page_title: Arab Peace Initiative
section_title: Passover massacre
hierarchical_section_title: Arab Peace Initiative / The plan / 2002 summit / Passover massacre
caption_attribution_description: Dansk: Yasser Arafat. København. 3. maj 1999. Den palæstinensiske leder Yasser Arafat besøger Danmark, herunder Udenrigspolitisk Nævn i Folketinget English: Yasser Arafat on a visit in Denmark. Here in Udenrigspolitisk Nævn (part of the Danish parliament, Folketinget) on 1999-05-03.
context_page_description: The Arab Peace Initiative, also known as the Saudi Initiative, is a 10 sentence proposal for an end to the Arab–Israeli conflict that was endorsed by the Arab League in 2002 at the Beirut Summit and re-endorsed at the 2007 and at the 2017 Arab League summits. The initiative calls for normalizing relations between the Arab world and Israel, in exchange for a full withdrawal by Israel from the occupied territories, a "just settlement" of the Palestinian refugee problem based on UN Resolution 194, and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Initiative was initially overshadowed by the Passover massacre, a major Palestinian attack that took place on March 27, 2002, the day before the Initiative was published.
  The Israeli government under Ariel Sharon rejected the initiative as a "non-starter" because it required Israel to withdraw to pre-June 1967 borders. After the renewed Arab League endorsement in 2007, then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave a cautious welcome to the plan.
context_section_description: A suicide bomber killed 30 Israelis in Netanya the same day the Initiative was launched. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and its leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said that the attack sent "a message to the Arab summit to confirm that the Palestinian people continue to struggle for the land and to defend themselves no matter what measures the enemy takes." The Arab League said that it did not think that the perpetrators planned the bombing to derail the Beirut summit.
  The Palestinian Authority condemned the attack and Arafat personally ordered the arrests of militants associated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as a response. However, Ariel Sharon blamed Arafat for the attack as well. 
  An Israeli government spokesperson stated that "[t]here ain't going to be any negotiations under fire". Another government spokesperson, Raanan Gissin, said that Israel would continue to pursue the cease-fire but that "when we will feel that we have exhausted all the possibilities of achieving such a cease-fire, then of course we will take all the necessary measures in order to defend our citizens."
  The Passover Massacre as well as other attacks lead to an escalation of the al-Aqsa Intifada and helped falter the initiative. The violence led the United Nations Security Council to issue an unanimous resolution on March 30, Resolution 1402, which criticized all sides.:
  Expressing its grave concern at the further deterioration of the situation, including the recent suicide bombings in Israel and the military attack against the headquarters of the President of the Palestinian Authority,
  1. Calls upon both parties to move immediately to a meaningful ceasefire; calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities, including Ramallah; and calls upon the parties to cooperate fully with Special Envoy Zinni, and others, to implement the Tenet security work plan as a first step towards implementation of the Mitchell Committee recommendations, with the aim of resuming negotiations on a political settlement
caption: Despite his support for the plan, Israeli officials blamed Arafat for failing to stop the second Intifada's violence during the summit.
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