The presence of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East, and the possibilities of nuclear proliferation to additional countries, increases regional tensions and provides a context for military attack. The 2003 invasion of Iraq, for example, was justified on grounds of suspected WMD programs remaining even after the disarmament process undertaken there by the UN (a suspicion that was illfounded). The undeclared (but well-documented) possession of nuclear weapons by Israel provides a political stimulus for some Arab States to resist joining the Chemical Weapons and Biological Weapons conventions. And the nuclear-fuel cycle activities of Iran, which could give it a nuclear weapons capability, is providing grounds for Israel to threaten a military strike.
In this context, the proposal for a Middle East Zone free from Nuclear Weapons and other WMD, provides a non-discriminatory approach that would require all States in the region to forgo all WMD. As such, it has received unanimous support at the United Nations, amongst the States Parties to the NPT and at the Inter-Parliamentary Union which includes all of the parliaments in the region.
Basel Peace Office is working with PNND, Abolition 2000, Peace Boat and other civil society organisations to promote the proposal for a Middle East Zone, and specifically to support the UN Conference on Establishing a Middle East Zone, which is to be hosted by the government of Finland. Basel Peace Office was recently chosen to serve as the repository for key civil society documents supporting the Middle East Zone including the Parliamentary Statement for a Middle East Zone Free from Nuclear Weapons and all other Weapons of Mass Destruction (endorsed by parliamentarians from Israel, Arab States and other countries around the world) and the Civil Society Petition to Support a Middle East Zone (See The Middle East without Weapons of Mass Destruction, The Way Forward - Civil Society Input).
For more information see:
- Finland appointed as host government for 2012 Conference on Middle East as a Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and other WMD, Statement by the UN Secretary-General
- A Nuclear Free Zone in the Middle East, Realistic or Idealistic, Special Issue of the Palestine-Israel Journal, Vol.16 No.34 2010