Brit Tzedek v'Shalom

Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace

Main Page

Geneva Accord Full Text

Executive Summary

Negotiators

Political and Opinion Leaders

Congressional Resolution

Media Analysis

Map

TO ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS: A Statement of Support

VOLUME 51, NUMBER 1 · JANUARY 15, 2004

By Alexander Bessmertnykh, Ali Alatas, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Carl Bildt, Claude Cheysson, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Frank C. Carlucci, George Alleyne, Ingvar Carlsson, Jorge Castañeda, Lakhdar Brahimi, Lloyd Axworthy, Lord Carrington, Martti Ahtisaari, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Richard V. Allen, Robert C. McFarlane, Robert S. McNamara, Thomas R. Pickering, W. Anthony Lake, Warren M. Christopher, Zbigniew Brzezinski

On the occasion of the signing on December 1 of the "Geneva Initiative"-a blueprint for peace negotiated by teams of Israelis and Palestinians led by former ministers Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo-we express our strong support both for this and the "People's Voice" petition initiated by Ami Ayalon and Sari Nusseibeh. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has taken far too great a toll already. Both peoples have paid dearly in lives and livelihood in a war which both are losing. Every passing day undermines the prospects for a peaceful, two-state solution. As long as the conflict endures, it will be a source of instability and violence for the region and the international community as a whole.

We believe that the best way to move forward is to address at the outset, not at the end of an incremental process, all the basic principles of a fair and lasting solution. Postponing the final outcome makes any progress hostage to extremists on both sides. A process must be devised to give practical and political expression to the heartfelt desire of clear majorities on both sides to end this conflict once and for all.

The Geneva and People's Voice initiatives both reflect that public opinion, and can help give it new momentum. On the Israeli side, they can help undo the myths taking hold since the collapse of the peace process and the onset of violence: that the Palestinian people are not prepared to accept a two-state solution and Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. On the Palestinian side, they can offer an alternative to the current mindset that sees in violence the only possible means of ending the occupation. They send a powerful signal that an alternative to the current situation exists. They have the potential to transform the domestic political dynamics on both sides.

International support will be crucial to translate these endeavors into a concrete mechanism to bring about a lasting peace. The international players most relevant for this purpose-the US, the EU, Russia, the UN "Quartet," and the members of the Arab League-should wholeheartedly back these initiatives. They should urge both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to be guided by the outcomes most of their peoples want. And they should make clear their own willingness to lend all the political, economic, and military support needed to help implement a comprehensive peace agreement.

The Israeli and Palestinian peoples, by making clear their belief in the Geneva and People's Voice initiatives, can help turn the principles embodied in them into reality. You can count on our support in this endeavor.

Hon. Richard V. Allen Former National Security Advisor to the President Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski Former National Security Advisor to the President Hon. Frank C. Carlucci Former Secretary of Defense Hon. Warren M. Christopher Former Secretary of State Dr. W. Anthony Lake Former National Security Advisor to the President Hon. Robert C. McFarlane Former National Security Advisor to the President Hon. Robert S. McNamara Former Secretary of Defense Thomas R. Pickering Former Ambassador to the United Nations Martti Ahtisaari Former President, Finland Ali Alatas Former Foreign Minister, Indonesia George Alleyne Former Director, Pan American Health Organization Oscar Arias Sánchez Former President, Costa Rica, Nobel Peace Prize 1987 Lloyd Axworthy Former Foreign Minister, Canada Alexander Bessmertnykh Former Foreign Minister, Soviet Union Carl Bildt Former Prime Minister, Sweden Boutros Boutros-Ghali Former UN Secretary-General Lakhdar Brahimi Former Foreign Minister, Algeria Fernando Henrique Cardoso Former President, Brazil Ingvar Carlsson Former Prime Minister, Sweden Lord Carrington Former Foreign and Defense Secretary, UK, and NATO Secretary-General Jorge Castañeda Former Foreign Minister, Mexico Claude Cheysson Former Foreign Minister, France Jacques Delors Former President, European Commission Jirí Dienstbier Former Foreign Minister, Czechoslovakia Ruth Dreifuss Former President, Switzerland Uffe Ellemann-Jensen Former Foreign Minister, Denmark Gareth Evans Former Foreign Minister, Australia Mark Eyskens Former Foreign and Prime Minister, Belgium José María Figueres Former President, Costa Rica Malcolm Fraser Former Prime Minister, Australia Hans-Dietrich Genscher Former Foreign Minister, Germany Bronislaw Geremek Former Foreign Minister, Poland Mikhail S. Gorbachev Former President, Soviet Union, Nobel Peace Prize 1990

I.K. Gujral Former Prime Minister, India Bob Hawke Former Prime Minister, Australia Bill Hayden Former Governor-General and Foreign Minister, Australia Raffi K. Hovannisian Former Foreign Minister, Armenia F.W. de Klerk Former President, South Africa, Nobel Peace Prize 1993 Wim Kok Former Prime Minister, Netherlands Masahiko Komura Former Foreign Minister, Japan Budimir Loncar Former Foreign Minister, Yugoslavia Barbara McDougall Former External Affairs Secretary, Canada Gianni de Michelis Former Foreign Minister, Italy Boyko Noev Former Defense Minister, Bulgaria Sadako Ogata Former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Lord Owen Former Foreign Secretary, UK Surin Pitsuwan Former Foreign Minister, Thailand Augusto Ramírez-Ocampo Former Foreign Minister, Colombia Fidel V. Ramos Former President, Philippines Jerry John Rawlings Former President, Ghana Mary Robinson Former President, Ireland Michel Rocard Former Prime Minister, France Nafis Sadik Former Executive Director, UN Population Fund Salim Ahmed Salim Former Prime Minister, Tanzania, and Secretary-General, OAU Cornelio Sommaruga Former President, International Committee of the Red Cross Kalevi Sorsa Former Prime Minister, Finland Eduardo Stein Former Foreign Minister, Guatemala Pär Stenbäck Former Foreign Minister, Finland Max van der Stoel Former Foreign Minister, Netherlands Thorvald Stoltenberg Former Foreign Minister, Norway Hanna Suchocka Former Prime Minister, Poland Alex Sceberras Trigona Former Foreign Minster, Malta George Vassiliou Former President, Cyprus Hubert Védrine Former Foreign Minister, France Franz Vranitzky Former Federal Chancellor, Austria Ernesto Zedillo Former President, Mexico

(This letter was circulated by the International Crisis Group, an independent, nonprofit multinational organization dedicated to the prevention and resolution of deadly conflict.)