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The many Arab issues to be tackled

Mar 23,2017 - Last updated at Mar 23,2017

The date for the Arab summit, to be held in Amman, is fast approaching, and many are hoping that the Palestinian problem will take centre stage in the deliberations of the Arab heads of state.

It is no secret that Jordan is seeking to bring the spotlight back on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After all, if Arab leaders fail to give prominence to the problem, the Arab world cannot expect the rest of the world to do so for them, in whatever other fora.

Knowing that people engaged in conflicts in the region often use the Palestinian problem as an excuse for their mindless behaviour, even when there is nothing remotely connected with it, and aspiring to put an end to the inhumane occupation of a nation subjugated for many long decades, it makes sense that the Arab leaders should give prime importance to the issue and try to solve it equitably, which means on the basis of the two-state solution.

As many political observers rightly note, the Palestinian issue is the one subject on which all Arabs see eye to eye.

The concern that US President Donald Trump may still relocate his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem cannot escape the attention of the Arab leaders.

Neither can Arab and Islamic nations ignore the need to protect the holy sites from Israeli encroachment and to reaffirm Jordan’s traditional role of custodian of these holy places.

On these matters of concern, the Arab leaders can find total agreement.

Next to Palestine, Iraq’s fight against Daesh enjoys growing Arab consensus, so Baghdad should be supported in its bid to win a decisive victory over this terrorist group that wreaked havoc on the region.

The war against Daesh is not only a regional matter; it has absorbed the international community at large, and understandably so.

It might be more difficult to be optimistic about the possibility of an end to the Syrian conflict that destroyed an industrious nation’s country almost entirely, but the Arab heads of state could still voice support for the Geneva-based peace talks aiming at solving the Syrian conflict.

Even though the Syrian government is not attending the summit, Arab heads of states cannot ignore the fact that the destructive war that left more than 400,000 people dead and many more injured, displaced or refugees, is an Arab conflict and attempts at solving it should be Arab before becoming an international concern.

Sure, there are many other issues of grave concern, in Yemen and Libya, for example, so the summit will no doubt have a full agenda.

 

It is only hoped that Arab leaders will form a common front to stave off the many challenges facing their countries.

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