Arab summit failure [Archives:2006/969/Viewpoint]

Editor
Aborting the proposed Arab summit project is yet another slap in the face to Arab nations' dignity. Not only was the call for the summit, proposed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh, rejected almost at once by a number of Arab countries, it appears that even those who agreed to meet doubted the alleged summit's success anyway.

What will come over the Arab people now that it's become so clear that their leaders don't care? So-called unity of fate seems to be the least priority, as if the attack against one Arab nation is of no concern to the others.

We continue hearing about plans for the great Middle East or the new Middle East designed by foreign powers lacking legitimacy even to lay a finger in the region – and yet, we've seen nothing other than bloodshed and more bloodshed. Is it then any surprise that citizens in most Arab countries have become indifferent to anything falling beyond their sphere of daily routine?

The problem is that we as Arabs are fed globalization day and night via satellite channels, the internet and other communication means. For example, I am a fan of the TV series, “The West Wing.” Even though we eat, drink, wear and watch internationalization, when it comes to real life and matters of reality, we feel so alone and indifferent.

The policies of world leaders, whether Arab or Western, have alienated their people and deprived them of any empathy with the rest of the world. Worse, a time is coming when we as human beings will stop empathizing even with our own families and neighbors and sci-fi movies about the end of the world or Redemption Day won't seem far-fetched at all.

It's sad how even lame attempts to get Arab leaders together even for the sake of pretence have failed. It shows the extent of desperation this region is experiencing. If the simplest of facts can't be agreed upon, then what are we going to do when it's no longer about our neighbor but about us? After all, what goes around comes around, doesn't it?
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