An independent Jordanian daily newspaper has banned a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ad promoting the Saudi peace initiative because it shows the Israeli flag, the French news agency AFP reported. Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 and appointed is first ambassador to the Jewish state in early 1994.
The newspaper, Al-Arab Al-Yawm, told AFP, that besides the objectionable blue and white Israeli flag with the Star of David, the advertisement "seeks to promote the idea that Israel accepts the peace initiative, although Israeli officials have rejected the initiative."
The promotional announcement, which also has appeared in Hebrew in Israeli newspapers, shows the flag of Israel alongside those of Arab and Muslim countries that have accepted the diplomatic initiative.
Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erakat denied the newspaper's claims that it asked the PLO to remove the Israeli flag from the advertisement.
The 22-member Arab League, which does not include the Persian country of Iran, has confirmed support for the Saudi Plan. It calls for a new Arab state on all the land that was restored Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967, including the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
The initiative also calls for the right of more than five million Arabs to immigrate to Israel based on the claim that they are descendants of several hundreds of thousands of Arabs who fled during the wars in 1948 and 1967.
In return, the Arab nations would "normalize" relations with Israel, but there is no definitive statement that it would recognize the Jewish state
Israeli governments previously have rejected the proposal and it was put on ice until last year, when outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said it should be considered as a basis for negotiations. No government leader has accepted the clause concerning the immigration of Arabs.