About
700 people attended the glitzy ceremony marking the formal launch of
the Geneva Initiative, presided over by Dreyfuss and attended by other
celebrities and former leaders.
"It's
unlikely that we shall ever see a more promising foundation for
peace," former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said as the public
ceremony got under way at a conference center near U.N. headquarters.
"The
only alternative to this initiative is sustained and permanent
violence," he added.
Former
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, who along with
ex-Israeli justice minister Yossi Beilin was among the main architects
of the plan, said that it was "the first step in a long
march" towards peace.
"This
proves that a majority among Palestinians and Israelis want
peace," Abed Rabbo said.
Abed
Rabbo dismissed suggestions that the peace plan was unrealistic,
describing it as a "real historical compromise with real detailed
solutions to all issues."
Israeli
backers also played down staunch opposition from Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon in recent weeks, claiming that a broad range of civil society
was present in Geneva to show support for the initiative.
"If
the government is not here for the people, then let the people be here
for the people," Abraham Burg, former speaker of the Israeli
parliament said.
Israeli
Rejection
But
a poll released Monday showed that the accord enjoys the support of
just 31 percent of Israelis, while the country's influential Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz said it was a non-starter.
"The
Geneva Initiative does not fit into the roadmap, therefore the Israeli
government considers the roadmap as the only basis for talks with the
Palestinians," Mofaz told military radio, ahead of a meeting with
top U.S. envoy William Burns in which they discussed how to kick start
the American-backed "roadmap" peace plan.
The
Geneva initiative, drawn up in great secrecy by leading Palestinian
and Israeli politicians and intellectuals, contains proposals for
resolving some of the thorniest problems in the decades-long conflict
such as the creation of a Palestinian state and the status of occupied
Jerusalem.
The
proposals include an Israeli withdrawal from much of the West Bank and
the Gaza Strip, in return for the Palestinians waiving the right of
return for 3.8 million Palestinian refugees since 1948.
The
50-page document details the creation of a Palestinian state
encompassing 97.5 percent of the West Bank with shared sovereignty
over the city of occupied Jerusalem, which contains some of the
holiest sites in both Judaism and Islam.
Palestinians
Indecisive
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Demonstrators blast signing the initiative as tantamount to "treason"
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Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat has stopped short of formally endorsing the
project but has dispatched his security chief, Jibril Rajoub, to
attend its launch.
The
initiative has been rejected by the main Palestinian factions with
groups such as Hamas particularly angered by its implicit renunciation
of the right of return for Palestinians who were either expelled or
fled their homes by the creation of the state of Israel was created in
1948.
With
Sharon's and Palestinian factions' opposition, observers said the
initiative could be nothing more than a public relations stunt to show
hopes for peaceful settlement to the long-standing crisis are still
there.
Diplomatic
Flurry
The
plan has no official international backing, but has drawn European
support and encouragement from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
And
it appears to have prompted a sudden flurry of diplomatic activity in
the Middle East, with Washington's top envoy William Burns in Israel
for a series of meetings with officials.
And
in Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Monday that Egypt
supports any initiative to achieve Middle East peace.
"We
are ready to support any initiative whatsoever so that we could reach
stability in this part of the world," Mubarak said at a joint
press conference with his Maltese counterpart Guido de Marco.
Mubarak's
main advisor Ossama al-Baz left Cairo earlier to attend the launch of
the plan.
During
June summits in Egypt and Jordan, U.S. President George W. Bush
launched the internationally-backed "roadmap" that calls for
establishing a Palestinian state living in peace with Israel by 2005,
but it has stalled amid more violence.
In
October, former Israeli justice minister Yossi Beilin and former
Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo reported they have
drafted a new, more detailed initiative on how to settle the thorniest
issues.
Protests
In
the meantime, thousands of Palestinians staged protests in Gaza and
the West Bank against the unofficial Geneva Initiative, branding it as
"treason".
Some
1,500 people demonstrated against the accords in the Jabaliya refugee
camp in the northern Gaza Strip in a protest organized by the Hamas
movement, reserving much of their venom for the main Palestinian
engineer of the accord, Yasser Abed Rabbo.
"No
to treason, no to traitors," some demonstrators chanted.
"The
Geneva Initiative is a black day in the history of the Palestinian
people," proclaimed one banner.
In
Gaza City, some 2,000 people also gathered in a meeting hall to take
part in what was called "a national conference for the defense of
the right of return for refugees and against the dangers of the Geneva
Initiative."
"This
initiative is a gratuitous concession to Israel and is dividing the
Palestinian people," senior Islamic Jihad official Mohammed
al-Hindi told AFP on the sidelines of the gathering.
Top
Hamas figure Ismail Haniyah also denounced the document "for
renouncing the rights of the Palestinian people".
Around
300 people also gathered in the centre of the West Bank town of
Ramallah to denounce the project, accusing its promoters of
"liquidating the Palestinian cause".
