Clueless summit
Gone are the days when oil was used as a weapon for furthering Palestinian cause. The joint OIC and Arab League summit held in Riyadh with leaders from Muslim states was clueless to the core in coming up with a politico-strategic statement on the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza. It was literally one step forward and two steps back. No decision was reached as to how to stem the nuisance of bombardment on Gaza, as member states differed in approach. Iran had its theory of taking on Israel collectively in diplomatic and military arenas, whereas Algeria and Lebanon suggested suspending diplomatic and economic ties with the Jewish state. Ankara and Riyadh limited themselves to condemnation, as Pakistan once again voiced for an immediate ceasefire. This waywardness of approach was a death blow to the cause of the Palestinians, as they found themselves left in limbo.
The final declaration of the summit, however, was unanimous as it rejected Israeli claims of acting in ‘self defence’, and asked the UNSC to adopt a ‘decisive and binding’ resolution to halt Israel’s aggression. This summit also saw two firsts: President Ebrahim Raisi’s landmark visit to Saudi Arabia after a hiatus of more than a decade by any Iranian leader, and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s return to an Arab diplomatic forum. The summit mood exhibited that all hopes of building bridges with Tel Aviv by Arab and Muslim states by recognising it gradually have come to an indefinite halt.
The summit, it seems, had more to do with behind the curtain messaging than taking a public stance, per se. With more than 11,000 Gazans killed in a month at the hands of Israeli transgression, and the Zionist’s state audacity to invade Gaza Strip and threatening to even nuke it, the pressure was widely evident on the leaders at Riyadh. Will this declaration graduate into a strong diplomatic and economic sanction against Israel is anybody’s guess. The Muslim world polarisation was on the cards, and this is where causes like Palestine and Kashmir suffer at the hands of aggressors who go unchecked.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2023.
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