Saudi ambassador speaks of peace

Barbara Black

The new Saudi Arabian ambassador to Canada, Abdulaziz Bin Hussein Al-Sowayegh, paid a visit to Henry Habib’s Concordia classroom on April 5.

About 120 students from the veteran political science professor’s courses at McGill and Concordia were able to hear first-hand about the new Saudi peace initiative.

Habib, an expert on the region, explained to the Journal that when he met Al-Sowayegh in Ottawa last fall, he invited him to come to Montreal to address his students. The diplomat, who is also an academic, demurred, saying he wanted an appropriate topic. This month, that topic arose.

In 2005, the Arab League proposed a peace plan based on Israeli withdrawal from land held since 1967 and the right of return for Arabs displaced by the establishment of the Jewish state. Israel said its right to exist should be acknowledged as a condition of acceptance, and the plan fell through.

Now the Saudis are promoting the plan again. What surprised Habib and made him wish there were media in the classroom was the friendliness of the offer.

“Al-Sowayegh said, in effect, ‘Israel should forget about the past. We aren’t putting any conditions [on acceptance]. Just look at this as a framework for peace.’

“And this astonished me. He said, ‘We are looking for another Yitzhak Rabin to come out of Israel.’” Rabin was prime minister and a force for peace in the region until he was assassinated in 1995.

“It was definitely more conciliatory,” Habib continued. “He suggested that the 22 Arab states would establish cordial relations with Israel provided they withdraw, and they’re ready to alter [the 1967 borders] somewhat.”

Habib attributes the softer mood to the punishing Iraqi war and the emergence of Iran as a wild card in the region. Regarding fears that Israel would be swamped by returning refugees, the ambassador said many would not want to return after more than 40 years.

Currently, about 40 per cent of the population of Israel is Arab. If the territories added in 1967 are excluded, that figure is closer to 20 per cent. If the territories continue to be within Israel’s borders, the Arabs will grow to 50 per cent by 2025, and Jews will no longer make up the majority in what was supposed to be their own state.

Habib thinks the United Nations should dust off Resolution 194, passed back in December 1948, just after Israel was established. It says that while the displaced have a right to return, those who choose not to may be compensated. That resolution would have the effect of recognizing a principle for the Palestinians while allaying the worst fears of the Israelis.

He said the diplomat was impressed by the students’ penetrating questions after his presentation. President Claude Lajeunesse gave him a warm welcome to Concordia. Board of Governors chair Peter Kruyt and his wife attended the class as well.

Lajeunesse told Al-Sowayegh that Concordia has 106 students from Saudi Arabia on study visas. The diplomat’s son, Feisal, has been in the political science program since January. Also here from the region are 174 students from Iran, 106 from Lebanon, 88 from Egypt, 57 from Jordan, 50 from Morocco and 33 from Bahrain.