Ashraf AboArafe
Mr Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States (LAS), participated in a meeting held in Madrid today, Friday, the 13th of this month, on implementing the two-state solution and a ceasefire in Gaza. The meeting came at the invitation of the Spanish side and included a number of foreign ministers of European countries that have recognized the State of Palestine, such as Norway, Slovenia and Ireland, along with a delegation from the ministerial committee assigned by the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit to follow up on developments in the Gaza Strip, headed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Jamal Rushdi, the official spokesman for the Secretary-General of the League, stated that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez received the ministers of the Arab-Islamic delegation in an expanded meeting that preceded the ministerial meeting, and discussed ways to expand the scope of recognition of the Palestinian state, the necessary steps to activate the two-state solution, and the ongoing efforts to stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and end the dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank.
The spokesman explained that Abu al-Gheit then participated in the ministerial meeting, which focused on practical ways to transform the two-state solution into a tangible reality and not just verbally supporting it, noting that the meeting witnessed an agreement between the participating ministers from Europe and the Arab and Islamic worlds on the importance of expanding the scope of recognition of the Palestinian state as a way to embody its existence on the ground. They also denounced the international inability to confront the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza for nearly a whole year, which encouraged Israel to transfer the war to the West Bank in an attempt to reproduce the tragic reality of Gaza once again. The ministers renewed their commitment to work at the international level, and in various forums, especially the United Nations, to create a reliable and irreversible path to embody the Palestinian state.
Rushdi quoted the Secretary-General of the Arab League as saying during the ministerial meeting that the time has come for the international community to come up with tangible practical steps to give the Palestinians hope that the project of an independent state has not died, and that the two-state solution is not just rhetoric without substance. The official spokesman explained that Aboul Gheit met with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares in a bilateral meeting, and was keen to thank him again for his country’s positions and its good efforts in favor of the Palestinian cause, stressing that the Arab League is counting on Madrid’s success in convincing a number of important European countries to follow suit in recognizing Palestine, and expressing regret that some countries friendly to the Arab world still do not have enough courage to take this politically correct and morally sound step.
