An Arab peace initiative

Today I met a guy who told me about an Arab peace initiative, an offer made by Arab states in 2002 to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, establish peaceful relations with Israel, in exchange for a complete withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and a just settlement to the Palestinian refugee crisis. Sounds pretty good, no?

Think again. The initiative never really got off the ground. The day before the initiative was tabled, a massive terrorist attack, the Passover Massacre, was carried out by the Hamas military wing. Thirty Israeli civilians were killed and 140 injured. The attack sent shockwaves through the Israeli society. It completely overshadowed the initiative.

Since then, the Arab peace initiative has laid dormant, although it was re-endorsed by the Arab states in 2007.

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, to accompany a proposal for peace with a massive terrorist attack does not instill any confidence in the sincerity of the initiative. In fact, it stinks. But on the other hand, this was the first time that all Arab states came together to offer such a comprehensive peace deal with Israel. Can we really let a Hamas terrorist attack destroy this opportunity?

I wonder, does there have to be zero violence before a peace initiative can be considered? Does there have to be complete trust and confidence before a deal is possible? Or is it time to breath new life into the Arab peace initiative?

14 days to go...