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Arab FMs Urge Israel to Stick to Peace Process
Arab foreign ministers have put Israel's commitment to the Madrid references, the UN resolutions and the land-for-peace principle as the prerequisites for the Mideast peace process.
A final statement issued at the end of a two-day emergency meeting of the Arab follow-up committee Sunday in Jordanian capital Amman said that the ministers discussed the future Arab steps in providing protection for the Palestinian people in the face of Israeli "aggression and closure."
Violence between Palestinians and Israeli forces broke out on September 28 and the ongoing clashes have so far killed nearly 400 people, mostly Palestinians.
At an emergency Arab summit held last October in Cairo, the follow-up committee was established to monitor the implementation of resolutions adopted by the summit, which, among other things, pledged moral and financial aid to the Palestinians.
The Amman meeting approved a call for holding a meeting by the signatories of the Geneva Convention of 1949 and working together with the U.N. Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) under the Cairo Arab Summit resolution as well as a report offered by the UNHRC to the follow-up committee.
The UNHRC report showed Israel's use of Depleted Uranium weapons against the Palestinian and Lebanese people, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention to protect civilians in times of war.
The statement also emphasized the importance of the Arab media strategy approved by the conference of Arab information ministers in order to make the Arab rights acknowledged and launch a serious and effective dialog among the decision-making bodies and interest groups to fight the hostile media campaign.
The statement urged adoption of measures to support the Palestinian people and enhance their economic capacities against the Israeli closure and blockade.
Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel-Meguid and foreign ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria attended the meeting.
The Palestinian side was represented by Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Political Department Farouk Al Kadoumy and Minister of International Cooperation of Palestinian National Authority Nabil Shaath.
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