Syria, the founding member of the Arab League…. Constant keenness to promote joint Arab action
Based on its belief in the Arab dimension of all member states ‘ issues and the need to maintain Arab national security, Syria has always been keen to strengthen joint Arab action and cooperation to address challenges in a way that serves the interests of Arab peoples, achieves development in their countries, stops external interference in their affairs, and ends Israeli aggressions against Syria, Lebanon and occupied Palestine, whose just cause is the cause of all Arabs.
Syria has received with interest the decision issued by the Council of the league of Arab states at its extraordinary session at the level of foreign ministers, held at the headquarters of the general secretariat of the league in Cairo on the seventh of May regarding the resumption of the participation of the delegations of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in the meetings of the Council of the league and all its organizations and bodies as of the date of issuance of the decision. Syria pointed out that the positive trends and interactions currently taking place in the Arab region are in the interest of all its states and of achieving stability, security and prosperity for their peoples.
Syria has spared no effort to unify Arab attitudes on critical issues. This was the focus of the 2008 summit in Damascus, during which President Bashar Al-Assad stressed that there is no alternative to joint Arab action in a world witnessing important changes whose directions are being drawn up by major international powers.
In the” Damascus declaration ” issued at the end of the summit, Arab leaders stressed the commitment to strengthen Arab solidarity in order to safeguard Arab security and work to overcome Arab-Arab differences. They also affirmed the continuation of full support for the Palestinian people to restore their rights and occupied land, with Al-Qud (Jerusalem) as its capital, as well as for the return of refugees and the release of prisoners.
At the Sirte summit held in March 2010 in Libya, Syria put forward an initiative to manage the Arab-Arab differences and a mechanism to convene the summit and put forward initiatives well in advance of the summit to ensure its success, where President Al-Assad pointed out that many of the differences are caused by the way of dealing and not by the issues themselves.
The following are the most important steps taken by Syria to enhance joint Arab action:
On October 7, 1944 – Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan signed the “Alexandria Protocol” that included principles for the establishment of an organization that brings together independent Arab states. On January 3, 1945, Saudi Arabia signed the protocol, followed by Yemen on February 5, 1945.
On March 3, 1945, the political committee recommended by the “Alexandria Protocol” ended its work after 16 meetings at the headquarters of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in Alexandria.
On March 22, 1945, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan signed in Cairo the final version of the text of the “Charter of the League of Arab States.” Saudi Arabia later signed it.
On May 5, 1945, Yemen signed the charter to become the seventh founding country of the League, and five days later, the entry of the Charter of the League of Arab States into force was announced.
On May 29, 1946 , the leaders of the League states held “Inshas” conference in Egypt and agreed to consult, cooperate and work with one heart and one hand for the good of the Arab countries. They agreed on the need to work hard to support the Arab peoples, who are still under occupation, until they regain their freedom.
On April 13, 1950, the League Council approved the text of the “Treaty of Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation.” Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Yemen signed it on June 17, 1950, followed by Iraq on February 2, 1951, and Jordan on February 16, 1952. The Economic Council was established according to this treaty. It later evolved into the Economic and Social Council, which was entrusted with the task of supervising the achievement of the economic and social objectives of the university and its specialized organizations.
On August 22, 1952, the “Treaty of Mutual Defense and Economic Cooperation” entered into force after completing the legal quorum for the ratifications of the member states.
On November 13, 1956, the Arab Summit was held in Beirut to show solidarity with Egypt in the aftermath of the tripartite aggression and to show Arab support for the struggle of the Algerian people to restore their independence and freedom.
On June 3, 1957, the Economic Council ratified the agreement on economic unity between the members of the League of Arab States, with the aim of regulating economic relations between them, in order to achieve complete economic unity.
On January 13, 1964, the first summit was held at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League in Cairo, and it issued a decision that the leaders of the member states meet at least once a year.
On September 5, 1964, the second summit in Alexandria set the month of September of each year as the date for the regular meeting of the leaders of the member states and welcomed the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
On September 17, 1965, the leaders of the member states signed during the third summit in Casablanca, Morocco, the “Arab Solidarity Charter”, which consisted of six principles and affirmed respecting the sovereignty of each of the member states, observance of the systems prevailing in them, and non-interference in their internal affairs.
On August 29, 1967 – The fourth summit was held in Khartoum following the Israeli aggression in June 1967 to emphasize the unity of the Arab ranks and collective action.
On November 26, 1973, the sixth summit was held in Algeria after the October Liberation War, during which emphasis was placed on Arab solidarity and support for Arab-African cooperation.
On October 26, 1974, the Seventh Summit in Riyadh decided to adopt the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and affirmed the Palestinians’ right to establish their independent state, and that the Arab countries support them in all fields and at all levels.
On October 16, 1976, an extraordinary six-party summit was held in Riyadh with the participation of “Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine and Kuwait” to discuss the situation in Lebanon and ways to restore normal life to it.
On November 27, 1980, the “National Economic Action Charter” was issued following the approval of its final version by the 11th Summit held in Jordan. The charter stipulated the commitment of member states to “neutralize joint Arab economic action from Arab disputes and keep it away from shocks and emergency political disputes.” The member states undertook ensuring maximum stability and development for Arab economic relations.
On May 23, 1989, the Extraordinary Summit in Casablanca welcomes Egypt’s resumption of its full membership in the League and in all affiliated organizations, institutions and councils.
On August 10, 1990, the Extraordinary Summit in Cairo examined the situation in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and called on Iraq to withdraw its forces from it, affirming Kuwait’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
On March 22, 1993, the League Council formed a seven-member committee comprising (Syria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania) to conduct the necessary contacts with various international parties with the aim of finding a solution to Libya’s crisis with the West over what is known as the “Lockerbie case”.
