CAIRO: Members of the Arab League are to seek a UN Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza followed by a truce, said a source attending an emergency meeting of foreign ministers of the Arab League yesterday.
“If the Security Council fail to bring about a cessation of hostilities, an Arab summit will be convened in the Qatari capital Doha,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the source as saying. Foreign ministers of the Arab League met yesterday behind close doors before a final round of talks.
The meeting’s final communique will also call on US President-elect Barack Obama to give top priority to Middle East peace when he assumes office later this month.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal criticized divisions among the Palestinians at the opening of the emergency meeting, saying it prevented an effective Arab response to Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip.
“This terrible massacre would not have happened if the Palestinian people were united behind one leadership, speaking in one voice,” said Prince Saud, who currently heads the Arab League’s Council of Foreign Ministers.
“We are telling our Palestinian brothers that your Arab Ummah cannot extend a real helping hand if one of you doesn’t extend his hands to the other with love. And also that the Arab Ummah is not interested in blaming this side or that side. What matters is to end this nightmarish discord,” Prince Saud said while making an impassioned plea for unity.
The Arab League convened to present a united Arab response against the Israeli offensive that has killed at least 393 and wounded close to 2,000 Palestinians on the Gaza Strip over the past five days.
Prince Saud also called on Palestinian factions to sit together and take steps to form a national government representing the entire Palestine.
“The transient factions and slogans would disappear but the great Palestinian nation that has been there since the dawn of history will continue to exist,” Prince Saud said, adding that history would not forgive if anyone strove to perpetuate the present dissension.
“The continuing dissension of Palestinians offers success after success to the enemy Israel depriving the Arab nation of the opportunity to make any effective move to rescue the Palestinian people,” he continued.
“Israel’s policy of imposing blockades, frequent killings and destruction in the occupied land is a brazen attempt to undermine any opportunity for achieving real peace which Israel claims to strive for.”
Calling the Israeli hostilities at Gaza a massacre and crime against humanity, Prince Saud warned that it could breed more violence and extremism, taking the region further away from the goals of peace and security.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also urged the Palestinians to reconcile their long schism and called on Arab nations to present a united stance.
“The weakness of the Arab position and the divisions within the Palestinian ranks have all led to this disregard of the Arabs internationally,” Moussa said.
The secretary-general accused Israel of attacking Gaza because it wanted an easy victim to make it seem strong ahead of a general election in February.
Yesterday’s discussions also included Qatari and Syrian proposals for an emergency Arab summit meeting in the face of the current Israeli aggression and plans to bring humanitarian aid to the suffering millions in Gaza.
The meeting also stressed the need to mount pressure on the world powers to end the Israel aggression.
