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The Arab League stands together for peace and development in the region and the world. Recently the league of
Arab nations came together at Tunis in May 2004, for a summit on Iraq and Palestine. The summit though started a bit late showcased the Arab leagues unity. Thirteen heads of state and three Prime Ministers from the 22 members Arab League, took part in the opening session at a heavily guarded conference centre in the Tunisian capital. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who is trapped in the West Bank town of Ramallah by Israeli forces, spoke by video link - condemning attacks on Israeli and Palestinian civilians and denouncing recent Israeli actions in Gaza. The two-day peace summit took place at a time of deep pessimism in the Arab world about the ability of Arab leaders to help Palestinians under Israeli rule or end the occupation of Iraq by the United States and Britain.
The opinions about the outcome of the summit are mixed. Its success depends on how far the resolutions and reforms are implemented. There is a big challenge of establishing peace in the region. The Summit reaffirmed its attachment to the ‘Arab Peace Initiative’ adopted in 2002 as a framework for a comprehensive settlement. The Arab leaders sought to reactivate that initiative through renewed efforts on the international plane to regenerate a much-needed momentum for peace.
At the present important juncture in Iraq, the leaders pledged their strong support to the people of Iraq in their transition to full sovereignty with United Nations assistance, and upheld their legitimate quest for unity, stability and end of violence.
By endorsing the Arab League’s restructuring and reforms, the Summit underlined the leaders’ realisation of the need to enhance the role and effectiveness of their regional organisation so as to enable its member states to jointly confront the ever growing regional and world challenges. They also condemned the Israeli military operations in the occupied territories and all other military operations aimed at any civilians without distinction.
The Arab League is an informal name of the League of the Arab States, a voluntary association of independent countries whose peoples are mainly Arabic speaking. Established in 1945 the Arab League has at present 22 members: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The current Secretary-General is Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian Foreign Minister. He was appointed at the Arab summit in Amman, in March 2001, to succeed Dr. Ahmad Esmat abd al-Meguid (also Egyptian).
Seven Arab States, namely, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (Jordan, as of 1950), and Yemen established the League of Arab States on March 22, 1945. Gradually many more nations jumped in and became part of this organisation.
The League is a national and regional organisation that seeks to advocate closer ties among member-states and coordination in their policies and plans with a view to developing collective cooperation, protecting national security and maintaining the independence and sovereignty of member-states; thereby enhancing the potential for joint Arab action in all fields. In the political field, the League is entrusted with the tasks of defending the supreme interests the Arab world through the implementation of joint action plans at both regional and international levels as well as through the coordination of the relations of member-states with other regional and international organisations. The League is also entrusted with the task of resolving the conflicts between member-states, whenever such situation arises. Economic, social and cultural activities constitute vital elements of joint action in addition to the fact that they provide solid grounds for development, security, liberation and economic integration.
From time to time the Arab conglomeration has witnessed internal conflicts among its members. However all the issues have been sorted out. The hostilities have ranged over issues like the leadership control and the most recent one was when the league was severely tested by the US-led war against Iraq, with some backing the war, others opposing it while others standing on the sidelines. The league members do agree on a lot of issues. For instance they stood together to support the Palestinians under Israeli occupation.
Arab League has been a little more successful at lower levels, such as shaping school curricula, preserving manuscripts and translating modern technical terminology for the use of member countries. It has also been instrumental in creating a regional union for wireless communications and telecommunications.
Today the Arab league stands at crossroads of political turmoil. There is an ongoing rage and despair among the Muslim population. There is an immediate need for political resurrection; the ideology of liberal capitalist democracy sounds ideal here.
The lack of political participation by the masses has become an underlying current of anger and rebellion in the Arab world. Thus, the Arab world finds itself at a historic turning point. Political reforms have to address the immediate need to liberate the Arab economies from the state hegemony and to launch new projects to benefit future generations. Reform means ridding Arab states of sluggish bureaucracies and corruption, while empowering women and youth. Reform must also open the door for political competition through free elections. Such measures could protect states from anarchy, terrorism, and rebellion. The granting of political and cultural freedoms is vital for the establishment of an enlightened Arab citizenry no longer fearful of abusive authority.
The Arab league has to traverse a long way ahead. Instilling modernism, working on a democratic vision, restoring faith are its topmost priorities. In order to reach its destination the Arab league has to work on ‘The Pledge of Solidarity’, which was signed by the representatives of the 22 members of the league to undertake the political and social reforms, promote democracy, expand popular participation in politics and public affairs, reinforce women’s rights and expand civil society.
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