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Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1173700694809&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
What's Missing from the Saudi Initiative - Negotiations
[Jerusalem Post] Shlomo Avineri - One key element is missing from the Saudi initiative and from the March 2002 Beirut declaration of the Arab League - negotiations. The Beirut declaration "called upon Israel to affirm" three points: full and unequivocal withdrawal from all the occupied territories; achieving a "just solution" to the Palestinian refugee problem in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194; and acceptance of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Arab League does not offer negotiations with Israel, nor does it suggest that its demands (which are the conventional Arab ones) will become a basis for negotiations. What the declaration demands is that Israel "affirms" - accepts the Arab demands and then, only then ("consequently") the Arab countries will "affirm" the end of conflict. The writer is former director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.