Viewpoint: Gazans reaction to Saudi plan

Palestinian policeman guards the destroyed Gaza TV station

The Middle East peace initiative put forward by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has received much acclaim from diplomats around the world.

Even Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has expressed cautious interest.

	Crown Prince Abdullah's peace proposal: Israel should withdraw to pre-1967 borders and sign a peace deal with the Palestinians In return, Arab states offer Israel full diplomatic relations, including security guarantees and trade relations Initiative receives widespread international welcome See also:  Initiative in detail  History in maps

Palestinian officials have welcomed the plan. Yasser Arafat is quoted as calling the proposal a "very strong platform" for a comprehensive peace.

But not all Palestinians have given a warm welcome to the plan which calls for the withdrawal of Israel form territories captured in 1967 in return for recognition by all Arab states..

The Gaza Strip has generally been at the sharp end of Israeli military attacks and it is there that the closure of the Palestinian territories has caused the greatest hardship.

It is also in Gaza that militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad get their strongest backing and hold the greatest sway.

Palestinians in Gaza contacted by BBC News Online offered mixed reactions to the Saudi plan.

'Nothing new'

Issas Abu Nahla is a headmistress of a secondary school in Gaza City, married and a mother of three girls and three boys.

The plan does not seem to recognise the scale of the daily sacrifices - human and material - that our people make

Issas Abu Nahla

"This whole thing has been called a new initiative though it brings nothing new," she said. "It is our legitimate right to have this land and that Israel should withdraw to the 1967 borders."

Issas refused to call it an "initiative" or a "plan", arguing that it was no more than a suggestion that seemed to offer Israel several concessions.

"The plan does not seem to recognise the scale of the daily sacrifices - human and material - that our people make," Issas Abu Nahla said.

Gazan boys at a military training camp organised by the al-Aqsa Brigades

Issas did not see any value in the Saudi plan even if it helped to launch negotiations.

"At the moment, Israel does not want to go back to negotiations - the Israeli Prime Minister makes this clear every day. Sharon is a violent man and his history testifies to this. Daily our people are being killed," she told BBC News Online.

'A positive step'

Nassar al-Gharib, a 55-year-old Palestinian living in Gaza, welcomed the Saudi plan.

He was an activist with close ties to Fatah and the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and has spent years in Israeli jails. He now describes himself as a "retired".

But this proposal is going to clash with the Zionist project - that aims to build settlements, to go to war and to expand. The Israeli right is going to reject this initiative

Nassar al-Gharib

Nassar wants to reserve judgement on the initiative until it is announced formally and in detail. But he does think it is a "very positive step".

"What's new in this proposal - though it is not an entirely new idea - is that it seeks as comprehensive solution to the whole thing - that all the Arab states recognise Israel in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal [from territories captured in 1967]," Nassar al-Gharib told BBC News Online.

The main threat to the proposal, he believes, is the right-wingers in Israel.

"But this proposal is going to clash with the Zionist project - that aims to build settlements, to go to war and to expand. The Israeli right is going to reject this initiative.

"I believe that even America, which has been such a supporter of Israel, is not going to accept this proposal."

Issue of refugees

According to press reports, the Saudi plan drops or sidesteps the issue of the right of return for Palestinian refugees to Israel.

A Palestinian woman sits next to the grave of her son at the Gaza City cemetery

This issue is crucial because many Israelis see the Palestinian claim to the right or return as a fundamental demographic threat to the idea of Israel as a sate for Jewish people.

Nassar al-Gharib believes dropping the Palestinian right of return is going to be a problem.

"Any peace initiative that seeks comprehensive peace in the Middle East but does not recognise the Palestinian right to return will fail," he said.

But he also says the Saudi plan may contain provisions that address this issue.

"There may be some Palestinians who return to the West Bank, a number who return to their homes inside Israel, and others who settle in the Arab world - we know that not all Palestinians will return to what was Palestine."