The Jeddah Summit: Practice, Not Just Theory
Al-Masry Al-Youm, Egypt, May 20
The last Arab League summit I attended was the one held in Algeria in November 2022. Despite being marked as a summit of Arab unity, the meeting was characterized by divisions and hostility within the Arab world. Yesterday’s summit, hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, had a different tone: it revolved around the concept of unification. The geographical distance between Algiers, on the Mediterranean Sea, and Jeddah on the Red Sea, was a metaphor for the difference between the two summits. The Jeddah summit emphasized the importance of Arab unity and the need for Arab countries to come together in the wake of the growing regional crises. The invitation sent by King Salman to Syria, which was accepted by President Assad, marked a significant milestone on this path toward Arab unity. With determination and with the help of time, this summit signified a willingness to correct mistakes of the past and foster an atmosphere of collaboration and solidarity among member states. When Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Jeddah yesterday morning, the cameras were out in full force, clamoring for a glimpse of him. It is understandable why they were so eager; this is Syria’s return to the Arab League after a significant absence, and this moment marks an important new chapter in the country’s history. Ultimately, presidents come and go, but homeland remains; and it’s the only thing we can truly count on to remain constant. The Jeddah summit sought to put theory into practice, demonstrating the application of the unification message that previous summits cited but never lived up to. As Aristotle famously said, philosophy, or knowledge, is brought from the heavens to the earth. In the same spirit, the Jeddah summit set out to make the thesis of the Algerian summit a living reality. Its success was exemplified by Syria’s integral participation in the sessions. In doing so, the Jeddah summit put the goal of unification into practice, making it a practice rather than just theory. —Suleiman Judeh (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
