LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES

An international institution, the Arab League (officially the League of Arab States) was founded in Cairo on 22 March 1945. At its creation the Arab League comprised Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. The first secretary general of the organization was Abd al-Rahman al-Azzam, an Egyptian diplomat. The Arab League proposed strengthening ties between Arab states and coordinating regional economic and military policy, while refraining from intervening in any conflict between league members. The impulse to create a pan-Arab organization was the product of the ongoing Arab nationalist movement, but during World War II it was also encouraged by the British as a means of influencing Arab public opinion at a time when it appeared that the Germans might well conquer North Africa. With British help, an international conference was convened in Alexandria in September 1944, producing an agreement called the Alexandria Protocol on 7 October. The formal creation of the League—an association of independent Arab states rather than the pan-Arab federation its original promoters had envisioned—followed the next year.

In 1958 the League was recognized by the United Nations (UN) as a regional intergovernmental organization, and it has coordinated with the UN in its various social, cultural, and scientific programs. Headquartered in Cairo, it is the most important Arab venue for official cooperation in matters of education, social, and health issues, mainly through its Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ALESCO), founded in 1964. In 2004, the League has twenty-two members: the original seven plus Libya (joined 1953), Sudan (1956), Tunisia (1958), Morocco (1958), Kuwait (1961), Algeria (1962), Bahrain (1971), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), the United Arab Emirates (UAE, 1971), Mauritania (1973), Palestine (originally as the PLO, 1974), Somalia (1974), Djibouti (1977), and the Comoros Islands (1996). South Yemen was also a member from 1967 until 1990, when it united with Yemen. It is believed that the League employs some 540 staff and has a budget of around $27 million.

From its very beginnings the Arab League supported the Palestinian cause, although it was often ineffective due to political differences and rivalries among the Arab states. The League provided for permanent Palestinian representation on the League Council, the main policy-making body; the first Palestinian representative was Musa al-Alami, who had taken part in the Alexandria conference. In September 1946, the League helped to reestablish the Arab Higher Committee (AHC) to represent the principal Palestinian political forces. In July 1948 it attempted to create a civil administration for the areas of Palestine not yet occupied by the Israelis, but was unable to overcome both political dissension within the AHC and opposition within the League by King Abdullah I of Transjordan, who wished to annex those areas. In September 1948, at the insistence of Egypt, which opposed Abdullah's plans, the League helped the AHC to create the All-Palestine Government in Gaza, which lasted only a few weeks. After the 1948–1949 War the League adopted a policy of nonrecognition of Israel and supported the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. It rejected all later proposals to resettle the refugees permanently outside Palestine. It also cooperated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to assist the refugees. The League declared that, although it supported the liberation of Palestine, it would not use military force to achieve it. In 1950, however, it created the Joint Defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty (JDECT) as a defensive measure against Israel. The League also instituted an economic boycott of Israel, at first (1946) against Zionist-produced goods from Palestine, later (1948) banning all trade between Arab states and Israel or companies doing business with Israel; it established a Central Office for the Boycott of Israel (OB) in Damascus in 1951. Enforcement was voluntary and inconsistent, and the boycott never seriously affected the Israeli economy. Other major actions taken by the League affecting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict were:

In April 1959, at the urging of Egypt, the League adopted a resolution providing for the expulsion of any member state that negotiated a separate peace with Israel.

In May 1964, at the urging of Egypt, the League supported the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA). The League regularly supported the PLO's efforts to achieve international recognition.

In September 1967, after the June 1967 War, the League declared its continuing support for the Palestinian cause and established a policy of not recognizing or negotiating with Israel.

In November 1973 the League set conditions to be met for members to engage in talks with Israel. The following November the League recognized the PLO as the only legitimate representative body of the Palestinians, recognized its right to establish a Palestinian state, and admitted it as a full member of the League.

In October 1976 the League agreed to form an Arab Deterrent Force to intervene in the Lebanese Civil War.

In November 1978 the League condemned the Camp David Accords and invoked sanctions against Egypt. They failed to agree on a response to the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon from March to June. In 1979, after the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty in March, the League expelled Egypt under the terms of the 1959 resolution (member states also suspended diplomatic relations); moved the League's headquarters to Tunis. This was the beginning of a period of crisis and dissension in the Arab world, in large part over Israel and the status of Palestine, that affected the League's functioning. Some League summit meetings were boycotted by some states, at least one summit was canceled, and few accords were ratified by the Council.

In September 1982 they approved the Fez Initiative, based on the Fahd Plan, disagreement over which had caused the cancellation of a League summit the previous year. It called for withdrawal of Israel from the Occupied Territories and eventual establishment of a Palestinian state in them—amounting to a tacit recognition of Israel within the pre-1967 borders.

In August 1985 the League could not agree to support an agreement between the PLO and Jordan. In November 1987 the League declared that members were free to resume diplomatic relations with Egypt. In June 1988 the League agreed to assist the PLO financially in the Intifada, and in May 1989 readmitted Egypt to membership. They also agreed to mediate a truce in the Lebanese Civil War.

In August 1990 the League was divided over the issue of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. League headquarters returned to Cairo in October of the same year.

In March 2000 the League passed a resolution reaffirming the right of Lebanon to fight against the Israeli occupation and demanding that the right of return of the Palestinian refugees be respected. In October, after the start of the al-Aqsa Intifada, they called on members to suspend relations with Israel and agreed to financial aid for the Palestinians.

In January 2001 the League accorded its unanimous support to the position of the Palestinian Authority on peace conditions with Israel. On 24 March of that year, Amr Mousa, Egyptian minister of foreign affairs, was chosen, unanimously, as secretary general of the League. (Except for the period 1978–1990, the secretary general of the League has always been an Egyptian.) A restructuring plan was put into effect, with the principal innovation being the establishment of positions of general commissioners. These posts have been given to influential personalities of the Arab world. In July, Hanan Ashrawi, an important Palestinian political figure, became commissioner for information. The following month, the former Jordanian prime minister, Taher al-Masri, was named commissioner for civil society affairs, and the former Egyptian minister of culture, Ahmed Kamal Abul Magd, became commissioner for "dialogue among civilizations."

In late May 2004, while Israeli forces were attacking the Rafah Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, in a show of force involving rocket attacks on civilian neighborhoods and mass house demolitions, the Arab League held a summit meeting in Tunis. It was to have been held earlier but had been postponed over disagreements about the issues of democratic reform on the agenda. Some governments skipped the meeting. Although individual governments and politicians had condemned Israel's actions and American support for them, the League summit generally avoided the subject.

SEE ALSO All-Palestine Government;Arab Deterrent Force;Arab Higher Committee;Fahd Plan;Intifada, al-Aqsa.