Dead Sea, Jordan: Arab leaders held their annual summit Wednesday, poised to endorse key Palestinian positions in the conflict with Israel — a signal to President Donald Trump that a deal on Palestinian statehood must precede any Israeli-Arab normalisation.
The Palestinian quest for independence also served as a showcase for Arab unity in a fractured region, where leaders find themselves on opposite sides of long-running conflicts, particularly Syria’s six-year-old civil war.
Pessimism amidst Arab League Summit in Amman
Arab leaders meet to reaffirm commitment to a Palestinian state. More #News in our daily video #GNHeadlines: https://t.co/vDFXSLS35B pic.twitter.com/PgjQlGoWiI— GulfNewsTV (@GulfNewsTV) March 29, 2017
The 21 leaders gathered on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, with a clear view of the Israeli-occupied West Bank on the opposite shore.
Bashar 'absent'
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad was “absent” he hasn’t been invited since Syria’s suspension from the 22-member Arab League following his crackdown on a 2011 uprising that quickly turned into a brutal crackdown on his own people.
The gathering came ahead of White House meetings in coming weeks between Trump and three Arab leaders — Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Trump hasn’t yet formulated a policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but has suggested the internationally-backed idea of a two-state solution isn’t the only option on the table.
The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem — lands Israel captured and occupied in the 1967 Mideast war.
The land grab is not recognised by the international community.
On Wednesday, the leaders were expected to reaffirm a 2002 Arab peace plan that offers Israel normalisation with dozens of Arab and Muslim countries if it cedes the war-won lands for the creation of a Palestinian state.
This would undercut Israel’s proposal of a regional peace in which normalisation with some Arab countries would precede a deal with the Palestinians.
Abbas objects to reopening the Arab plan to negotiations, fearing it would further weaken the Palestinian position vis-a-vis Israel.
Netanyahu's vague statements
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not formally abandoned his stated support for the two-state solution, but has stopped mentioning it in his speeches since Trump was elected.
Instead, he has made vague statements about seeking a region-wide agreement.
In a speech this week to AIPAC, the pro-Israel American lobby group, Netanyahu once again alluded to a region-wide approach, saying that “common dangers faced by Israel and many of our Arab neighbors now offer a rare opportunity to build bridges toward a better future.”
The Arab summit was to adopt a series of resolutions, several dealing with the Palestinian issue.
The statements, subject to last-minute change, were previously endorsed by Arab foreign ministers.
The draft resolutions condemn Israeli policies, including colony construction, that are “aimed at eliminating the two-state solution and replacing it with apartheid.”
They also warned against moving diplomatic missions to contested Jerusalem, whose eastern sector is sought by the Palestinians as a capital.
Trump has said he would move the US Embassy in Israel to Occupied Jerusalem, but relocation no longer appears imminent.
Jordan’s king told the summit’s opening session that there can be no peace or stability in the region without setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Jordan has a large Palestinian population and also serves as custodian of Occupied Jerusalem’s Al Haram Al Sharif, Islam’s third holiest site.
Al Haram Al Sharif, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, has been a scene of frequent Israeli-Palestinian tensions, including clashes as colonists have boosted their raids on the holy site.
Under a status quo agreement, Jews can visit Al Haram Al Sharif, but are not allowed to perform religious rituatls there.
Palestinians fear Israel has plans to take over the holy site entirely and point to a systematic Israeli campaign to erase Palestinian and Muslim identity from the holy city.
