By Nevine Khalil Sunday's three-way Egyptian-Jordanian-Palestinian summit in Cairo focused on Israeli plans to change the geography and demography of Jerusalem, but officials denied that it laid the groundwork for a full-fledged Arab summit. The conference took many observers by surprise, although Jordanian sources told Al-Ahram Weekly a decision had been taken as early as last Friday to expand an Egyptian-Palestinian summit scheduled for the same day to include Jordan's King Hussein. During nearly two hours of talks, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat briefed President Hosni Mubarak and King Hussein on the mounting crisis in the Occupied Territories as a result of Israel's decision to expand the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. Arafat also briefed them on last weekend's unprecedented stand-off between Palestinian and Israeli forces in Gaza. Arafat said that King Hassan of Morocco may call a meeting of the Jerusalem Committee of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to discuss Israel's plan to "Judaise" Jerusalem. Hassan is the committee's chairman. Referring to Israel's Jerusalem plan, Mubarak told a joint news conference that the Israelis were "playing with fire". He stressed that Jerusalem "is not an Israeli monopoly, but an issue to be discussed in final status negotiations." On 21 June, Israel approved plans to extend municipal services to West Bank Jewish settlements and annex Jewish suburbs inside Israel, thereby raising Jerusalem's Jewish population to 70 per cent. Arafat said that the issue of Jerusalem concerns "the whole world, Muslims, Christians and Jews." Hussein agreed. "Jerusalem is undoubtedly a most sensitive and important issue," he said, requiring the whole Islamic world to unite in opposing the changes that are being made. "We consider the creation of an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, a top priority, and we will never waver on that," the monarch added. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's spokesman David Bar-Ilan had said earlier that Israel "will not agree to freeze [Jerusalem's] development while awaiting accords" to be signed with the Palestinians in final status negotiations. He claimed that Israel's Jerusalem plan was of a "municipal nature, without any political implications." A joint statement issued by Mubarak, Hussein and Arafat declared their "absolute rejection" of the Israeli plan, called for its "immediate cancellation" as well as an end to unilateral acts "which could pre-judge issues to be negotiated in the final status phase." The leaders affirmed the necessity of implementing signed agreements, including the three stages of redeployment as well as interim arrangements. The statement said Israeli policies "threatened to destroy any chance of achieving a comprehensive and just peace in the region and will return it to an unending cycle of tension and instability." Arafat expressed hope that the Cairo meeting would open the way for a full-fledged Arab summit, but Mubarak was of a different opinion. "When there is a strong reason and when we reach a complete dead end, an Arab summit will be essential," he observed, as Hussein and Arafat stood by his side. He added that the Cairo meeting did not necessarily imply that a full-scale Arab summit was in the making and was aimed only at "studying the issues". Ahead of Sunday's meeting, however, Jordanian Foreign Minister Jawad Al-Anani said that the mini-summit was "a good start for comprehensive Arab action and paves the way for a larger summit." He said the Arab world "must reconsider seriously the question of an Arab summit." On the other hand, Bar-Ilan belittled the importance of the Cairo gathering, saying that it sought "to put pressure on Israel and extract concessions from us, but it will not work." He said that even if the Cairo summit paved the way for a full-fledged Arab summit, it "wouldn't change anything anyway." The three leaders brushed aside Bar-Ilan's statements. Arafat described them as a provocation, whereas Mubarak warned Bar-Ilan not to "belittle" Arab gatherings. He said that the significance of the Cairo meeting lies in the message it is sending to "Arab and Islamic public opinion which should be mobilised against [Israeli] actions that will eventually lead to disastrous consequences for the Israeli people." In the joint statement, the Arab leaders said that the Cairo meeting laid "the first brick in building a united Arab position to protect Arab rights." They also agreed that "efforts will continue in preparation for an Arab summit to confront the challenges which are facing the peace efforts." The Cairo talks also dealt with the US proposal that Israel carry out a 13 per cent second troop redeployment in the West Bank. While the Palestinians have accepted the figure, Israel continues to procrastinate. The three leaders called on the US to announce the results of its efforts and expressed their "deep appreciation" of the position taken by the European Union in support of the peace process. All hopes now rest with Washington's initiative, but Mubarak urged patience. "We should not rush these matters because we are going through a sensitive phase," he said, adding that if the US proposal fails, an alternative is the Franco-Egyptian initiative [for an international peace conference]. "If we do not reach a solution, I fear, there will have to be a high-level Arab meeting to study the situation," he said. In the joint statement, Hussein and Arafat expressed their support for the Franco-Egyptian proposal to save the peace process. As the three leaders met, French presidential envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran was in Israel talking to officials about ways of moving the peace process forward. In Cairo a day earlier, Cousseran followed up with Egyptian officials the Mubarak-Chirac proposal, made in May, which calls for an international conference, excluding the Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese and Israelis. Bar-Ilan rejected the Franco-Egyptian proposal, saying that it would "lead to nothing more than an impasse." An international conference without the protagonists of the peace process, he said, was unnecessary. What is needed are "direct negotiations with the Palestinians." Mubarak warned against a possible outbreak of violence if the stalemate continued. "I hope that the Israelis will come to understand how dangerous the situation is," he said, "because if violence begins, it will be difficult to control." Mubarak continued that if progress was not made, "the repercussions would be painful for the Israeli people. The outcome will not suit anyone." Mubarak described last weekend's Palestinian-Israeli stand-off as "dangerous and a result of mistrust". A confrontation between Palestinian and Israeli forces began when Israeli soldiers barred a Palestinian cabinet minister from driving through a military checkpoint on a key coastal road in Gaza last Thursday. Palestinian police and civilian vehicles converged on several main junctions, effectively besieging Jewish settlements in the Strip. The situation was defused after US and Egyptian intervention.
