The Israeli occupation of Arab land in Palestine is the core of the conflict that has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people. It is said to be one of the main reasons that provoked Al-Qaeda militants to carry out 9/11 bombings in the US and other terrorist operations in different parts of the world.

Although the UN Security Council has passed several resolutions to end the conflict and bring about a just and comprehensive Middle East peace settlement, the search for lasting peace in the region remains as elusive as ever. Western powers, including the United States, stand helpless in front of Israel, which, backed by a powerful Jewish lobby, defies the international community.

Being a champion of the Palestinian cause, Saudi Arabia has been extending all-out support to the Palestinians to achieve their legitimate rights. The new Arab peace initiative, which offers Israel normal ties with Arab countries in return for the withdrawal of its forces from occupied Arab territories, is the brainchild of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who presented it first at the Arab League’s Beirut summit in 2002.

From day one, Arab News has given full support to the Palestinian issue. It has highlighted the atrocities of Israeli occupation forces against unarmed Palestinian women and children. In order to mobilize international opinion against state terrorism, Arab News carries news and pictures on its front page about the never-ending and fruitless Middle East peace talks and Israel’s killing and maiming of Palestinians almost everyday.

“Arab summit in Riyadh” was the front-page headline of Arab News’ first issue, which was published on April 20, 1975. It was a pleasant coincidence that the English daily began its publication in Jeddah on the eve of a mini Arab summit, the first after the assassination of King Faisal, who had dedicated his life to achieving Arab unity and promoting the Palestinian cause. The summit, which was attended by King Khaled, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, President Hafiz Assad of Syria and the late Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Arafat, charted a new strategy to confront Israel.

Attempts to resolve the conflict have included a number of agreements between the Palestinians and Israelis on the one hand, and between Israel and her neighboring states (Egypt and Jordan) on the other. Although the Oslo Accords of 1993 between Israel and the PLO established a framework for the partial decolonization of territories occupied in 1967, many thorny issues were left unresolved. Arab News published all these developments in detail to keep readers abreast with events.

Arab News Editor in Chief Khaled Almaeena, who has been deeply pained by the gross injustices and oppressive practices committed against the Palestinians, wanted his paper to be at the forefront in defending the Palestinian cause. On Sept. 27, 1982, Arab News published Almaeena’s interview with the charismatic Yasser Arafat, who described the savage Israeli bombing of civilian targets. “The PLO fighters left Beirut so that its civilian population would not further endure the merciless slaughter by the Israelis, who by using freely provided American arms and ammunition, were intent on razing the entire city to the ground, and adding one more chapter in their genocide against the Palestinians,” Almaeena wrote in the interview.

On Sept. 11, 2003, Israel decided to exile Arafat from Palestinian territories, saying he was “the main obstacle to peace.” Arab News published the news on the front page with a banner headline “Israel to exile Arafat.” The Palestinian president reacted defiantly against the decision. “No one can kick me out,” Arafat told reporters at his Ramallah headquarters where he was confined by Israeli forces for 20 months. Arafat, who symbolized the Palestinian struggle and passionately sought a homeland for his people for four decades died in Paris on Nov. 11, 2004. According to some reports, he had been poisoned by the Israelis.

The Palestinian struggle did not end with the demise of Arafat. Palestinian men and women continued their protest against the occupation. Israel, fully armed with modern weaponry supplied by its Western backers, continued its oppressive practices. In the end of 2008, it carried out a brutal military operation in Gaza killing 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thousands more were wounded or displaced. According to one report, 412 Palestinian children perished between Dec. 27, 2008 and Jan. 18, 2009. These children were killed as a result of the bombings and atrocities carried out by Israeli occupation forces.

Arab News lined up prominent writers like Uri Avnery, Linda Heard, Neil Berry, Jonathan Power, Samar Fatany, Ramzy Baroud and Osama Al-Sharif, who wrote articles in its Op-Ed pages in support of the just Palestinian cause. “It is the greatest of ironies that the people of Israel, who were awarded a homeland because of the barbarity the Jews of Europe suffered at the hands of the Nazis, could allow their government to persecute another people and deny them the same security and freedom they were denied not long ago,” wrote Fatany in her article titled “Palestine peace: A matter of global resolve,” which was published on March 24, 2008.

Arab News has written several editorials in support of King Abdullah’s peace plan that gives a ray of hope about a possible end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. US President Barack Obama has called it a courageous move but Israel has yet to reciprocate positively to make the plan a reality. The proposal envisages Arab recognition of Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the return of Palestinian refugees.

Disappointed by Israel’s lukewarm approach to the peace plan and its continued aggression against the Palestinian people, King Abdullah told an Arab economic summit in Kuwait in January 2009 that the proposal would not remain there forever. Arab News carried the king’s statement on Jan. 20, 2009 with a front-page headline: “Peace offer not open-ended: King.” King Abdullah said: “Israel must understand that the choice between war and peace will not always remain open and that the Arab peace initiative that is on the table today will not remain there indefinitely.”