The Foreign Service Journal, December 2006

that in his speech Arafat also censured the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. as “terrorist acts of aggression against New York and Washington, condemned first by us and then by the rest of the world”?) Four years on, Israel has yet to respond to the Arab initiative, so far as I am aware. Is it not about time that it did so, particularly because it is doubtful that the Arab states will collectively and unanimously ever make a more generous offer? While the concessions required of Israel may seem distasteful to it, are they not outweighed by the reward of peace treaties with all of the states of the Arab world, and full and total acceptance of Israel as a legiti- mate, permanent state? In any case, these steps are actually obligations for Israel, pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, which have never been repealed or abandoned. The essential and complete ele- ments of the Arab Peace Initiative are the following (quoted from the resolution in its final form, text avail- able on the Arab League Web site): Expectations from Israel: A. Complete withdrawal from the occupied Arab ter- ritories, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the 4 June 1967 line and the territories still occupied in southern Lebanon. B. Attain a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees to be agreed upon in accordance with the U.N. General Assembly Resolution No 194. C. Accept the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since 4 June 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. In return the Arab states will do the following: Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict over, sign a peace agreement with Israel, and achieve peace for all states in the region. Establish normal relations with Israel within the framework of this comprehensive peace. It is important to understand that the reference to “the problem of Palestinian refugees” does not mean that F O C U S D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 49