In another unmistakable sign that something big is happening in the Middle East, a groundbreaking initiative from King Abdullah of Jordan: Jordan Proposes New Israel Peace Strategy.

ALGIERS, Algeria - King Abdullah II of Jordan has proposed a new peace strategy that drops traditional Arab demands that Israel give up all land seized in the 1967 war and offers the Jewish state normalized relations with Arab countries, according to a text of the proposal seen Friday by The Associated Press.

The proposal did not appear to have enough support to be adopted at an Arab League summit starting Monday in the Algerian capital. But even placing such a far-reaching change in strategy on the agenda would have been unthinkable in past league gatherings, suggesting new thinking in the peace process with Israel.

The Jordanian proposal does not mention specific U.N. resolutions and usual Arab demands for an Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 borders and for the right of return of refugees, according to a text of about a dozen lines seen by the AP.

This proposal won’t be adopted by the other Arab League states, who are still stuck in a quagmire of hatred and rejectionism.

For now.

UPDATE at 3/19/05 2:08:47 pm:

Arab Ministers Approve Peace Offer, with Conditions.

Those “conditions” are, of course, the same old rejectionist demands.

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Arab foreign ministers agreed on Saturday to relaunch an offer of normal relations with Israel after spelling out in detail conditions which the Jewish state had repeatedly rejected in the past, ministers said.

Jordan had tried to simplify the offer, enshrined in an Arab peace initiative agreed in Beirut in 2002, to make it more appealing to public opinion in Israel and the rest of the world.

But other foreign ministers, meeting to prepare for an Arab summit in Algiers next week, dug in their heels and insisted that the offer make clear that normal ties depended on Israeli steps including withdrawal from land occupied since 1967.

“It was adopted without exception by all the ministers and it will be sent to the summit for approval,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani al-Mulki told reporters.

He was referring to an amended version of a Jordanian resolution which says that the Arabs consider peace a “strategic option” and will open relations with the Jewish state after a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.