their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity and builds settlements on the occupied areas, despite objections from the United Nations.