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Arab Summit issues Doha Declaration

The 24th Arab League Summit released Tuesday its Doha Declaration, which was read by the Deputy Arab-League Secretary-General Ahmed Ben Helli.

Qatar News Agency (QNA) said that the statement welcomed the initiative made by His Highness the Emir of Qatar Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani to establish a fund to support Al Quds worth one billion dollars to finance projects that conserve the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem and aid the Palestinian people in facing the policies of the Israeli occupation.

The council also welcomed the State of Qatar’s contribution with a quarter of that sum. The Arab League called on the international community to work immediately on achieving fair peace that guarantees Israeli withdrawal from All Palestinian land as well as Arab land in Golan Heights. They also called for establishing an independent Palestinian state based on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital. They demanded that the United Nations Security Council takes all the necessary measures. The Council also expressed their rejection of having Israel declare itself a Jewish state. They also condemned illegal Israeli settlement activity taking place on Palestinian land including East Jerusalem, the council accused Israel of trying to change the demographic in those areas. They said that the settlement activities were in clear violation of Security Council resolutions no. 465 of 1980 and 497 of 1981.

The council also greeted the Palestinian people for their resistance of Israeli occupation policies. The council also expressed its support to the resistance in Gaza strip and voiced their solidarity with Palestinian prisoners going on hunger strikes in Israeli jails.

The declaration appealed to the Palestinian leadership, all factions and national forces to restore national unity in order to maintain the gains of the Palestinian people and to continue to resist Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with sovereignty and its capital in East Jerusalem. The declaration called for the implementation of the Cairo Agreement signed in May 4, 2011, and the Doha Declaration issued on 6 February 2012. The declaration extended thanks to the Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Qatar for their tireless efforts to achieve the Palestinian national reconciliation, and call on them to continue their efforts in order to achieve the higher interests of the Palestinian people.

The declaration expressed full commitment to the reconstruction of Gaza and end the suffering of its citizens and to provide a decent life for them, and call on the international community to work to speed an end to the siege on the Gaza Strip and the opening of the crossings in and out of the Gaza Strip.

It also expressed full support for fair and legitimate rights of the Syrian people to restore full occupied Syrian Arab Golan to the line of June 1967, according to the international legitimacy resolutions in this regard. It expressed rejection of all actions taken by the Israeli occupation authorities to change the legal status, natural and demographic of the Syrian Arab Golan, as a violation and breach of international law and the UN Charter which considered the Israeli decision to annex the occupied Syrian Golan as illegal and null and void and as a serious violation of UN Security Council Resolution 496 (1981). The declaration also reiterated support for the steadfastness of the Arab citizens in the occupied Syrian Arab Golan, and stand by their side in their opposition to the Israeli occupation and its repressive practices, and support their determination to hold on to their land and their Syrian Arab identity.

The declaration emphasized full solidarity with Libya in its right to preserve its sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and expressed rejection of any form of foreign interference in its internal affairs. It welcomed the outcome of elections of the NCP held in July 2012 and the support for the Government’s efforts to achieve national reconciliation and complete the building of state institutions and accelerate the removal of all the economic and social damage resulting from humanitarian policies of the former regime.

The Doha declaration stressed commitment o to maintaining the unity of Yemen and respect for its sovereignty and national independence, and stress the rejection of any interference in its internal affairs. It expressed support for the Yemeni people in their aspirations for freedom, democracy and social justice. The declaration also expressed strong condemnation of the Iranian government continued perpetuating of its occupation of the three UAE three islands in violation of the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates, which threatens security and stability in the region and lead to a destabilization of international peace and security. It reaffirmed the inalienable right of the United Arab Emirates in its full sovereignty over the three islands of Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa. It also expressed support for all peaceful means and measures taken by the UAE to restore its sovereignty over the three islands.

The declaration also expressed solidarity with the Republic of the Sudan, and we welcomed the signing of the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan on 08/03/2012 on implementation of cooperation agreements signed on September 27, 2012, and emphasized the importance of establishing relations of cooperation between the two countries to be based on common interests and mutual security and good neighborliness in order to achieve stability in the region. It appreciated the efforts by the Sudanese government to support and consolidate the Arab- African relations. The declaration a welcomed the efforts made by the State of Qatar and the Republic of Sudan to hold the international donor conference for the reconstruction of Darfur in Doha on 7 and April 8, 2013, and called on member states and Arab funds to actively participate in the work of the conference and making commitments ability to support the efforts of the Sudanese government in the reconstruction of Darfur. The declaration also welcomed the success of the Republic of Somalia, and the progress that has been made in the political process and the election of the President of state and Speaker of parliament. It also called on the member states and the countries of the world to provide all forms of political and material support and financial and technical assistance to Somalia to enable it to continue to achieve political progress and strengthen security and help them build state institutions and reconstruction.

The declaration expressed support to the invitation to a national dialogue made by King Hamad bin Eissa Al Khalifa of Bahrain in order to serve the higher interest of the Bahraini people. It also welcomed the agreement signed between Djibouti and Eritrea on July 2010 under the guidance of HH the Emir of Qatar Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The council also stressed that it was important that the international community coordinate its effort in combatting terrorism. The council also stressed on the importance of cultivating a dialogue between civilizations simultaneously with its efforts to crush terrorism. The council condemned in the declaration the treatment of Muslim Rohingya of Myanmar. They called on the government there to intervene and end the tragedy the Rohingya were suffering from.

The Arab summit’s declaration reaffirmed full solidarity with Lebanon and the provision of support to its government so as to maintain Lebanon’s national unity, security and stability as well as its sovereignty over all its territory, underlining the need to strengthen the capacity of the Lebanese army and security forces. It condemned in the strongest terms the dangerous military escalation by the Syrian regime forces against the Syrians, and the persistence of violence and mass murder by the Syrian regime against the civilian population in most Syrian territory.

It also strongly condemned the Syrian regime’s use of heavy weapons, warplanes and scud missiles to bomb the crowded residential areas. The declaration welcome the takeover by the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces to Syria’s seat in the Arab League, its organizations, councils and organs. It emphasized the importance of efforts being taken in order to reach a political solution as a priority for the Syrian crisis, while stressing on the right of each member state, in accordance with its wish, to provide all means of self-defence, including military support to back the steadfastness of the Syrian people and the free army. The declaration also lauded the initiative of HH the Emir of Kuwait Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah to host International Donors’ Conference for the Syrian people that was held on 30 January 2013.

It called for an international conference in the framework of the United Nations for Syria reconstruction, urging states and regional and international organizations to recognize the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as a legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Syrian people. It also called on all regional and international institutions to provide all forms of assistance and support to enable the Syrian people defend themselves and continue their struggle to establish justice and rule of law in their country.

The declaration urged the member countries to work on economic integration by establishing a free-trade zone across the Arab world. It added that political, economic, social, financial and trade reform was necessary so that the Arab World can eventually create a joint Arab market. The declaration also urged for serious work in order to develop the Arab League and the entire system undertaken for joint Arab work. It said that the development was paramount in order for it to be able to face the challenges of the Arab world. The council also expressed its keenness to enhance the status of women in society. The council called for activating legislation that guarantee the rights of women in Arab society.

It urged in the statement to put to bed all the blocks that prevent Arab women from becoming a vital contributor in the public sphere. The council then expressed their thanks to HH the Emir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani for his wisdom in running the works of the 24^th summit in Doha and for his vision and effort in the development of the Arab world.

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