Prince Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of the Board of Directors of King Faisal Center for Islamic Researches and Studies, yesterday urged the continuation of the Middle East peace process, saying Arabs “have no other option at this stage.”

Speaking at the Strategic Studies Center of the University of Jordan, Prince Turki said, “Given the present situation, we don’t have other than the option of the peace process and we have to push ahead with peace which we have accepted as our strategic choice”

“However, we have to let Israel and the world understand that the Arab peace process will not remain on the table forever,” he added.

He warned that the continued US support to Israel and the failure of the new US administration of President Barack Obama “to put pressure on Israel to toe the line of just and durable peace will push Arabs toward extremism”.

Prince Turki, who is a former Saudi ambassador in Washington, criticized the absence of Arab consensus on the peace process and said that the Arab peace plan “should remain the reference for Arab countries in their negotiations with Israel” and urged some Arab countries to “drop bargains” in this respect.

He criticized the firing of “primitive rockets” by Hamas on Israel, saying “these fireworks” give the Jewish state a pretext to launch large-scale attacks such as that was carried out on the Gaza Strip in January.

In his lecture entitled “Arab Reconciliation and Future of the Peace Process — An Arab Viewpoint”, Prince Turki urged Hamas and other hard-line Palestinian factions to join the Palestinian Authority in its drive to regain Palestinian rights depending on the “justice of the Palestinian cause and the world support” for the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

He urged the creation of an “Arab Court of Justice” as a mechanism for settling Arab differences and shoring up Arab reconciliation.

“Arab feuds have contributed to the Arab strategic vulnerability and created a vacuum that was utilized by regional and international powers to accomplish certain objectives,” he said.

On Iran, Prince Turki said “I don’t question Iran’s legitimate right to bolster its regional and international status, but this goal should not be attained at the expense of encouraging Arab disunity, using sectarian factors under the pretext of supporting Arab rights.”