Summit of the Arab League in Tunis, uncrowded, without concrete results – Opinion

Of the 22 members of the Arab League, only 13 came to the annual meeting of the organization in Tunis on March 30. Sudanese President Omar el Bashir and Algerian President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika are distinguished by their absence, both facing internal unrest. However, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi were present to shine in an otherwise dull, conflict-ridden meeting in the Arab world.

In principle, all Arab states are members of the Arab League, created in 1945 by the British in order to perpetuate their control over these states and their influence in the region under the pretext of helping them develop their economies. Today, the influence of Britain has faded. The Arab countries have not found the road to democracy and the Middle East has sunk into military regimes and fratricidal wars. No attempt has been made to tackle the problems or to put in place a desperately needed economic collaboration. The much vaunted union never merged and was disrupted by the 2011 Arab Spring, which turned into a civil war in Syria, Libya and Yemen and under a military regime in Egypt .

The annual summits of the heads of state have become less and less relevant, a mere occasion for discreet and punctuated exchanges of views, such as the Saudi King Abdullah and Libyan President Muhammad Gaddafi, who insults in 2009. Each summit resulted in a joint statement on current issues. , usually carefully crafted compromise person and lack of operational decisions.

The decision of US President Donald Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, published just days before the summit, shows how little respect he has for the meeting of Arab heads of state.

In TUNIS, Arab leaders have once again demonstrated that their national interests take precedence over unity or on burning issues. The emir of Qatar, caught in a conflict with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, surprised everyone by coming, but left without delivering his speech at the opening session , apparently in protest after the Secretary-General of the League explicitly condemned the intervention of Iran and Turkey in the Arab countries, and went on to mention and condemn the safe area as Turkey wants to establish in Syria along its border with this country. The Emir, who, unlike most Arab countries, is a close ally of Turkey and has good relations with Iran, took this for a personal insult.

As for the Saudi king, he insisted on leaving the badembly before the speeches of the UN secretary, Antonio Gutierrez, and of the EU foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, who were going to emphasize the responsibility of his kingdom and the Emirates in the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. .

The summit was over in a few hours. Most heads of state had waited until the morning to arrive, fearing that a sudden crisis would prevent them from coming, but the King of Saudi Arabia, well aware of the risks, came in the Tunisian capital two days in advance for a state visit, taking advantage of the opportunity. consider the agenda of the meeting with the Tunisian President to ensure that the interests of his country are not prejudiced. He may have also helped to persuade the Egyptian president to be present despite his fear of protests against him by human rights organizations. Abdel Fattah al Sisi came and spoke of the need to unite in the fight against terrorism. The King of Morocco has decided to stay home because of the crisis between his country and Saudi Arabia since his decision to leave the Arab-led Arab coalition against Yemen. In addition, Riyadh publicly condemned Morocco's position on Western Sahara. None of these topics has been discussed; the conflict between Qatar and Saudi Arabia was not on the agenda; nor the readmission of Syria, whose membership had been frozen as a result of the civil war. His seat was empty.

The traditional final declaration consisted of 19 articles, beginning with a long condemnation of the many Israeli crimes and a reprimand in the United States; the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, strongly condemned and declared null and void. The centrality of the Palestinian problem for the Arab nation was emphasized; The same has been true of regional peace, presented as a strategic Arab goal, based on the Arab-Saudi initiative, including the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem. for capital. Israel's actions in the West Bank have also been declared null and void, especially the measures taken to "Judaize" East Jerusalem and deny its "Arab identity", especially on the Temple Mount and the recent clashes at the Jerusalem Gate. mercy. The recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by America has been firmly denounced.

Overall, the lengthy developments on the Palestinian question seemed to be aimed at thwarting comments in Israel and the West, claiming that it had lost its centrality in the Arab world, while leaving leaders to focus about their problems in their country overnight. revolts of 2011.

Iran occupies second place behind the Palestinian question and is accused of interfering in the internal affairs of the Arab States and endangering them; religious incitement of Shiites against Sunni Muslims; to arm militias and de facto terrorist organizations active in a number of Arab countries. According to the final declaration, all activities are contrary to good neighborhood law and international law; Iran is asked to withdraw its militia. There is also a special sentence for the firing of missiles manufactured by Iran over Saudi Arabia (a reference to missiles fired by the Houthis).

Then there are articles devoted to other subjects: the three Gulf islands belonging to the Emirates taken over by Iran; the need to find a solution for Libya and Syria; to preserve the integrity of Iraq, where Turkey has conquered large areas of its northern region. The integrity of Lebanon has also raised concerns, as the Shebaa Farms area is still controlled by Israel. Somalia, a failed state, is also mentioned.

The emphasis has been on the fact that Islam is a religion of peace that should not be badociated with terror. As for economic cooperation among States, an important element of past summits, it received only a brief mention this time, without any attempt to advance this complex issue.

Overall, the final statement was only a brief catalog of some of the issues that Arab countries are facing without any effort to solve them.

One wonders how to interpret Israel's harsh condemnations and lengthy considerations about the Palestinian conflict, given that Israel has relations at various levels with most Arab countries: peace treaties with Israel 39, Egypt and Jordan, close security relations with Saudi Arabia. and the Emirates, visits to sports delegations and ministers in Abu Dhabi; visit of the Israeli Prime Minister to Oman; tourist links with Morocco and Tunisia. Is it not time to rebadess relations between Israel and the Arab countries?

The UAE Foreign Minister dared to broach the subject in his interview with the Gulf News Agency news agency two days before the summit, but no other statesman raised the issue. challenge.

All the participants rushed to return to their country. The Arab media briefly mentioned the summit the same day – and the next day it was as if it had not happened. The distinguished members had not even been able to set a date and place for their next annual meeting.

The author is a former ambbadador to Romania, Egypt and Sweden and senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

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