Tel Aviv - In a unique move to reach out to the Israeli public, the Palestinian Authority published advertisements in Israel'sthree leading dailies Thursday, promoting the so-called Arab Peace Plan of 2002. The full-page advert, written in Hebrew and bordered by the flags of 57 Muslim states, attempts to explain details of the plan,under the headline that "57 Arab and Muslim countries will establish diplomatic ties and normal relations with Israel, in return for a full peace agreement and an end to the occupation."
The advertisement goes on to detail the clauses of the plan, which calls on Israel to withdraw from territories occupied in the 1967 Middle East War, a "just solution" to the Palestinian refugee issue, in accordance with United Nations Resolution 194, and agreement to establish a Palestinian state.
In return, the plan says, the Arab countries will end the Arab- Israeli conflict, enter into peace agreements with Israel, "provide security to all nations in the region," and establish "normal relations" with Israel.
Israel has never formally adopted the peace initiative, which was first adopted at an Arab summit in Beirut. In particular, Israel is wary of the clause regarding the refugees, saying that allowing the refugees or their descendents to return to homes in what is now Israel will upset the demographic balance, and lead to Jews becoming a minority in Israel within a few generations.
However, Israeli President Shimon Peres told the United Nations General Assembly on November 13 that the plan a represented "a serious opening" for real progress.
But a senior advisor to the US president-elect Barack Obama has also denied a report, which appeared in the Sunday Times, that the incoming chief executive intends basing his future Middle East peacemaking efforts on the initiative.
The Israeli Ha'aretz daily on Thursday quoted senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo as saying that the adverts were an attempt to persuade the Israeli public to support the plan, with which they were so far unfamiliar.
He said Israelis have to date only heard partial explanations on the plan, which he said were also distorted , from Israeli officials who "have in the past attacked every peace initiative."
