Typical Arab League One-Sidedness

The Arab League has rejected an international arrest warrant for Sudan’s president on charges of war crimes in Darfur, which effectively clears the way for Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir to attend the Arab League summit in Qatar. Three Arab League states – Jordan, Djibouti and Comoros – recognize the international warrant for el-Bashir’s arrest but they will not be able to enforce it in Qatar.

The international court issued its arrest warrant on March 4, accusing al-Bashir of orchestrating atrocities against civilians in Darfur, where his Arab-led government has been battling ethnic African rebels since 2003. Up to 300,000 people have been killed, and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes.

Al-Bashir has denied the charges and has said he will not cooperate with court. He has struck a defiant tone, and his trip to Qatar at the end of the month is meant to show he cannot be touched. In a sense, his visit to Qatar will be a huge slap in the face to the international community. He will certainly have help, though. His presence at the Arab League summit will also be another fine example of just how little regard the 22-member Arab League holds for the rest of world.

Created in 1945 to promote unity and collective prosperity within the Arab world, so they claimed, the Arab League began showing its true colors three years later in 1948, following the creation of Israel, which put a civilized, western-leaning democracy dead-smack in the middle of the Arab world. The presence of a civilized, modern democracy that extended basic human rights to its citizens could not be tolerated in a region run by heavy-handed dictators and monarchs who wanted to keep their citizens in the Dark Ages. That Israel was a Jewish state made its existence even more intolerable. Therefore, five Arab countries, three of them member-states of the Arab League, immediately attacked Israel with the absolute intention of destroying the barely 12-hour-old state and the Arab League did nothing to condemn the vicious act. Strangely, when Israel not only repelled the aggressors but seized more land, that’s when the Arab League began making complaints.

In the years that followed, Israel’s existence, and destruction, has always been one of main topics at Arab League summits. This was proven even more when, in 1979, Egypt established peace and diplomatic ties with Israel. For its crime, Egypt was immediately expelled from the League and was not re-admitted until 1985. Jordan, which established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1994, nearly suffered a similar fate.

The Arab League has also repeatedly shown its disdain for all things un-Arab in its repeated refusal to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. The League has remained silent while both factions have carried acts of terrorism and aggression towards Israel yet it is always quick to verbally reprimand Israel for attacking Hamas and Hezbollah strongholds and assassinating top leaders.

While the Arab League insists that it only promotes unity among Arab countries it has proven time and time again that its main focus is keep all forms of western influence out of the Middle East, even it means protecting Arab member-states from being held accountable for the some of the most vicious inhuman acts. The Arab League’s protection of el-Bashir should not surprise anyone.