POLITICAL STATEMENT

THE RESULTS OF THE ARAB SUMMIT MEETING IN CAIRO



The Special Emergency session of the Summit meeting of Arab States, which took place in Cairo on October 21st and 22nd,
2000, has ended with a series of resolutions and measures aimed at providing moral, political and material support to the
Palestinian people, to the PLO and to the PNA in their resistance to the military aggression launched by the Israeli occupation
forces, in their criminal and vain attempt to substitute violence to negotiations, to impose their will by force and to avoid
implementation of the signed agreements and of the resolutions adopted by the international community.

We express our satisfaction and our deep gratitude to our Arab brothers, both at popular and at official level, for this firm stand
of solidarity with our people, who are the victims of a barbarous campaign of armed violence and settler-terrorism, against
disarmed children, peaceful protesters and the Palestinian civilian population at large. We hail the unprecedented unity manifest
in the course and results of that Summit, and the sense of responsibility displayed by Arab leaders in dealing with this grave
crisis, which threatens the welfare and stability of all states in our region. All are aware that failure to prevent further escalation
on the ground may ignite a series of reactions and counter-reactions liable to set the whole Mediterranean environment on a fire
of incalculable and probably uncontrollable consequences.

We also hail the maturity and political wisdom with which Arab leaders have reasserted our common commitment to
negotiations and peace as a strategic choice, together with the will to restore the legal and procedural terms of reference for a
fruitful political process: international legality, relevant UN resolutions, and the general principles of Human rights. The call to
condition regional cooperation and the furthering of commercial relations with Israel to Israeli compliance with these elementary
requirements, and to an effective halting of military aggression, is a reasonable and balanced stand, away from any empty
rhetorical threats. The determination to make rational use of economic ties, including those linked to energy, in order to enhance
a serious search for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace is also an encouraging signal, which should be read earnestly by the
international community as a whole.

The support to our demand that an impartial commission of inquiry, under UN auspices, be constituted; the demand for an
international tribunal, on the model of the jurisdictions established to punish war criminals in former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda;
the pledge to provide immediate material support to the victims of the aggression, to the families of the martyrs and to the
wounded, but also to support the resistance of our people in Jerusalem, and to provide relief to the ruined Palestinian economy
- all those demonstrate a serious and sincere commitment to the cause of peace and justice in our area.

Finally, we want to underline that the summit, while rejecting categorically any irresponsible call for war, has unequivocally
rejected the Israeli attempts at depicting popular protest as an aggression, and expressed its full support to the continuation of
the Intifada.

We expect the whole international community to take the measure of this responsible stand, and act accordingly. The United
Nations must recover their leading role in the coordination of efforts to bring the aggressor back to the negotiating table, and
first and foremost to create the instruments of international protection for the Palestinian people.



October 23rd, 2000

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