The Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that the Palestinian cause is a matter of consensus among all Arab states and ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is a central goal of all Arab countries without exception.
Arab countries collectively agree that the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative is the basis of any solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, he said.
"A true, lasting, just, and comprehensive peace with all its elements remains a strategic option for Arab countries," Aboul Gheit added. He also voiced complete and unanimous Arab rejection of Israel's plan to annex parts of the Palestinian occupied territories in the West Bank.
He added that a stage of comprehensive and normal Arab-Israeli peace relations can only be achieved when the Palestinian people gain their freedom and independence, explaining that this can be reached through the "land for peace" principle and the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Aboul Gheit reiterated total Arab rejection of Israeli annexation plans and any unilateral measures or declarations to change the status of the lands under occupation, stressing that the Arabs will not recognize Israel's annexation of occupied East Jerusalem.
In this context, he recalled the announcement made by the AL in its regular session last April, by which it considered the annexation plan a ‘war crime’ to be added to the rich Israeli history of crimes against Palestinians.
A source from the AL revealed that the Council of the Arab League will discuss on Sep. 9 several matters including the Palestinian cause – via videoconference.
