It is not a secret that both the United States and Israel are very keen on Saudi Arabia attending the Middle East conference being held in Annapolis on Tuesday. The Saudi presence, they feel, would be a major victory for them even if nothing worthwhile happened at the meeting.
It is surprising that the US and Israel are yet to recognize Saudi Arabia’s principles are not up for sale and that the Kingdom’s ardent wish for peace in the Middle East is not a sign of weakness. The Kingdom has been yearning for peace based on the principle of land for peace. Saudis do not believe in an agreement barren of results.
Obviously Israel is seeking, through an American-sponsored conference, Arab recognition for a Jews-only state. Such recognition would amount to their endorsement of Israeli oppression of the Palestinians and the expulsion of the Arab inhabitants still left in that country.
I have no doubt that my country would reject any move that would only add to the injustice the Palestinians are suffering. But I am afraid there maybe Arab countries who would be willing to support such unfair moves. Let us say with one voice: “Yes to peace and No to surrender!”
Our generation should not hand down to the next generation a peace that only means surrender. It is true that we Arabs, who believe in security and the rule of law, are fed up with a conflict that has been going on for over six decades. Arabs are tired of wars and yearn for peace even with their enemies. However, the fact remains that their condition is better than that of their enemy who has never enjoyed a wink of sleep with peace of mind over the past several decades. A state that has been imposed in the midst of a people, whose rights it usurped and whose sons it killed, cannot survive without making peace with those people, particularly after its game has been exposed and its tricks have been uncovered.
According to a report in the Israeli daily Maariv, President George Bush asked Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to tone down his comments on the Saudi peace initiative adopted by the Arab League. Bush wanted the door open for the Americans to recast the initiative in a manner that serves the Israeli interests. The report also said that one of the options that the Americans studied was that Israel accepts the Arab peace initiative with some reservations.
But I do not understand why Americans assume that Saudi Arabia would accept any alteration to the basic features of its peace initiative to suit the whims of the Zionist state. After all, the Saudi peace plan has unanimously been endorsed by the Arabs and a number of non-Arab countries. It would be a huge mistake to assume that Saudi Arabia would be satisfied if the conference comes up with solutions for some minor issues leaving the core issues unresolved. It is high time the US and Israel realized Saudis are not used to bowing their heads before anyone except the Almighty.
The Palestinians have been enduring brutal repression over several decades. Continuation of this misery for some more time would not make any difference to them. They have all along been resisting the occupation. But to subject a people to continued brutality and injustice may invite unpredictable but unpleasant reactions and violence from them. The world powers have been ignoring the gross injustice the Palestinians suffer at the hands of the Israeli authorities.
I used to wonder whether we Saudis would ever be able to visit a free Palestine and pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. If, at all, it is possible, will it be in the near future? I hope that the Saudi peace initiative would be adopted and implemented leading to the emergence of an independent Palestinian state with clearly demarcated borders. I hope that the refugees and their children would return to their homes and properties with all dignity.
I also look forward to the day when the Kingdom’s embassy would be opened in Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine while Gaza will flourish with open borders. I also hope that the nuclear reactors that threaten the safety of the region would also be decommissioned.
— Omima Ahmad Galahamah is a Saudi academic. She works at King Faisal University.
