http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/faqdetails.asp?faid=944&faqid=9

THE Holy Prophet (PBUH) once ordered that a mosque which had been built by the hypocrites, be burned down because the purpose behind its construction was malicious. The current day politicians are no better than hypocrites. Many wrongs have been committed in the name of unity and freedom and this has led to the degradation of nations, distortion and abuse of land for personal gains and sectarian interests. Perhaps the latest example of such a phenomenon is a desire shown by the Syrian regime to hold the next Arab summit in Damascus. This keenness comes from attempts by the Syrian leadership to portray itself as an effective and acceptable member of the Arab body banking on its earlier successes. If the reason for holding the periodic Arab summit is to revamp joint Arab action, find solutions to the Arab-Arab problems and follow up the Palestinian issue, the question is: Why is the summit being held under the leadership of the Syrian regime which has distanced itself from these issues?

There is not a shred of evidence to prove this regime has not bungled joint Arab action. This regime has neither respected the rules of Arab consensus on any issue, nor has it made attempts to set up an Arab parliament, an Arab Court of Justice or a joint Arab market. Rather, on every occasion, this regime has belittled the Arab League and nearly destroyed its activities. This regime is also responsible for paralyzing the activities of the Tripartite Committee (the two other members of the committee are Egypt and Saudi Arabia) after working together for a quarter of a century and bringing a bad name to a unified Arab position.

All that this regime is concerned about is sacrificing Arabs on the altar of Iran. This regime works to damage the symbols of Arab unity by sowing seeds of strife and confusion in most Arab states. In Lebanon, this regime is very active, committing all sorts of crimes – assassinating noble men in cold blood, destroying societal structure with a criminal intent and giving birth to extremism, laced with terrorist ideology. It is the same regime which planted Hamas in Palestine and instructed Mishal to set Gaza alight. It is the same regime which sends terrorists and weapons to Iraq to add fuel to the fire caused by sectarian and tribal sentiments in Baghdad.

If we look closely, we will discover the hidden hands of this regime have stretched to Yemen. It also has connections to the Baath party, in Sudan, which is the cause for chaos in Darfur. When it comes to the issue of Palestine, the regime has been the watchman of the Golan Heights for the past 30 years. After the regime refused to accept the so-called ‘single settlement’ which was advocated by the late Egyptian leader Anwar el-Sadat with Israel, we now see the regime looking for support from Germany to Russia and Turkey to act as mediators – without consulting any Arab leader – to accept what it had refused earlier. After rejecting the Arab peace initiative, it is now keen to accede to Israeli demands.

After pouring cold water on all joint Arab initiatives, hindering Arab progress, causing problems in several Arab states and selling the Arab cause for the benefit of the Iranians, will the Arabs benefit by holding a summit under the leadership of this regime? It is evident that Arab kings and rulers will spend three days listening to the empty rhetoric of this regime – talk about the so-called role it plays to protect Arab unity, while the conflict between the Sunnis and Shiites continues unabated in Syria and the hands of the murderers are stained with the blood of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Al-Hariri who was killed by hired killers upon orders from Damascus.

This useless, ineffective Arab summit will be full of Syrian promises – no better than earlier summits. As usual it will remain ink on paper but will give the regime in Damascus an opportunity to trade in Arab issues to the detriment of the Arabs. This is going to be another ‘useless’ summit. Beware, before the misfortune of this summit falls on the Arabs.