DUBAI: The Arab League’s secretary-general on Wednesday warned that if US President Donald Trump continued to pressure Gazans and regionally influential powers, this “might lead the region to a new round of grave conflicts.”
“In my opinion, I see that (happening) if President Trump continues in this manner to pressure Gazans, the Arab world, Egyptians, Jordanians, and the region’s influential powers,” said Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
“I imagine that instead of settling the Palestinian cause, justly and based on the two-state solution, this might lead the region (the Middle East) to a new round of grave conflicts between Arabs and Israel,” Aboul Gheit told the World Government Summit on Wednesday.
Addressing a packed auditorium during a session titled “The State of the Arab World,” the secretary-general said that “any plans to evacuate the Palestinian territories of their residents” must be rejected, and pointed out that “an acceptable settlement” must be achieved between the two parties.
Alongside Aboul Gheit was Jasem Al-Budaiwi, who is secretary-general of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council, in a session moderated by the Egyptian journalist and businessman Imad Eddine Adib.
Aboul Gheit emphasized that the Palestinian state must be recognized and the “Palestinians must be given their rights.”
He said the US suggestions were unacceptable to Arabs, and in particular Palestinians, warning against the repercussions of US policy on the paths of “peace and understanding” in the region.
After a question by Adib on Trump’s statement on Tuesday, the Arab League head replied: “Right at the moment, the problem as I see it, is that the American vision is an ambiguous one … in the sense that it envisions settling the Middle East conflict through finishing the Palestinian existence, Palestinian character and Palestinian identity in Gaza.
“This is not a settlement (of the conflict) but is rather transferring the conflict to a phase that exceeds Gaza and Israel, making it reach the global level.”
Aboul Gheit added: “If you wish to send the Palestinians to Canada or Argentina, they will fight (for their cause) from there … they will fight from Canada and Argentina. We must understand this … it (Palestine) is their land.”
The senior Egyptian diplomat hopes that a cycle of new conflicts does not occur because it will have negative effects on stability and on everything that “we have built in the region over the period from 1978 (Camp David) and the Egyptian-Israeli understanding until this moment.”
Aboul Gheit said that there had been no Arab defeat, but rather that there had been progress and readiness for any cooperation to coexist between the Palestinians and Israelis within one space.
“On the Palestinian issue, it is not necessary to implement President Trump’s words on the ground. The words are ‘give and take’ and we must complete our efforts with the two-state solution initiative,” Al-Budaiwi said.
During the session, the Arab League’s secretary-general hinted at the differences between the Fatah Movement and Hamas, saying the Palestinian people were in dire need, and the people who are most in need of an Arabic-Arabic and Palestinian-Palestinian agreement and accord.
Meanwhile, the GCC’s secretary-general said that there were clear constants regarding the Palestinian cause, at the forefront of which is the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the return of refugees.
“We in the Cooperation Council work within this framework,” he said.
Al-Budaiwi said the US realized the importance of security and stability in the region, and “we have strategic alliances with the US,” noting that the stance of the GCC countries does not change, and always stem from the importance of implementing international legitimacy.
“We are optimistic and deal with matters with deliberation and wisdom, and we seek a unified Arab position that aims to obtain the rights of the Palestinian people,” he concluded.
