Doha Summit… A Chance for Revival or a Deepening of Failure

Author: جمال زقوت

In the face of the significant challenges revealed by the aggression against an influential state that actively mediates to halt the war and facilitate prisoner exchanges, having effective international diplomatic relations and an exceptional relationship with Washington, all of which signify serious risks to Arab and Gulf national security in particular, this summit is expected to be more than just an emergency meeting and a repetition of ineffective statements as seen in the previous two summits held during the genocidal war in Gaza, whose decisions did not deter ongoing military aggression from either Tel Aviv or Washington. Will the outcomes of this summit be different? Some say that its mere convening, without effecting a serious change in Arab positions, will only serve as a message indicating that Israel can continue imposing what it calls "peace through strength" and exerting its dominance over the region. If that is the case, perhaps it would have been better not to hold it; as it will only serve as a measure of chronic failure.

The summit convened while Israel continues its genocidal war targeting the destruction of one of the oldest Arab cities; Gaza has been reduced to rubble due to Zionist fascism and is nearing the completion of its third year of extermination, while the organized forced displacement process has turned into a practical step for ethnic cleansing outside of Palestine. This summit came on the heels of a missile strike on Doha and an assassination attempt on Hamas leaders, revealing that Israeli fire is spreading regionally in the presence of the world.

International Hypocrisy at Its Clearest

The United States leads the scene in manipulating Arab fate. It announces its commitment to halting the fire, but provides Israel with the weapons and political and diplomatic cover to continue its genocidal war. Washington negotiates temporary truces here while pressuring there to prolong the war in service of a strategy to subjugate the Palestinians and reshape the region.

As for the European Union countries, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, widespread public pressure within them has led to a relative development in their stance, yet it remains fragile and weak, not exceeding hesitant condemnation statements and calls for "calming both sides", as if the killer and victim are equal, revolving around a complete inability to take any practical steps independent of American will.

What Was Required from the Summit

Arab leaders must announce decisions commensurate with the criminal aggression against Doha that reveal the nature of the colonial and Zionist hegemony project that exceeds the borders of Palestine; including imposing political and economic sanctions on Israel, reducing or severing relations, especially from countries that have official or unofficial diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv. Continuing relations "as if everything is normal" only signifies acceptance of extermination and displacement, and of what Israel plans in terms of dominance to subjugate the region, not just the liquidation of the Palestinian cause.

Perhaps the reluctance of Arab capitals to join South Africa in pursuing Israel in international courts serves as a signal of failure, if not more. Will we witness a change in Arab diplomacy towards urgent legal action in international courts to pursue the crimes of extermination and aggression against Qatar and Palestine? Will some capitals respond to the demands for establishing safe humanitarian corridors to deliver life-saving materials and evacuate critically injured individuals and protect civilians? These are not just slogans; they are the conditions for the survival of a nation facing an explicit project to empty Palestine of its people.

What is Sadly Expected

The facts suggest, and I hope my expectations are wrong, that the final statement will merely repeat condemnation and call for calm. Experience confirms that major Arab capitals remain captives of security and economic alliances with Washington. Is fear of U.S. sanctions and the fluctuation of financial markets more important than the blood of Gaza or the missiles striking Doha under the guise of eliminating Hamas leadership? Will those capitals be safe at a time when Netanyahu speaks only of a "Greater Israel," and Trump expresses his support for this expansionism, claiming that Israeli geography is small and it has the right to expand as per the role drawn by the "Trump White House" alliance and Zionist fascism?

Everything Starts from Palestine

The essential equation is clear: without a unified Palestinian policy, no significant Arab position will emerge. Two years of steadfastness against extermination have not yet transformed into a political project that gathers Palestinians around a national liberation program. The opportunity exists, even it is urgent, to achieve a transitional non-factional unity similar to what was proposed in Beijing, through a temporary national government that manages the phase based on a program of resistance and steadfastness. The question is: why do not the central Arab capitals, including during this summit, encourage the dominant Palestinian parties in the scene, pushing them toward implementing such a step, if they truly want to move from the role of bystander to that of action?

Structural Inability Revealing Dependency

The strike targeting Doha demonstrated that Israel acts as a power above the law, confident that Arabs are powerless and the West is complicit. When an Arab summit is unable to protect a Gulf state closely tied to the West, how will it defend besieged Gaza or the Palestinians' right to exist on their land and determine their destiny there?

If the Doha summit does not transform into a breaking point for this course, history will record it as one of the episodes of complicity through silence. At that point, condemnation statements will become indirect participation in the crime, and talk of an "Arab system" will merely be an illusion.

The Summit: Awareness of Risks and a Deeper Expression of Inability

The Doha summit is a real test: either it makes and announces decisions commensurate with the challenge, or it proves that the Arab system has lost the ability to act, content to wait for what Washington decides. But the path to any Arab revival first passes through Palestine. Either the steadfastness of its people turns into a unified Palestinian policy from which a genuine Arab initiative emerges, or we will witness even worse chapters of ethnic cleansing, while the world will remain resigned to repeating phrases of "deep concern" and remains silent in the face of a holocaust it once vowed to never allow to repeat, and here it is unfolding again at the hands of those once considered victims of the West's failure. The holocaust repeats itself, and it will not be stopped except by actions that deter its perpetrators. The summit has profoundly clarified the imminent risks and has unequivocally demonstrated the extent of the inability to confront these risks. In any case, this is our homeland, and there is no other homeland for us; we have no choice but to defend our right to stay on its land and build our free and prosperous future in it, regardless of how long it takes.