1964 Arab League summit (Cairo)

Meeting of Arab regional organization yes April 2022 Arab League summit Arab League Summit, 1964.jpg Arab heads of state in a meeting during the summit Egypt Cairo yes 1964 01 13 – yes 1964 01 16 The 1964 Arab League summit was the first summit of the Arab League, held in Cairo, Egypt, on 13–16 January 1964 and attended by all thirteen of the then member states:Brecher and Wilkenfeld 1997: 279 United Arab Republic (Egypt), Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen Arab Republic, Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait and Algeria. At the summit, held on the initiative of the United Arab Republic (modern-day Egypt only, following the 1961 secession of Syria from the union), it was decided to carry out planning to resolve inter-Arab conflicts and to adopt common principles regarding opposition to imperialism and, in the words of the summit participants, to what they described as the “aggressive policies” of Israel.Osmańczyk 2003: 116 The key resolutions from the summit were expanded and recorded in a letter to the United Nations eight months later at the 1964 Arab League summit (Alexandria). Background At the time, Syria and Palestinian fedayeen called for a rematch of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, but other Arab states (most notably Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser) felt it was not the right moment to strike. Instead, they agreed on the non-military belligerent tactic of diverting water from the Jordan River so that Israel could not use it.Sela, Avraham. "Arab Summit Conferences." The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Ed. Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002. pp. 158–160 This diversion was called the 1964 Headwater Diversion Plan. It went against the original agreed proposals of the River Jordan by both Israel and the Arabs in the 1955 Unified Johnston Plan, also known as the Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan. This was one of the factors that later precipitated the Six-Day War in 1967. The immediate catalyst for the summit was Israel's proposed diversion of water from Lake Tiberias.Hof 2000: 156 In reaction to Syria's repeated charges of Egyptian reluctance for military confrontation with Israel, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970) championed an Arab plan to divert two sources of the River Jordan, the Hasbani River and the Banias. Nasser blamed Arab divisions for what he deemed "the disastrous situation".Aburish 2004 222–223 This had been the chosen option out of two proposals of the 1964 Headwater Diversion Plan. On 23 December 1963, he said: In order to confront Israel, which challenged us last week when its chief-of-staff stood up and said "we shall divert the water against the will of the Arabs and the Arabs can do what they want", a meeting between Arab Kings and Heads of State must take place as soon as possible, regardless of the conflicts and differences between them. Those with whom we are in conflict, we are prepared to meet; those with whom we have a quarrel, we are ready, for the sake of Palestine, to sit with.Kalawoun 2000: 102 Participants The participants in the meeting were recorded in a letter to the United Nations as follows: Jordan: King Hussein of Jordan Tunisia 1959: de facto Prime Minister Bahi Ladgham Algeria: President Ahmed Ben Bella Sudan 1956: President Ibrahim Abboud Iraq 1963: President Abdul Salam Arif Saudi Arabia 1938: Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia (later King) Syria 1963: President Amin al-Hafiz Egypt 1958: President Gamal Abdel Nasser (technically President of the United Arab Republic) Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) President Abdullah as-Sallal Kuwait: Prince Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah Lebanon: President Charles Helou Libya 1951: King Idris of Libya Morocco: Prince Moulay Abdallah of Morocco Palestine: Ahmad Shukeiri A number of key Arab states had not yet achieved independence from Britain in 1964, and therefore their leaders did not participate in the conference: Bahrain: Emir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa Oman: Sultan Said bin Taimur of Muscat and Oman Qatar: Emir Ahmad bin Ali Al Thani United Arab Emirates: Emirs of the Trucial States South Yemen: Sultans of the Federation of South Arabia and the Protectorate of South