Cairo Summit Outcome Meets Academics' Expectations

Doha: A number of academics prior to the Cairo summit, which was held yesterday, had expressed their concerns over emerging regional, global geopolitical needs and shared expectations about the outcome of the summit with emphasis on developing a strong consensus on Palestine issue among Arab leaders.

Assistant Professor of Media and Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula newspaper Dr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Shafi said that the Extraordinary Arab Summit would discuss the latest developments related to the Palestinian cause, and the emerging international and regional positions.

“The recent developments, especially the recent positions of the United States, have necessitated the urgent need to adopt an Arab position in response to the plans that aim to liquidate the Palestinian issue by displacing the residents of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” he noted.

In remarks to QNA, Dr. Al-Shafi said that the unified Arab position is an urgent necessity, in light of the unconditional support provided by the government of President Donald Trump to the Israeli expansionist projects in Syrian and Lebanese territories, the violation of the airspace of these countries by its warplanes, and the military operations and political assassinations it carries out.

He indicated that Israel is the one that threatens Arab national security as a whole through its expansionist policies, thanks to the Western political and diplomatic support it enjoys, which encourages it to trample on international law and the sovereignty of states, as all these Israeli violations are carried out under the pretext of security reasons.

Dr. Al-Shafi underlined the importance of intensifying diplomatic efforts to support the Qatari and Egyptian efforts in this field, as this requires joint Arab diplomatic work at international forums, and at the regional and international levels, in addition to presenting a vision for how to rebuild Gaza and confront the humanitarian and living problems facing the population.

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The Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula also stressed the need to show Arab solidarity with Jordan and Egypt, given the US and Western pressures the two countries are facing to accept receiving displaced Palestinians. He also emphasized the need to reaffirm the Arab Initiative to resolve the Palestinian cause, which is based on the principle of the two-state solution and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the 1967 territories, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital

Dr. Al-Shafi also spoke about the importance of providing support for the political transition in Syria, and what it needs to rebuild the destruction caused by a 14-year war, in addition to adhering to the 1973 agreement between Syria and Israel, and Israel withdrawing its forces from the territories it occupied in the previous months.

Moreover, Al-Shafi spoke about emphasizing the importance of the role played by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and pushing for Israel to reconsider its policy towards it.

Dr. Al-Shafi expressed his expectation that the Summit would adopt a unified Arab position on the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, present a vision represented by an Arab initiative to rebuild Gaza, solve the humanitarian problems facing them, and emphasize that there is no security guarantee for Israel without recognising the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state.

The academics had stressed the importance of the summit adopting a position on fundamental issues represented by the necessity of stopping the war on Gaza and continuing the truce, rejecting the displacement project for the people of the Gaza Strip, approving the Gaza reconstruction plan, and rejecting the Israeli aggression and violations of Syrian lands.

Assistant Professor of Political Science at Qatar University Dr. Nafja Sabbah Al Buafra said that this extraordinary summit comes in light of a number of challenges facing Arab countries, the most prominent of which is supporting the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Al Buafra added that there has recently been a unified Arab rejection of proposals to displace the Palestinian people outside the borders of the Gaza Strip, stressing that this displacement is inconsistent with international laws and resolutions.

For his part, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Lusail University, and researcher at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies Dr. Tarek Hamoud said that the Extraordinary Arab Summit is required to have a clear position against the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, and to present practical steps to be taken if Israel continues its war, including reconsidering the nature of the relationship that links Israel to the region.

In turn, Managing Editor of Siyasat Arabiya Journal, researcher at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies Dr. Ahmed Qasem Hussein said that the Summit aims to present a joint Arab vision to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, with a focus on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip by developing a comprehensive plan to rebuild what was destroyed by the Israeli occupation.

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