Arab Summit to defy Israel’s bid for non-permanent UNSC seat

CAIRO - 23 March 2018: Arab League Secretary Ahmed Abul Gheit announced Tuesday that the 29th Arab League Summit will take place in Riyadh on April 15.

The summit will be preceded by a number of preparatory meetings, starting April 9, Abul Gheit said, adding that the member states have been informed of the date of the summit.

Encountering Israel’s bid for a non-permanent UN Security Council seat comes at the top of topics that will be discussed in the summit.

Earlier, an Arab League committee held a meeting at the level of foreign ministers to discuss measures to be taken to prevent Israel from gaining a rotating seat in the U.N. Security Council.

The committee underlined the importance of abiding by the Arab League Council resolution number 8118, which stipulates that an occupying force with a long record of violations of international laws cannot be nominated for a UNSC seat under the UN Charter.

The summit was postponed from March because the original date clashed with Egypt’s presidential election dates, scheduled to be held 26-28 March, the Arab League said last month.

There was another reason for the postponement, as Qatar, a member of the Arab League, is still boycotted politically by the Arab Quartet: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.

The participation of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Riyadh’s summit deems a real impasse, as Saudi Arabian rulers would not accept the presence of the Qatari emir in Saudi Arabian territory before an official Qatari acceptance and approval of the Arab Quartet’s 14 principles, Arab columnist Youssef Ayoub said.

The spokesman of Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Abu Zeid, stated on March 22 on his official Twitter account: “On the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the establishment of the League of Arab States on March 22, 1945, the Arab League will remain the home of all Arab citizens who cherish their Arab identity and culture, for those who believe in unity of purpose and destiny in the face of the common challenges that stretch from the ocean to the gulf.”

في الذكرى الثلاثة والسبعين لإنشاء جامعة الدول العربية في ٢٢ مارس ١٩٤٥، ستبقى الجامعة العربية بيت العرب، الجامع لكل أبناء الوطن...لكل من يعتز بهويته وثقافته العربية ...لكل من يُؤْمِن بوحدة الهدف والمصير..لكل من يحمل لواء العروبة في مواجهة التحديات المشتركة من المحيط الي الخليج pic.twitter.com/yVwC6BrsnS

— Egypt MFA Spokesman (@MfaEgypt) ٢٢ مارس، ٢٠١٨