"With the issues that concern us every day, it is impossible to treat the disease by treating the symptoms. The cracks that have formed over the past decade must be addressed," Bashar Assad said in a speech to the Arab League on Friday. Twelve years after he was expelled from the regional organization following his country's civil war, the Syrian dictator has won a diplomatic victory.
Upon landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Assad received an official welcome and later met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Tunisian President Kais Saied. The message that the rulers of Arab countries sought to convey to their colleagues was clear: protest, rebellion, even civil war – all these will end in defeat. And as the US gradually abandons the Middle East, cooperation between the regimes will only increase.
Anti-Assad protesters in Idlib, Photo: AP
Not everyone was enthusiastic about Assad's presence at the Arab League summit. Arab sources reported that the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, boycotted Assad's speech and left the summit before it began speaking. Qatar is a major supporter of the Syrian rebel organizations, especially the Islamist ones, which these days are concentrated mainly in Syria's northwestern Idlib region. The emirate also made it clear that as far as it was concerned, normalization with Assad depended first and foremost on a political solution on the ground.
"Assad does not represent Syria." The protest in Idlib, photo: AP
Even the Syrian opposition itself did not hide their anger. A Syrian opposition activist angrily noted that "there are demonstrations in northern Syria. Syria is not represented by the criminal Bashar Assad. Syria is not Assad. He is a criminal who took off his translation headset after the Ukrainian president began talking about Russia's crimes. Assad is Putin's top ally. Russia destroyed and killed masses of Syrians to help him stay in power."
Emir of Qatar at the Arab League summit, photo: Reuters
The operative was referring to a series of demonstrations in the last rebel strongholds in northern and eastern Syria held on Friday. The theme of the protest was "Syria is not represented by the criminal Assad." During the campaign, Free Syrian flags with the green stripe and three red stars were raised. The protesters chanted: "Cursed be your spirit, Ya Hafez (Bashar Assad's father and former ruler of Syria; S.K.)!".
Sisi with Assad. The Palestinian issue returns to the forefront, Photo: Reuters
Other posters read: "The Arab League for Captagon" and "For the sake of history - the Arab League supports the president of the Captagon." It was a mockery of the Assad regime's deep involvement in the captagon drug industry, a dangerous stimulant that is smuggled from Syria to Arab countries and has become a social hazard. This industry is also one of the issues on which the rulers of the Arab states seek to cooperate with Damascus. The Assad regime has valuable intelligence on drug traffickers, but it is doubtful whether it will be able to influence Hezbollah and the pro-Iranian militias also involved in trafficking.
The Arab League summit, it should be noted, dealt mainly with the Palestinian issue. Bin Salman said that "the Palestinian issue was and still is the main issue of the Arab states and is at the top of the kingdom's list of priorities." Sisi expressed concern over Israel's "irresponsible escalation in the Palestinian territories." When Arab leaders seek to join forces in the cliff of times, the Palestinian issue returns to the forefront.
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