I have many reservations about the outcomes of the Arab and Islamic summits. They include recent Gulf summits. The Arab Islamic summit which was held in Riyadh and other such meetings have confirmed the necessity for Arabs and Muslims to take a unified position before the new president takes over in Washington.
In my latest book, published on October 10, 2024, about the US President-elect Donald J. Trump, “Theological Insult: Trump’s Policy”, I said that our Arab region continues to pose a dilemma for American foreign policy. Since Washington started to pay attention to the region, which it inherited from British influence, and formulate alliances, it has been in a predicament. This dilemma is in finding a fixed pattern for managing its relations with its allies and opponents alike. However, in our opinion, Saudi US relations have a special position in American policy. Similar significance has the changes which may take place in American policy towards the Arab region and its issues.
The extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit which took place in Riyadh as a major event. It confirmed the Arab and Islamic positions towards the uninterrupted Israeli violations against the residents of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and the formulation of an Arab-Islamic position in the face of the ongoing consequences of the Israeli escalation.
The summit issued 38 resolutions in which the countries which assembled for it affirmed “the centrality of the Palestinian cause, and their firm support for the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate and inalienable national rights, foremost of which is their right to freedom and an independent, sovereign state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital…” The summit has also rejected all “Israeli decisions or measures aimed at Judaising it and consolidating its colonial occupation of it.” The summit considered them null and void and illegitimate under international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.”
I was particularly pleased with the assertions made by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Chairman of the Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit. He mainly stressed the following points:
– Strong rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.
– Condemning the obstruction of humanitarian aid and the occupation’s attacks on Lebanese territory.
– Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of Israeli attacks targeting Iranian sovereignty.
– Importance of continuing collective work to establish an independent Palestinian state and rejecting any attempts to weaken the role of the Palestinian Authority.
The position of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman represents the continuous and permanent Saudi approach towards the Palestinian issue. It also emphasises on the other hand that any disagreement between Saudi Arabia and the US should not go so far as to spoil our relations with Washington. It was confirmed by the Crown Prince in an interview which he gave to the Atlantic magazine in March 2022, in which he emphasised the depth of relations between Riyadh and Washington. He said: “We have a long and historical relationship with America, and for us in Saudi Arabia, our goal is to preserve and strengthen it. We have political interests, economic interests, security interests, defence interests, and commercial interests. We have many interests… and we have a great opportunity to strengthen all of these interests. At the same time, we also have a serious chance to reduce them in several areas, and if you ask us in Saudi Arabia, we want to strengthen them in all areas.”
[by Abdulaziz Husain Al Suwaigh in Elaph]