Image: APA/Al Jaloud
Rarely had there been so much harmony at an Arab League summit. The times just a few years ago when the Arab Gulf States wanted to overthrow the Syrian despot seemed to have been forgotten. “The Arabic house got a new look”Saudi state television Al-Ekhbariya commented on Bashar al-Assad’s performance in the port city of Jeddah – and boldly claimed: “Relationships are now strengthened, problems resolved and no one is excluded anymore”.
Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it was possible to calm the situation in the region and “actual changes” to effect. The Syrian dictator also shared this hope. In his speech, which certainly sounded cynical to most of his compatriots, he reaffirmed the pan-Arab “Standing together against the currents of darkness”. The Arab states must seize the opportunity now to shape their own destiny free from foreign interference.
Assad did not say whether this announcement also meant the withdrawal of around 20,000 Iranian and Russian soldiers from his country. No one had dared to ask him that question.
Finally, the impression of harmony conveyed in the final declaration of the Jeddah Summit should not be spoiled. Together, the Arab autocrats called for stability in Yemen, an end to the civil war in Sudan, a solution to the Palestinian question (with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine), and reforms in Lebanon. “Support for armed militias outside of state institutions” rejected the summit participants. In the last few decades, they had spent tens of billions on it.
It remains to be seen whether the declarations of intent will be followed by deeds. However, there would be signs that the Arab world is changing “getting better” is, states the orientalist and political scientist Daniel Gerlach. The countries of the Middle East made geopolitics and forged alliances (with China).
Not the Middle East, but Europe is the powder keg, emphasizes Gerlach – and reminds that the most serious regional conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia was defused by Chinese diplomacy. Without Beijing’s commitment, the Jeddah Arab Summit would not have been held with the dictator Bashar al-Assad. Sitting at a table with a war criminal did not pose a moral dilemma for the summit participants. After all, the Saudi host was accused only two years ago of ordering the assassination of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
Source: Nachrichten