On July 30, 1993, the Council of the League, during its meeting in Damascus at the ministerial level, affirmed solidarity with Lebanon in the face of the Israeli aggression and decided to provide it with financial assistance and to form a ministerial committee to contact the United Nations to call for stopping the aggression and oblige (Israel) to implement Security Council Resolution No. 425.
On June 23, 1996, the Extraordinary Summit in Cairo confirmed the commitment of the Arab countries to continue the peace process to achieve a just and comprehensive peace on the basis of international legitimacy resolutions and the principles on which the process was based, foremost of which is the principle of “land for peace” and the realization of legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
On October 22, 2000, the Extraordinary Summit in Cairo decided on the need to activate joint Arab action, support the League of Arab States, modernizize it and develop its institutions in order to enhance the future of its national role.
On March 28, 2001, the summit in Jordan confirmed keenness to develop the structure, systems and mechanisms of joint Arab action, and the need to take the necessary measures to achieve this.
On September 11, 2001, the League expressed its rejection of the phenomenon of international terrorism and the importance of concerted international efforts to confront and eliminate it, and affirmed that this cannot be achieved without reaching a just and comprehensive decision on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
On March 28, 2002, the 14th summit in Beirut adopted the Saudi initiative as an “Arab peace initiative.”
On March 1, 2003, the 15th summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, stressed the necessity of resolving the Iraqi crisis by peaceful means within the framework of international legitimacy.
On May 23, 2004, the 16th Summit in Tunis issued the document “Covenant, Accord and Solidarity between the Leaders of Arab Countries” and a political statement on the process of development and modernization in the Arab world.
On March 22, 2005, the 17th summit in Algeria introduced amendments to the charter of the League to facilitate the decision-making process, canceling the consensus rule and replacing it with the agreement rule.
On July 15, 2006, the League Council at the ministerial level condemned in its extraordinary meeting the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and called on the Security Council to convene to discuss the Arab-Israeli conflict in a radical and comprehensive manner.
On March 28, 2007, the 19th Summit in Riyadh called for holding consultative summits to address issues of an urgent nature, activate the “Arab Peace Initiative” that was approved at the Beirut Summit in 2002, and hold an Arab summit devoted to discussing economic, social and development issues.
On March 28, 2008, the 20th Summit in Damascus stressed the necessity of settling Arab-Arab differences and the adherence of all Arab countries to the Arab Peace Initiative as a just and comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, warning against the Israeli occupation’s persistence in the policy of settlement expansion and the continuation of the blockade, and affirming commitment to the Arab initiative to resolve the Lebanese crisis.
On November 26, 2008, the League Council at the ministerial level discussed developments in occupied Palestine and the unjust Israeli blockade, especially on the Gaza Strip, and took appropriate measures to lift it and assist the Palestinian people.
On January 16, 2009, the emergency summit in Doha discussed the situation in Gaza Strip in the light of the continued Israeli aggression against it.
On March 30, 2009, the 21st summit in Doha discussed many Arab issues, especially the peace process and the issue of Sudan. It issued a document promoting reconciliation and Arab solidarity.
On March 27, 2010, the 22nd summit was held in Sirte, Libya, during which Syria presented an initiative to manage the Arab-Arab differences as well as a mechanism for holding the summit and presenting the initiatives well in advance of the summit to ensure its success. President Bashar Al-Assad indicated that there was no return back in this summit and that many things were achieved in Arab-Arab relations.
On September 9, 2010 , the extraordinary summit in Sirte discussed the development of mechanisms for joint Arab action and the reform of the League of Arab States, during which President Al-Assad affirmed that the development of the system of joint Arab action does not take place in one summit, and the ideas put forward in this regard must be matured because the process of reform and development continues.
On October 26, 2011, President Al-Assad reviewed with the Arab ministerial delegation the Arab initiative on the situation in Syria.
On November 1, 2011, Syria agreed with the Arab Ministerial Committee on the final paper regarding the conditions in the country. Syria’s ambassador to the Arab League Youssef Ahmed affirmed that the items of the paper that were reached came as a result of great efforts made to help Syria get out of the crisis and that these items are based on firm principled Syrian stances that reject violence, prohibit shedding the Syrian blood and adopt national dialogue and support for reform.
On November 11, 2011, a Syrian delegate to the League informed the General Secretariat of Syria’s welcome and cooperation with the visit of a delegation from the League to see the reality of the situation there, which will contribute to standing up to Syria’s commitment to the Arab action plan approved by the League Council on the second of the same month, and to uncovering motives and agendas of Some internal and external parties that seek to thwart the plan, stressing that Syria has actually implemented most of its provisions.
November 12, 2011 – The Council of the League at the ministerial level decided to suspend the participation of the Syrian delegation in its meetings, starting from the 16th of the same month, in violation of the charter and the rules of the procedures of the League.
On May 7, 2023, and during its extraordinary meeting at the ministerial level at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Cairo, the Arab League Council issued Decision No. 8914 in which it approved the resumption of the participation of delegations of the Syrian Arab Republic in the meetings of the League Council and all organizations and agencies affiliated with it, as of the date of issuance of the decision.
Syria affirmed its keen follow-up of the decision issued by the League Council meeting, noting that the next stage requires an effective and constructive Arab approach on the bilateral and collective levels based on dialogue, mutual respect and common interests of the Arab nation.
On May 10, 2023, President Bashar Al-Assad received an invitation from King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia to participate in the 32nd session of the Arab League Council meeting at the summit level, which will be held in Jeddah on the 19th of May.
Amal Farhat/ Hamda Mustafa