Doha: With the participation of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the 33rd regular session of the Arab League Council at the summit level kicks off Thursday in Kingdom of Bahrain, in light of extraordinary conditions in the Arab arena that require urgent Arab positions to be taken, to confront the various dangers and challenges that the Arab region has been subjected to, especially at the level of the Palestinian cause as it is Arabs’ primary cause. These conditions also require closing ranks, unifying positions, visions, and energies, and harnessing all the capabilities of the Arab countries, to serve their just and crucial issues, as well as the ambitions and aspirations of their people for peace, security, stability, progress, and prosperity.
The participation of HH the Amir in the Arab Summit is based on the State of Qatar’s belief in the Arab nation’s capability to unite its energies and potentials and harness them to serve its countries, peoples, issues, rights and legitimate aspirations for
peace, development and stability.
His Highness’ participation also affirms that the State of Qatar stands with all its being alongside the brotherly Palestinian people in their current ordeal – especially in the besieged Gaza Strip, and supports their legitimate rights to freedom, self-determination, and the establishment of their independent state.
Since the founding of the Arab League in March 1945, 44 summits were held, including 32 regular summits – the last of which was in 2023, in Jeddah, and 12 extraordinary summits – the last of which was in 2019, in Mecca. Meanwhile, four Arab development summits (economic and social) were held, in addition to several Arab summits with regional groupings and blocs. Doha hosted three Arab summits, including an emergency summit in January 2009, a regular summit in March 2009, and another regular summit in March 2013.
The Palestinian cause has formed a pivotal point and a fixed cornerstone in the various Arab summit sessions, regular and extraordinary as well as regi
onal ones, as the decisions of the Arab summits have always included resolutions emphasizing the centrality of the Palestinian cause, as the cause of all Arabs to restore legitimate, inalienable Palestinian rights.
The first Arab summit meeting was held at Inshas Palace in May 1946, in Egypt’s Alexandria, a year after the founding of the Arab League. Only seven countries, the founding countries of the Arab League, participated in the first meeting, which was devoted to supporting the Palestinian cause. In its outcome, the Arab identity of Palestine was affirmed, and its fate was connected to the situation of all the Arab League countries, emphasizing that what befalls Palestinians befalls the peoples of the entire Arab nation. This was before the official announcement of the establishment of the so-called “State of Israel” in 1948.
In November 1956 – a decade later, the Beirut Summit was held in Lebanon, to support Egypt against the tripartite aggression. The summit called for standing by Egypt against the
aggression, and affirming its sovereignty over the Suez Canal in accordance with the 1888 treaty, as well as the six principles approved by the United Nations Security Council (UNGA) on Oct. 13, 1956.
Held in 1964, the Cairo Summit witnessed a historic transformation in the process of joint Arab action, as the Arab summits gained official status and it was decided that they would be held periodically. Within its resolutions, the summit stressed the necessity of purifying the Arab atmosphere of differences, supporting and consolidating Arab solidarity, and considered the establishment of the so-called “Israel” a threat to the Arab nation, in addition to calling for the establishment of a unified command for the armies of the Arab countries.
In September 1964, the second regular Arab Summit Conference was held in Alexandria, and it called for strengthening Arab defense capabilities, welcoming the establishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and its accreditation as the representative of the
Palestinian people.
Following the approach taken by the Arab leaders to hold the summit on an annual basis, Morocco hosted the third regular Arab summit in September 1965, in Casablanca, during which it culminated in approving and adhering to the Arab Solidarity Pact, supporting the Palestinian cause in all international forums, supporting disarmament, preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, and resolving international disputes by peaceful means.
The fourth Arab summit, which was held in 1967, in Khartoum, Sudan, represented one of the most prominent Arab summits historically known as “The Three No’s” Summit, after the June 1967 war, and the occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Syrian Golan, and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula by Israeli forces.
The fifth regular Arab Summit Conference was held in December 1969, in Rabat, Morocco, during which the focus was on the crime of an extremist burning Al-Aqsa Mosque on Aug. 21, 1969.
The Palestinian cause remained the greatest concern of Arab leaders a
nd the focus of the sixth ordinary Arab summit in Algiers, which was held in November 1973, as well as the seventh ordinary Arab summit held in October 1974, in Rabat, which adopted the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
In October 1976, the eighth regular Arab summit was held in Cairo, during which the Arab countries were invited, each according to their capabilities, to contribute to the reconstruction of Lebanon and to commit to supporting Arab solidarity.
Source: Qatar News Agency
