Initiative of Geneva

The Initiative of Geneva , or Agreement of Geneva , is an alternative peace plan established by the former partners of the negotiations of Taba to solve the israélo-Palestinian Conflit.

It is signed on February 1st 2003 with Geneva (Suisse). The principal craftsmen of this agreement are the Israeli former minister Yossi Beilin and the Palestinian former minister Yasser Abd Rabbo.

Contents

The agreements, very detailed, envisage an overall solution of the israélo-Palestinian Conflit of which:

  • the division of the Sovereignty on Jerusalem which would be the Capitale of the two States, the Arab districts and the Esplanade of the mosques being under Palestinian sovereignty

  • evacuation by Israel of 98% of the the West Bank (of which majority of the colonies) and the totality of the Gaza Strip and the payment of the question of circulation between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
  • a compensation for the Palestinian Réfugiés which would have the choice between several options which are the installation in the future State Palestinian, to remain definitively in the host country, to go to settle in a third country or the return in Israel. Third countries fix a number of refugees authorized to settle there and Israel must take for base the median number of refugees fixed by third countries to determine its own number of Palestinian refugees authorized to come.

It should be noted that this agreement was compatible with the Roadmap.

Signatories

The participants in the negotiations are:

A letter of support for the agreement is signed by 58 personalities of which Mikhail Gorbatchev, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Martti Ahtisaari, Jacques Delors, Mary Robinson and Sadako Ogata.

Ceremony

Many personalities are present at the signing ceremony opened by the actor Richard Dreyfuss of which Jimmy Carter, Felipe González, Mário Soares, Bernard Kouchner, Simone Veil, Lech Wałęsa, John Hume, Nelson Mandela and Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Messages of Jacques Chirac and Yasser Arafat are read during the ceremony.

Dubious future

The American Secretary of State Colin Powell indicates its interest for this agreement and meets the authors of the initiative the December 5th 2003.

Ariel Sharon indicates that it does not approve this agreement and that it considers it dangerous for Israel.

The Palestinian Autorité supports this agreement mollement: Yasser Arafat and Ahmed Qorei indicate that they do not intend to support this initiative officially.

The Hamas and the Brigades of the Al-Aqsa martyrs estimate that this agreement constitutes a treason on behalf of the Palestinian negotiators. Because the right to the return is regarded by the Palestinian organizations most radical as an non-negotiable element of the israélo-Palestinian discussions. The successive Israeli governments always pushed back this request like not-founded and dangerous because the Israeli official theses continue to propose the departure volunteers of the Arab populations their dwellings within current Israel during the projection of the Jewish troops in 1947 - 1948. Moreover, this right to the return would put in danger the Jewish character of the Hebrew State as desired to its creation. The refugees and their descendants are several million and live in particular in Jordan, with the Lebanon, in Syria, Egypt and in the Palestinian Territories.

This agreement places this renouncement of the right to the return like counterpart of the transfer of the Esplanade of the Mosques in Jerusalem. However, this idea is not new. It had already been presented by several Palestinian intellectuals during the negotiations of Camp David and Taba.

More discrete are the voices of the Christians who deplore the fact that this agreement is unaware of almost completely the legitimate interests of this local Minorité. In a general way, the minorities (Arab living in Israel, Bedouin Armenians or ) are not mentioned in this agreement whereas the guarantee of their rights would be desirable insofar as they are particularly vulnerable.

External bond

  • Official site
  • Text of the agreements in French, with the format Word
  • Text of the initiative on the site of the diplomatic World

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