The Arab-Islamic Summit in Qatar... How exceptional was it?!!
Like its predecessors, the extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit concluded in the Qatari capital, Doha, with the Muslim peoples from Jakarta to Rabat repeating one saying: “The mountain labored and brought forth a mouse!” This “useless” summit contributed to confirming a number of facts for those who still need confirmation, who are a minority in any case. We will briefly review them before deciding on the most important aspects of this summit that made it deserving of the title “exceptional”!
The first truth confirmed by this summit is that any hope and expectation in the ability of the official Arab and Islamic system, and the Arab system in particular, is nothing more than a mirage, a summer cloud that neither bears rain nor is even suitable for providing shade. By "ability," we mean the absolute word when it comes to action—any action, not just standing up to Israeli arrogance. These countries, individually and collectively, are incapable of confronting and deterring Israel, resolving their internal disputes, or engaging in any coordinated policy on any political, economic, social, cultural, or even sporting issue! What we mean by their inability is essentially an absence of desire and will, more than an absence of ability. The second of these facts is that the continuation of these summits is due to a fundamental matter, which is to remain present in the media, so as to delay the announcement of the death of this system. As for those who imagine that Arab and Muslim leaders hold their summits to tell their people that they are still alive, they have been refuted long ago, by saying that these peoples are certain that they have no weight in the calculations of the leaders and chieftains, and that they are not a directing factor in the policies of their countries. They are also certain of the absence of the will of the leaders of this system to undertake any coordinated collective action, on any matter.
The third of these facts is that Moroccan King Mohammed VI deserves the title of "Wise Man of the Arabs." He realized early on the futility of participating in these summits, and thus decided to boycott them for nearly twenty years, without exception, regardless of their subject or venue. This stance, which expresses honesty with himself and with Moroccans, and his refusal to engage in these seasonal "markets" of empty rhetoric, unrelated to action and achievement, has earned him the respect of his people and other nations who share his stance on these content-less summits.
The third fact is that the sole focus of these summits is the media, which has lost the Arab and Islamic peoples' passion for following them. Not to mention the disdain shown by the rest of the world, large and small, for reading the final statements issued by them, which are worth no more than a two-sentence report. The continued interest of the Arab media in these summits, in particular, stems exclusively from the desire of the correspondents who cover them to obtain paid leave, complete with hotel accommodations, and the opportunity to connect with their media peers, sometimes to renew ties and other times to seek employment advancement.
As for why this summit deserved the description “exceptional,” we note at the top of the list the absence of the phrase “We decided the following” from the final statement!! Perhaps in an international precedent, the final statement of the meeting of Arab and Muslim leaders was devoid of a single resolution justifying Qatar’s spending on hosting them! It is customary for the final statement of any summit to include two parts: one dealing with the merits, and the other with regard to the decisions based on them, so it comes in the form: Whereas the leaders affirm…; Whereas the leaders record…; Whereas the attendees denounce…; Whereas the leaders emphasize…; Whereas the attendees call for…; Whereas the leaders denounce…: to be followed by: Based on the above, they have decided….. As for this “exceptional” summit, the attendees were satisfied with the first half of the final statement, and deliberately neglected to move to the second part of the statement, settling instead with affirming support for the steps that Qatar will take, which is definitely not going to happen, neither on the part of Qatar nor on the part of those who stand in solidarity with it!
The second of these exceptions is the absence of any indication in the final statement or the leaders’ speeches of what is meant by the phrase “they declare their solidarity with Qatar..”!! And so, the summit ended without us knowing what was meant by the phrase, nor the nature of solidarity and its fields, nor its timing and consequences, nor its objectives and mechanisms!! This brings us to the third exception, where a huge gap was recorded between the speeches of the attending presidents, some of which carried indications, sometimes timid, and sometimes vague, about what could be included in the category of action, and the repeated calls to coordinate efforts and steps aimed at responding to the Israeli arrogance. So why did the final statement lack any sentence in this regard, as if this statement was formulated to express the summaries of the presidents’ speeches at a summit other than the one they had gathered for!!
The summit ended as it began, with just a lot of media fanfare, without any real action. It was truly a "hot mourning, but a dead mouse!" This was the expected outcome in any case, and it casts a heavy shadow of doubt on the future of many of the regimes present, particularly in confronting their peoples. As for the confrontation with Israel, we didn't need the two heads of the Arab League, the Secretary-General and his Assistant, to confirm that the time is not right for joint Arab action, let alone activating the principle of "joint Arab defense" in the absence of agreement among the attendees on a "common enemy"!! After this clarity, is there any room for doubt about the bankruptcy of the entire system, and the correctness of the decision of some countries, led by Morocco, to continue working to fortify their security and economy "in their own way," without waiting for coordination with the rest of the "brothers"!! Because, simply put, as they say in popular Moroccan dialect: "There is no one together"!!
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