Mr. President, we welcome you to the Middle East. On taking office you promised that you would not waste time in addressing the issue of Middle East peace. Your speech to the Arab and Muslim world in Cairo this week and your crucial decision to visit Saudi Arabia the day before are a clear indication that you are taking that pledge seriously. We Arabs have waited a long time for this moment and are to do everything in our power to see your efforts succeed.
The significance of your visit to Saudi Arabia shall not be lost upon anyone. King Abdullah has worked tirelessly for peace, and he has received the full support of 22 Arab countries for the peace plan he presented at the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002. The Arab Peace Initiative, offering Israel fully normalized relations with all Arab countries in exchange for withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967, has been endorsed by the United States and the international community as a key gateway on the road to peace.
We have all understood now that words are not enough to bring us peace. Words are important because they open up new paths, but those paths must then be walked with commitment and determination if we are to achieve our goal. The inclusion of Saudi Arabia on your itinerary shows that you are ready to take those steps with us, and to ask others to do so as well. The details of peace have been discussed many times before. We all know that the time has come to embark upon the path of implementation, and that is the message that your speech and your visit should send.
Peace is not about sitting at conference tables. It is about putting something on the line to spare mothers, fathers, sons and daughters the loss of innocent loved ones. It is about taking the courageous decisions that allow people to go about their lives with freedom and dignity. It is about establishing trust between peoples by proving one’s goodwill and an unfaltering dedication to the principles of peace. Finally, it is about justice and holding all parties to their duties and commitments.
To simplify things on the road to peace, we would like to propose a simple equation that can add up only to peace. Both the alphabet and algebra were invented in the Middle East, the latter by the famous Arab thinker Al Jaber. We would like to draw on both to synthesize the road of peace in the alphabetical elements of an equation whose result is defined as peace:
a) In Cairo, your vision for peace is delivered with eloquence; understanding and candor;
b) The Arab peace plan is presented by the United States as an essential element in launching the peace process;
c) The two-state solution is expressed as the fundamental basis for a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict;
d) In September, the United Nations General Assembly meets at the heads of state level, in particular by Security Council members, with the goal of adopting a historic resolution for peace;
e) The United States will present a resolution defining a clear timeframe for a final peace agreement and announcing the creation of a Palestinian state, as UN Resolution 181 called the Israeli state into being; and
f) A United Nations commission will be established by common agreement between Israelis and Palestinians to work on a daily basis on the final wording of an agreement and the final contours of a Palestinian state, based on previous agreements and discussions between both parties.
Mr. President, these are the ABCs (and DEFs) of peace that we would like to see checked off one-by-one after what stands to be one of the most important declarations by a US president in the 21st century. Let us all make history by seizing this opportunity, adding to the poetry of words the lightning rod of moral authority of peace and commitment to implementing every one of its principles.
— Waleed Al-Asr is a Saudi political analyst based in Riyadh.
