One of the Most Successful Summits, But...
Maher Othman Al-Hayat - 30/03/07//
The Summit of Arab solidarity, which concluded yesterday, is, relatively speaking, one of the most successful Arab summits, especially if it's concluding statement and decisions are measured against the magnitude of the challenges and gaping wounds suffered by the Arab World. They are many and severe, some chronic, like the Palestinian Cause, while others are newer, but no less dangerous or wearing , such as Iraq.
The Summit succeeded in so much because it was dominated by rational logic and the spirit of solidarity that will hopefully continue until the next summit, scheduled to be hosted by Damascus, as well as in subsequent summits. It succeeded because Arab efforts and meetings had been held prior to it, and on the sidelines of it, which cleared the atmosphere between important Arab parties. Were it not for the Mecca Accord, which was sponsored by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, between the two movements, Hamas and Fatah; the specter of internal strife would not have retreated and, with that, the Palestinians would not have been able to form a national unity government, which now allows them to address the international community with a unified voice over what concerns the conflict with Israel. Moreover, the activation of the Arab Peace Initiative and floating it to the international community and Israel as an integrated plan for peace would have been difficult if the decisions of the Arab summits had not been accepted by this national unity government.
During the summit, Saudi Arabia and Syria were able to resolve misunderstandings that had muddied for a time the atmosphere of relations between the two of them. This took place during a meeting of reconciliation and openness between King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Although the axes policy divides the Arab ranks in sometimes negative ways, the status of some Arab States and the size, influence and their agreement on the priorities of regional security and Arab interests makes them a natural candidate for leading joint Arab work and coordination. What is supposed to be guarded by this joint work now is the consensus that became evident at the Riyadh Summit, which was expressed by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in his opening remarks. That is, the need to disallow forces from outside the region from drawing its future, and with this 'no flag would rise on the land of the Arabs but the flag of Arabism'.
In his opening address, the Saudi monarch identified the concerns of the Arab nation: 'wounded Palestine', whose people are suffering from the unjust embargo imposed on them, and who are still seeking to establish their independent state; 'beloved Iraq', in which the blood of our brothers is being spilled 'under an illegitimate foreign occupation'; Lebanon, 'which was the epitome of coexistence and prosperity' that now stands 'paralyzed'; Sudan, exposed to the risks of external intervention in its affairs, and Somalia, where 'civil war barely ends only to begin again'. It was interesting that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani confirmed the Arabism of Iraq and approved, for the first time, that the formerly so-called 'liberation of Iraq' had 'turned into an occupation' with 'dire consequences' on the country.
Pointing out the precedents set by such reliance on foreigners in 'home' affairs is unavoidable, even if there are authoritarian regimes at home. This merely increases the appetite of the foreigner, especially as manifested in the case of the US and its entry into Iraq, not to liberate it, since it wasn't occupied, but to divide and weaken it and control the enormous oil wealth and make rich the owners of companies, such as Halliburton, whom President Talabani knows all too well. It is a Summit that was successful in its final communiqué and decisions, restoring in the process a very reasonable degree of Arab solidarity, presenting the peace plan to the international community, provided Israel accepts it. Perhaps then the peoples of the Middle East could possibly enjoy peace and stability. But the evidential certainty is that Israel rejected the Arab Peace Initiative, loud and clear, on the grounds that the paragraph in which the solution to the problem of the refugees must be a just solution in accordance with the decision of the General Assembly of the UN No. 194, poses a threat to the Jewish State.
With its opposing position toward peace, Israel put its future, as Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told the British 'Daily Telegraph', not in the hands of the peacemakers, but in the hands of warlords. But, in the end, the Arabs should not restraint themselves to the cocoon of their peace initiative that was rejected by Israel. They must look for alternatives and exits along the track Israel is blocking, leading to the fulfillment of Arab rights.
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