Arabia Resolutions and effects On Palestine, Ahmad al-Shuqayri (1908–1988), a Palestinian diplomat and a former assistant secretary-general of the Arab League (1950–1956), was given a mandate to initiate contacts aimed at establishing a Palestinian entity,El-Abed 2009: xixDasgupta 1988: 161 in which role he would eventually become first chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. On the military front, Cairo Radio announced that the leaders of the Arab League member states agreed to set up a unified military command,Dasgupta 1988: 160 the United Arab Command, to be headed by an Egyptian lieutenant general, Ali Ali Amer, and with headquarters in Cairo. No mention of this new body was made in the official communiqué from the summit, although the secretary-general himself, Abdel Khalek Hassouna, had stated that certain adopted resolutions would remain secret. On the water diversion plan, all thirteen member states unanimously resolved to approve Nasser's proposal.Ben-Yehuda and Sandler 2002: 186 The effect of the summit and the decisions taken there was to emasculate the Council of the Arab League and supersede it as the foremost decision-making body.Maddy-Weitzman 1993: 34 n. 39 Nasser discouraged Syria and Palestinian guerrillas from provoking the Israelis, conceding that he had no plans for war with Israel. During the summit, Nasser developed cordial relations with King Hussein, and ties were mended with the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Morocco.Dawisha 2009 243–244 The summit was to be the first of many: in late 1964, a second summit (1964 Arab League summit (Alexandria)) would be held in Alexandria, also in Egypt. Following this second summit, a letter was sent to the United Nations setting out the agreed resolutions. In Louis-Joseph Lebret (IRFED) diary, who was working for the development of Lebanon, it was noted: The Arab summit of 1964 has just ended. Syria stood alone to defend its point of view of military intervention. Either Nasser is afraid of failure, or he does not want to displease the USA... Lebanon, with its political wisdom, allowed it not to engage. For all except Syria, it was a wise decision. But Israel will not be attacked. Nasser, with his masking smile, tenderly embraced Karamé who was rather embarrassed. References Bibliography Aburish Said K. Said Aburish Nasser, the Last Arab 2004 St. Martin's Press New York City 978-0-312-28683-5 https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312286835 Ben-Yehuda Hemda Sandler, Shmuel The Arab-Israeli conflict transformed: fifty years of interstate and ethnic crises The State University of New York Press 2002 Albany, New York https://books.google.com/books?id=uqxDS4_r9-4C 978-0-7914-5245-5 Brecher Michael Wilkenfeld, Jonathan A study of crisis The University of Michigan Press 1997 https://books.google.com/books?id=GjY7aV_6FPwC 978-0-472-10806-0 Dasgupta Punyapriya Cheated by the world: the Palestinian experience Orient Longman Limited 1988 New Delhi https://books.google.com/books?id=RaFiQgAACAAJ 978-0-86131-827-8 Dawisha Adeed Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair Princeton University Press Princeton 2009 978-0-691-10273-3 El-Abed Oroub Unprotected: Palestinian in Egypt since 1948 Institute for Palestine Studies and International Development Research Centre 2009 https://books.google.com/books?id=LrT5NtYyyA4C 978-1-55250-443-7 Hof Frederic C. The water dimension of Golan Heights negotiations Water in the Middle East: a geography of peace Amery Hussein A. Wolf Aaron T. University of Texas Press 2000 Kalawoun Nasser Mounif The struggle for Lebanon: a modern history of Lebanese-Egyptian relations I. B. Tauris and Company 2000 London https://books.google.com/books?id=W5k_qbw6fiYC 978-1-86064-423-8 Maddy-Weitzman Bruce The crystallization of the Arab state system, 1945 – 1954 Syracuse University Press 1993 Syracuse, New York https://books.google.com/books?id=pYJFVIMgvdsC 978-0-8156-2575-9 Osmańczyk Edmund Jan Edmund Osmańczyk Arab conferences, 1944 – 1997 Encyclopedia of the United Nations and international agreements Mango Anthony 1 3 New York Routledge 2003 1964 Arab League summit (Cairo) Category:1964 in Egypt Category:Diplomatic conferences in Egypt Category:1960s diplomatic conferences Category:1964 in international relations Arab League Category:1960s in Cairo Category:January 1964 in Africa Category:1964 conferences