The core of the Middle East's many problems remains Israel's military occupation of Arab lands, writes Mohamed Higazy* Upon invitation of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), a conference was convened 22 June 2007 to mark 40 years of the Israeli occupation of Arab territories. The conference reflected in its debate the commitment of all spectrums of Indian society to support the just cause of the Palestinian people and their plight. Therefore, I feel obliged at the outset to express a word of recognition and gratitude to the Indian government and the people of India who have stood, over the years, firm and committed on the side of justice and in supporting the independence of Palestine and the end of the Israeli occupation. We have all been following the tragic events taking place in the Gaza Strip recently. It is certainly sad to see brothers turning against each other after decades of heroic resistance. Palestinians should remain united and should not crack under the heavy-handed policy of the occupation. Like so much that has been going wrong in the occupied territories, these regrettable events are merely a symptom of the root cause of the problem affecting the Middle East as a whole, which is the continuation of the Israeli occupation. We all hope that the Palestinian Authority with the help of Arab and international partners will bring peace and reconciliation between the different Palestinian factions. The latest developments in Gaza should not at any moment draw our attention away from the fundamental reality of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights and what is left in Lebanese occupied territories, as being the core issue of the conflict in the Middle East. The Israeli occupation should be looked at as the illness and any other development as merely a symptom. Therefore, ending the occupation is like curing the disease that has exhausted the body of Palestine and anguished the heart of the Middle East, as well as preoccupying for decades the mind of the whole world. The Arab-Israeli conflict has squandered the resources and disrupted the lives of the people of the Middle East for many years. With its political, historical and religious dimensions this is a clear and continued threat to world peace and stability and, most importantly, to relations between various cultures and faiths in the world. Hence the importance for us all -- people living in this region and members of the international community alike -- to act in concert to reach an immediate, just and comprehensive solution to this conflict. The ugly practices of the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories provide evidence, however, of the lack of international commitment in dealing with the rights and future of the Palestinian people. Daily incursions, targeted killings, roadblocks and the separation wall, among many other lawless practices, have left little hope, if any, in future peace plans. Today more than ever, the international community and its institutions should act immediately to end Palestinian suffering under occupation and to allow moderation and the voice of peace to prevail. Otherwise only radicalism and fundamentalism will further dominate the scene to the loss of all, especially the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. As we all know, the International Quartet has drawn up a roadmap for peace. It was accepted by the concerned parties and states of the region. It was also endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1515. It was hoped that it would constitute the political framework for negotiations and the end of the conflict. However, this did not happen for many reasons, among them the lack of international political will and clarity about the endgame and the failure to curb Israel's continuous breaching of Palestinian rights. The international community should renew its adherence to principles of peaceful co-existence between Israel and Palestine and determine the general parameters of the final settlement among Israel, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. There is a need now to build upon this cornerstone in order to create a political framework that would move the parties towards the objective desired by the international community as a whole, namely the establishment of a comprehensive peace that would put an end to occupation and strife in this part of the world and seal the creation of a Palestinian state to live side-by-side with the state of Israel in defined and secured borders. All parties should engage in formulating the "endgame", and setting the parameters for a permanent settlement based on UN resolutions and the principle of "land for peace", where light should appear at the end of the tunnel. This is the only way to give the Palestinian people hope and confidence in a process that has been dragging on for decades. Today, once again we are at a crossroads. A historic change has to be made and bold decisions have to be taken. Commitments should be honoured locally, regionally and internationally. To help the peace process further and to identify the way forward, in their summit in Riyadh in March 2007, Arab leaders yet again offered Israel peace and full recognition in return for the creation of a Palestinian state on the land it occupied in 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital as well as ending the occupation of the Golan Heights and Lebanese territories in Shebaa Farms. This initiative was adopted in Beirut in 2002 but was not taken up by the Israelis. We hope that they will not squander this opportunity again. The alternative is the continuation of the cycle of violence and misery that has been going on for far too long. Israel must be persuaded to respond in a positive and constructive manner to the opportunity created by the Arab League peace initiative and work with the Palestinian Authority as well as regional and international partners to start a meaningful peace process that will lead to the creation of a viable Palestinian state. Through this road alone, the Middle East and its people will find their way to tranquillity, peace and prosperity in a region rich with economic potential, young and dynamic populations and, above all, a wealth of knowledge and cultural heritage. During his last visit to Israel last month along with Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah Al-Khalib to present to the Israeli leadership the Arab initiative, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit reiterated the need to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in the occupied lands through tangible Israeli measures that could be felt by ordinary Palestinians. He also added that such measures could lead to a political process, which could help in reaching a just settlement and establishing an independent Palestinian state. Therefore, and in the meantime, Israel should, inter alia, end all settlement activities; release blocked Palestinian tax revenues; remove all restrictions on the movement of peoples and goods in all Palestinian occupied territories; release Palestinian prisoners; stop all incursions, arrests and targeted killings; and refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem and around its holy sites. The Arab world renewed once again through the Arab peace initiative our commitment to a just and comprehensive peace. By doing so, we assured the Israeli people that there is a path other than that of violence and counter-violence, and that the Arab world is ready to accept them as neighbours and part of the region within a comprehensive peace agreement that transcends the suffering of the past, preserves the interests of the peoples of the region, and assures Arabs and Israelis of a life in safety, security and cooperation. One final comment concerning the statement made by the US president 16 July regarding the Palestinian issue: Egypt welcomed the American proposal to convene an international meeting later this year to restart peace talks. Foreign Minister Abul-Gheit stated that he supports indications included in the statement that refer to the need to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and to establish a viable Palestinian state with territorial integrity. He also referred to what was included in the president's statement concerning resolving the issues of the Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem. Abul-Gheit also outlined that establishing a Palestinian state will not be achieved by just ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands but also through dismantling existing settlements -- not just refraining from building more in the future. Let me conclude by making a reference to the new Middle East that we in the Arab world are looking forward to, and here allow me to quote Abul-Gheit who said: "the new Middle East we are looking for is a Middle East free from all threats to its stability and progress; a Middle East free from the occupation by one country of another; a Middle East where all peoples enjoy their independence within safe boundaries; a Middle East immune from political terrorism, religious extremism and ethnic chauvinism; a Middle East in which there is no place for nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, Such is the Middle East that we in the Arab world are working with our partners to build." * The writer is Egyptian ambassador to India.
