Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
We expected the U.S.-sponsored international peace summit in Annapolis, to trigger intra-Arab conflicts as usual. Interestingly enough, this meeting has healed wounds, some of which have been bleeding for years on various fronts. It is an odd phenomenon that contradicts all possibilities on the table.
Jordan has had bad relations with Syria for over four years… Yet, unexpectedly, the Jordanian king landed in Damascus and a joint statement that is filled with political wooing was issued, voicing agreement by both sides on everything after they had disagreed on everything.
Syria, which viewed the Annapolis meeting as a dubious plan, is now saying that Arab participation will reinforce the status of Arabs and their position on the number-one Arab cause… Moreover, President Ahmadinejad’s words to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem that this conference will cause the loss of Palestine were only carried in Iranian media outlets.
As for Hamas, which continued its attack against the Annapolis meeting, and which announced that it was shocked by Arab participation, it made concessions that drew it closer to the PA, its opponent, in Ramallah. A top Hamas official openly said that Hamas is now willing to hand over security to the PA under certain conditions, and this is the main problem that had led to the coup. …
Have the winds of Annapolis blown over the region? There is a definite connection between these three cases of reconciliation, rapprochement attempts, and refraining from opening fire, and between the Annapolis conference. The connection lies in the Americans backtracking on their boycott on the Syrians after having considered this boycott a necessity and their pressure on others to boycott Syria a lofty duty. The Americans have backtracked… Had they not done that, the Annapolis meeting would have been an occasion for fiery battles in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq. Access the full article>>