The summit of shame by Dr Amira Abo el-Fetouh

A general view the Extraordinary Joint Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 11, 2024. [Turkish Presidency – Anadolu Agency]

The late Iraqi poet Muthaffar Al-Nawab described Arab summits thus: “Summits, summits, summits, goats and sheep, with His Majesty the ram, His Highness the sheep, and a donkey, begins the session. Shame on all of those attending, from kings, sheikhs, and servants!”

Sadly, he was not wrong in his description, nor did he wrong or slander the rulers of this nation who have wasted its glory, pride and dignity and presented it as an easily attained crumb to feed its enemies.

The Arab-Islamic summit was held last week, but I wish it hadn’t been, because no decisions were forthcoming that would bring justice to the people of Gaza who are being slaughtered by the Zionist regime. Nor were there any measures taken to stop the brutal, genocidal wars launched by the Zionists in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. It was yet another summit of shame.

In truth, no Arabs or Muslims really expect anything from the sheep and goats of the Arab-Islamic world, because the people are fully aware that their regimes have failed the Palestinian people, and failed even to break the suffocating siege, end the starvation and stop the genocide now ongoing in Gaza for more than a year.

We need to ask why this summit was held in the first place.

Was it to clean up the images of the kings and presidents after their embarrassment in the eyes of their people who accuse them of treason and collusion with the Zionist enemy? Or did they receive orders from their master in the White House to attack the legitimate resistance — the sole remaining source of any semblance of honour in the region — and be ready for the role that their countries will play against the resistance movements after their beloved Donald Trump moves back into the Oval Office?

There is no doubt that the Arab people no longer trust the speeches and words of the Arab leaders that come from their mouths, not their hearts. They are fully aware that they will not amount to anything because what is discussed in public sessions is one thing and what is discussed behind closed doors with the leaders of Western countries is something else. The former is for media consumption; the latter is the reality.

The summit did not come up with anything new. It issued the same flowery words and clichés that are regurgitated whenever the goats and sheep assemble. This year was no exception; close your eyes and you might as well have been listening to what was said last year, and the year before, and, and, and…

There was no salute for the steadfastness of the Palestinians in Gaza and the people of Lebanon; no expression of gratitude or appreciation for the positions adopted by countries such as Ireland, Spain, South Africa, Bolivia and Colombia, because they put the Arab and Islamic world to shame. Nor was there any appreciation of the mass demonstrations and protests in Western countries in support of the Palestinian cause, because the Arab and Islamic countries prevent their own people from organising such protests. Instead, they clamp down hard on anyone even thinking about taking such a step, with imprisonment and torture the common result.

Nobody expected the Arab and Islamic regimes to mobilise their armed forces to challenge the settler-colonial state, or end the normalisation project with the Zionist state and condemn its brutality.

All that we had a right to expect was for the Arab and Islamic regimes to be fair. They weren’t.

They claim the right of “self-defence” for the occupation state — when no such right exists against a people under military occupation — as they bend their collective knees in humiliating submission to the occupation state. Why couldn’t they at least reiterate the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation, as per international law?

I wouldn’t be so rash as to suggest that they should support the resistance in any political or financial way, or offer military support. They are too cowardly for that, and fear being punished by their masters in Washington and Tel Aviv. If they are being honest — and they’re not — they are also against the resistance and want to eliminate the movements once and for all, just like Netanyahu and Biden do.

In light of this, it is clear that we cannot depend on the Arab and Islamic regimes for anything positive to end the slaughter in Gaza and Lebanon; we must rely on the people on the street, not only in the region, but also around the world. This is important as things look set to get even worse with Trump back in the White House from January. Instead of looking for solutions in the Arab and Islamic world, the people of Palestine and Lebanon need to turn to their friends and supporters in the West and across the Global South to confound the plans being implemented for the Middle East in general, and occupied Palestine in particular.