It was unanimously affirmed by the Arab League and immediately endorsed by the Palestinian leadership in March 2002. However, more or less the same plan has been offered by the Arab League and enthusiastically endorsed by the Palestinian leadership going back much, much longer. I would mention that even Hamas has endorsed the plan. (BTW: I do not have any sympathy whatsover with Hamas) I will post the full statement below along with an excellent article by Seth Ackerman of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting regarding the offer presented by Israel to the Palestinian leadership at the Camp David 2000 talks.
But first I feel I must say that just as it is deplorable, wrong and immoral to appeal to anti-Semitism as a tactic in this discussion. It is also deplorable wrong and immoral to appeal to anti-Arab fear and hatred as well. I sincerely hope you give that some thought. This does not help secure peace and security for Israel or anyone else.
Regarding your statement, " democratic free state that recognizes the civil rights of its people - i.e. Israel - a state that has no violent intentions against any of its neighbors except when required to defend its borders and the lives of its citizens" . I would humbly suggest that the leading Israeli human rights organizations do not hold such a view of the current situation and the most prominent and credible Israeli/Zionist historian do not necessarily hold such a lofty picture of the past. I must say that it is to the credit of Israeli society that they have passionate human rights advocates and and critical thinking historians. Unfortunately the same standard of human rights simply does not apply to nearly half the population who live in area encompassing Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
link:
B'tselem - the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
http://www.btselem.org/english/About_BTselem/Index.aspIsraeli Committee Against House Demolitions:
http://www.icahd.org/eng/The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel
http://www.stoptorture.org.il/eng/background.asp?menu=3&submenu=3http://www.icahd.org/eng/Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
http://www.phrusa.org/healthrights/phr_israel.html-----------------
Regarding the historical Narrative you presented please allow me to quote former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, From Scars of War Wounds of Peace: The Arab/Israeli Tragedy, page 188 " A popular prejudice in Israel about the Arabs is that 'they only understand the language of force. But this can be said as well of the Israelis and some of the other parties in the conflict. " And this quote from page 42. "" It was that an Arab community in a state of terror facing a ruthless Israeli army whose path to victory was paved not only by its exploits against the regular Arab armies, but also by the intimidation, and at times atrocities and massacres, it perpetuated against the civilian Arab community. A panic-stricken Arab community was uprooted under the impact of massacres that would be carved into the Arabs monument of grief and hatred" - - Former Israeli Foreign Minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami from Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy, If I may say so this is a worthwhile book to read by a man who though he has given his entire live to the cause of Israel and Zionism, I believe he makes an honest attempt to understand the Arab and specifically Palestinian people even if I don't completely agree with everything he says. I believe he is sincere and reasonable. Amazon link for Scars of War/Wounds of Peace:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195181581/sr=1-1/qid=1153546420/ref=sr_1_1/104-2240026-0639147?ie=UTF8&s=books If you check my signature line there is a link to an excellent debate he participated in with Professor Norman Finkelstein the famous or infamous -depending on ones point of view - non-Zionist Jewish scholar.
If by any chance you might be interested in the historical view from a non-Zionist Jewish Israeli Scholar - Here is a link to an article by Professor Ilan Pappe of Haifa University: What Really Happened Fifty Years Ago? link:
http://www.ameu.org/page.asp?iid=35&aid=427&pg=1 He is author of A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples
Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521683157/104-2240026-0639147?v=glance&n=283155___________
Now here are the details regarding the Peace offer endorsed unanimously by the Arab League and supported by the Palestinian leadership (including Hamas) followed by some details about what was really offered to the Palestinians at Camp David in 2000:
link:
http://www.mideastweb.org/saudipeace.htm "The Arab Peace Initiative
(translation by Reuters).
The Council of Arab States at the Summit Level at its 14th Ordinary Session, reaffirming the resolution taken in June 1996 at the Cairo Extra-Ordinary Arab Summit that a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East is the strategic option of the Arab countries, to be achieved in accordance with international legality, and which would require a comparable commitment on the part of the Israeli government.
Having listened to the statement made by his royal highness Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, crown prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in which his highness presented his initiative calling for full Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territories occupied since June 1967, in implementation of Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, reaffirmed by the Madrid Conference of 1991 and the land-for-peace principle, and Israel's acceptance of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in return for the establishment of normal relations in the context of a comprehensive peace with Israel.
Emanating from the conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the parties, the council:
1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well.
2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:
I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.
II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
3. Consequently, the Arab countries affirm the following:
I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region
II- Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.
4. Assures the rejection of all forms of Palestinian patriation which conflict with the special circumstances of the Arab host countries
5. Calls upon the government of Israel and all Israelis to accept this initiative in order to safeguard the prospects for peace and stop the further shedding of blood, enabling the Arab countries and Israel to live in peace and good neighborliness and provide future generations with security, stability and prosperity
6. Invites the international community and all countries and organizations to support this initiative.
7. Requests the chairman of the summit to form a special committee composed of some of its concerned member states and the secretary general of the League of Arab States to pursue the necessary contacts to gain support for this initiative at all levels, particularly from the United Nations, the Security Council, the United States of America, the Russian Federation, the Muslim states and the European Union."
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And this is the offer Israel made at Camp David in 2000:
link:
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1113 "The annexations and security arrangements would divide the West Bank into three disconnected cantons. In exchange for taking fertile West Bank lands that happen to contain most of the region’s scarce water aquifers, Israel offered to give up a piece of its own territory in the Negev Desert--about one-tenth the size of the land it would annex--including a former toxic waste dump.
Because of the geographic placement of Israel’s proposed West Bank annexations, Palestinians living in their new “independent state” would be forced to cross Israeli territory every time they traveled or shipped goods from one section of the West Bank to another, and Israel could close those routes at will. Israel would also retain a network of so-called “bypass roads” that would crisscross the Palestinian state while remaining sovereign Israeli territory, further dividing the West Bank.
Israel was also to have kept "security control" for an indefinite period of time over the Jordan Valley, the strip of territory that forms the border between the West Bank and neighboring Jordan. Palestine would not have free access to its own international borders with Jordan and Egypt--putting Palestinian trade, and therefore its economy, at the mercy of the Israeli military.
Had Arafat agreed to these arrangements, the Palestinians would have permanently locked in place many of the worst aspects of the very occupation they were trying to bring to an end. For at Camp David, Israel also demanded that Arafat sign an "end-of-conflict" agreement stating that the decades-old war between Israel and the Palestinians was over and waiving all further claims against Israel"
snip:"In April 2002, the countries of the Arab League--from moderate Jordan to hardline Iraq--unanimously agreed on a Saudi peace plan centering around full peace, recognition and normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders as well as a "just resolution" to the refugee issue. Palestinian negotiator Nabil Sha'ath declared himself "delighted" with the plan. "The proposal constitutes the best terms of reference for our political struggle," he told the Jordan Times (3/28/02)."
read full article:
The Myth of the Generous Offer
Distorting the Camp David negotiations
By Seth Ackerman
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1113