israel
Qatar and Mauritania froze ties with Israel yesterday in protest over the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza. Addressing a press conference last night following the emergency summit held in Doha to tackle the worsening situation in the Gaza Strip, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minster HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani said the Israeli trade office in Doha would be closed down until the situation improved. (gulf times)
A diplomatic victory for Qatar
All those skeptics of the Arab leaders’ meeting which was held in Doha yesterday, who have doubted its ability to produce anything tangible to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza, must have got their answer. The summit was a victory for Qatar’s diplomatic initiatives on the Gaza crisis because, departing from similar summits in the past which have restricted themselves to making grandiose statements, yesterday’s summit matched words with action. In a communiqué issued after the meeting, Qatar announced that it would close down an Israeli trade office in Doha and ask the Jewish state to remove its staff until the Gaza situation improved. Mauritania, another Arab country which has relations with Israel, too announced that it would freeze its ties with the Jewish state, and Syria said it has decided to halt indirect peace negotiations with Tel Aviv. The summit also called on other Arab countries to review their ties with Israel and to suspend the Arab peace initiative over the Israeli atrocities in Gaza which have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians. Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani said that the summit recommendations will be discussed at the Arab League economic meeting to be held in Kuwait on Monday.
The summit in Doha was attended by the representatives of a number of Arab states, and also Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and representatives of Turkish government. In fact, the summit plan had exposed the divisions among Arab states on the issue, with some states questioning the need for the summit at this juncture. But Qatar had steadfastly worked for it, arguing that the seriousness of the situation called for an emergency summit. Though some countries chose to stay away, its purpose was achieved with the bold decision to sever ties with the Jewish state. It is also remarkable that calls at the opening session of the meeting were among the strongest yet for Muslim and Arab leaders to take action to punish Israel for civilian suffering that has provoked protests worldwide.
There have been a flurry of Arab meetings on Gaza but they have been in the news mainly due to the divisions and strong differences of opinion among the states, which have weakened the Arab position, prompting Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to say that “the Arab position is very chaotic and regrettable’. Arab leaders have been accused of inaction and a failure to reflect the sentiments of the people on the streets. But yesterday’s summit has addressed this concern – another coup for Qatar’s diplomatic initiatives.
(peninsula)
A diplomatic victory for Qatar
All those skeptics of the Arab leaders’ meeting which was held in Doha yesterday, who have doubted its ability to produce anything tangible to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza, must have got their answer. The summit was a victory for Qatar’s diplomatic initiatives on the Gaza crisis because, departing from similar summits in the past which have restricted themselves to making grandiose statements, yesterday’s summit matched words with action. In a communiqué issued after the meeting, Qatar announced that it would close down an Israeli trade office in Doha and ask the Jewish state to remove its staff until the Gaza situation improved. Mauritania, another Arab country which has relations with Israel, too announced that it would freeze its ties with the Jewish state, and Syria said it has decided to halt indirect peace negotiations with Tel Aviv. The summit also called on other Arab countries to review their ties with Israel and to suspend the Arab peace initiative over the Israeli atrocities in Gaza which have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians. Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani said that the summit recommendations will be discussed at the Arab League economic meeting to be held in Kuwait on Monday.
The summit in Doha was attended by the representatives of a number of Arab states, and also Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and representatives of Turkish government. In fact, the summit plan had exposed the divisions among Arab states on the issue, with some states questioning the need for the summit at this juncture. But Qatar had steadfastly worked for it, arguing that the seriousness of the situation called for an emergency summit. Though some countries chose to stay away, its purpose was achieved with the bold decision to sever ties with the Jewish state. It is also remarkable that calls at the opening session of the meeting were among the strongest yet for Muslim and Arab leaders to take action to punish Israel for civilian suffering that has provoked protests worldwide.
There have been a flurry of Arab meetings on Gaza but they have been in the news mainly due to the divisions and strong differences of opinion among the states, which have weakened the Arab position, prompting Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to say that “the Arab position is very chaotic and regrettable’. Arab leaders have been accused of inaction and a failure to reflect the sentiments of the people on the streets. But yesterday’s summit has addressed this concern – another coup for Qatar’s diplomatic initiatives.
(peninsula)
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