Word: arabism
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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While thus sounding a cautious overture to an adversary, Reagan did not shy away from disappointing a key friend in the Middle East. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called at the White House to make an impassioned plea for the U.S. to resume active efforts to mediate an Arab-Israeli peace settlement. He urged Reagan to invite a JordanianPalestinian delegation to Washington to discuss procedures and proposals...
...Arab intentions. I think the Egyptians would like to have a comprehensive peace, and they would like to see the whole Middle East moving toward peace. The Jordanians, basically, also. The P.L.O. too. All of them--maybe like all of us--are prisoners of past worries, prejudices and superstitions. The Egyptians feel that for the time being the political-negotiations camp may consist of themselves and the Jordanians; they also say the Iraqis and the Algerians, and the Palestinians. Nobody is mentioning Syria. It heads the camp of belligerence and refusal. So let it be where...
Mubarak's initiative grew out of an accord signed by Arafat and Jordan's King Hussein in Amman last month. That agreement, which el Baz helped draft, is an ambiguous document that calls for a joint Jordanian-P.L.O. delegation to negotiate for Palestinian rights within "the proposed confederated Arab states of Jordan and Palestine." Though the accord does not specifically demand the creation of a separate Palestinian state, it offers little incentive to Israel to enter negotiations. Hussein and Arafat call upon Israel to withdraw from all occupied Arab territory--the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Golan...
Barely had the Amman accord been made public when P.L.O. leaders began issuing reservations. Farouk Kaddoumi, an Arafat confidant, insisted on the creation of a separate Palestinian state. Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, Arafat's spokesman, demanded that a unified Arab delegation, rather than simply a joint Jordanian-Palestinian team, negotiate with Israel. In a radio interview, Arafat said he appreciated Mubarak's efforts, but insisted on an international peace conference rather than bilateral talks with Israel...
...Hussein has refrained from criticizing the Mubarak scheme. The Jordanian monarch, who was vacationing in Europe last week, is scheduled to meet with Mubarak in Egypt this week. Still stung by the rejection of the 1982 Reagan Middle East peace plan by Israel and much of the Arab world, U.S. officials remain skeptical that the Egyptian President can bring together the Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians, with or without the P.L.O.'s blessing. Nonetheless, State Department officials look forward to discussing both Mubarak's plan and the Hussein-Arafat accord with the Egyptian President when he visits Washington early next week...