Turkey also encouraged the meeting, which was an important step against the Sunni-Shiite separation that threatens to engulf the whole region. King Abdullah’s determination to overcome the possibility of a sectarian war after having stopped the war of brothers between Al-Fatah and Hamas increased the importance of Saudi Arabia while strengthening its position in the Arab world.
It is a must to analyze how Saudi Arabia, known to be a status quo country in the shadow of the United States and which became a target when 15 of the 19 September 11 perpetrators were found to be Saudis, is able to make such significant moves. But for now, I will draw attention to an overlooked aspect of the Ahmedinejad-Abdullah meeting.
It is very meaningful that the meeting took place at the height of Shiite-Sunni tension. However there is another subject keeping King Abdullah busy: Palestine. Just as everyone else who is able to analyze the region with an objective eye, he also knows very well that the underlying reason for the problems in the region is Palestine. He can see that neither the tensions in the region nor those between the Islamic world and the West can be eliminated unless this problem is solved.
At this point, the king has another trump card. This card is a peace plan which he developed while still a crown prince and which had been approved by all the Arab administrations in March 2002 at the Arab Union summit in Beirut. The plan, known as the Arab Union Peace Initiative, is based on normalizing the relations of Arabs with Israel, provided that Israel withdraws to pre-1967 boundaries. If the plan is implemented, the Israeli occupation in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon will end overnight, which will result in the legitimization of Israel while making it possible for Palestinians to have a state.
It’s of course difficult to put the plan into practice; however, there are positive developments happening in this direction. While bringing Al-Fatah and Hamas together in Mecca and launching an initiative for Palestine with seven Islamic countries including Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia, King Abdullah was building the infrastructure to implement this plan. The new conjuncture is also increasing the plan’s chances of being successful. Al-Fatah doesn’t have any serious objections to the plan. Hamas has some reservations. However, it is said that Hamas would agree to a plan accepted by all Arabs, apart from the international pressure. In spite of al-Qaeda’s threats, Hamas’s agreement with Al-Fatah is an indicator of this.
There is also a change in the viewpoint of Israel, which disregarded the plan before. The best indicator of this is Israeli Prime Minister Olmert’s statement Sunday in the Cabinet that the plan had positive elements and that it could form a basis for discussions with some changes. These words are being interpreted as a sign that Israel is taking the plan seriously.
The most important topic at the Arab Union Summit to be held on March 27-28, which will be attended by all Arab leaders save Qaddafi, will be the revival of this plan. The leading country of the group opposing the plan is Iran. Arabs are disturbed to see that Iran is preparing to assume the guardianship of Palestine. In an interview, King Abdullah openly accused Iran of using the Palestine issue for its own interests. According to the official policy of Iran, which maintains a harsher stance towards the Palestinian problem than the Arabs do, there is no other choice than to destroy Israel. Therefore, for the implementation of the plan, either Iran must be convinced or its negative effects must be eliminated.
Under these conditions, it was very natural for the Saudi press to focus on whether a positive signal would be sent from the King Abdullah-Ahmedinejad meeting on the Arabian peace plan for Palestine. They did receive the signal they were looking for. Following the summit, Saudi newspapers wrote that Ahmedinejad would support the Arab plan (Saudi Gazette, March 5). If it was true, it then was the flashiest news of the summit. Ahmedinejad, who was talking about erasing Israel from the map, was saying “yes” to a plan envisaging the recognition of Israel. The source of the news was in a sense the Saudi state because the source that made the details of the event a news report was the official Saudi news agency SPA, which bluntly wrote that Ahmedinejad was supporting the plan. However, one day after the meeting, a statement from the Iranian presidential office said that nothing about the plan had been discussed. At this point, I’m at a loss to decide whether Tehran or Riyadh should be believed. However, one thing is obvious: if the Arabian plan becomes an alternative solution through the efforts of the Arab Union and the initiative of the seven Islamic countries, Iran will have to revise its policy on Palestine.
Benzer Haberler 
