More than words?

Reem Nafie gauges reactions from across the Egyptian political spectrum to the recently concluded Arab summit

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Protesting in front of the Arab League headquarters

In the two months since the original date scheduled for the Arab summit, dozens of Palestinians have been killed by Israel's ever-intensifying offensive in Gaza, systematic abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US forces has been exposed, and American sanctions have been imposed on Syria.

Although prior summits had proven otherwise, political parties, analysts and media pundits still seemed to harbour some hope that the Arab leaders who finally managed to gather in Tunis last week would meet these challenges with seriously effective resolutions.

The commitment made by the summit to work towards increased democratisation of the region was not quite the strong conclusion the general public had been hoping for. In fact, many wondered why the summit was held in the first place.

On Saturday, as the summit began, members of the Egyptian Popular Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada (EPCSPI) gathered in front of the Arab League headquarters in Cairo to read out a statement that was then delivered to the high- level gathering in Tunis.

The statement demanded that, "Arab leaders call for the trial of Israeli war criminals in accordance with international law." Writer and EPCSPI member Fathiya El-Assal told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Arabs were "waiting for decisive decisions, not just the condemnations we are used to hearing from our leaders."

The summit's results, however, led the EPCSPI's Adel El-Mashad to conclude that, "this should be the last summit to be held by Arab leaders."

Although El-Mashad described as "acceptable" the part of the summit's final document condemning the killing and wounding of Palestinian civilians, he still felt that "condemning the Israeli domination of Palestinian territories" was not enough.

While the Arab leaders had also vowed to provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, El-Mashad felt that there was only a "slight chance that these suggestions would actually go through to the application phase". El-Mashad said that Arabs had gotten used to not expecting "hard core political changes, but at least Arab leaders should be committed to ensuring that the humanitarian aid urgently needed by Palestinians is delivered."

Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef was also sceptical. He told the Weekly that he doubted "that any of these resolutions will actually be applied".

Akef's opinion was mirrored by much of the media coverage of the summit, which lamented the fact that "putting [the final document's resolutions] into effect was left largely up to the individual countries, and past summit meeting were littered with weighty resolutions that went nowhere".

Even the summit's foray into less overtly political terrain was met with public criticism and angst. The final document's support for expanding women's political roles, respecting human rights and supporting freedom of expression were criticised for not detailing the specific steps that would lead to such advances. According to El-Mashad "women's issues and individual nation's reform efforts" should have been left out altogether, since the "Arab world has more important problems to discuss".

The sharp differences that emerged over the summit's agenda, as well as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddaffi's walkout also received poor marks. Akef said the endless arguments over everything showed an "inability to decide what Arab people need". The Brotherhood had preluded the event with a statement urging the summit to "support, morally and materially, the jihad of the Palestinian people against Israeli occupation".

The opposition daily newspaper Al-Wafd had also urged the gathered leaders to "make peace with your people and fulfil their needs".

With the summit over, reactions on the street seemed equally despondent.

While participants like Tunisian Foreign Minister Habib Bin Yehya said Arab presidents and kings were "deadly serious about implementation", and Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath praised the summit's discussion of "problems that require real societal change", the comments of ordinary observers made it clear that many people had long ago lost patience with that kind of talk.

Interior designer Mosaad Lotfi said he had stopped paying attention to Arab summits. "Every year they seem to say the same thing and never keep their word, so why should I listen any more?"

Reacting to the summit's final statement, political science student Ahmed Abdel-Salam wondered whether "the Arab leaders realise that they are mere puppets being directed by the Bush administration. If the US asks for reform, we give them reform." he said.

"The Arab leaders need to understand" that the situation was even more serious than it appeared to be, said the EPCSPI's Farida El-Shoubashi, "the danger looms over all the Arab countries, not just Palestine and Iraq."