From: Office of Terje Rod-Larsen < Subject: IPI Middle East Update - April 3, 2013 Date: Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:12:44 +0000 INTERNATIONAL PEACE INSTITUTE IPI Middle East Update April 3, 2013 Arab League Summit: The 2013 summit, which opened in Doha on March 26th, was well managed and choreographed, given the underlying tensions in the Arab League. President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces Moaz al-Khatib urged in a moving speech for wider international support for the Syrian tragedy while his delegation, in a powerful symbolic gesture, took their seats in lieu of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic. Though this conjured memories of the Libyan rebels who took Qaddafi's seat in the Arab League's 2011 meeting, it also has led to speculation that other major multilateral organizations may follow suit, which would thus serve a deeper blow to the Assad government's legitimacy. The response to the presence of the Syrian opposition at the summit was mixed: both Lebanon and Iraq vehemently opposed it (although not to the point of boycott). The second star item on the agenda was Qatar's announcement of a $1 billion fund to help protect the Arab and Islamic heritage of Jerusalem. This announcement prompted a discussion on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative — which offers Israel recognition by Arab countries in return for a conclusive settlement with the Palestinians — and the need to revisit that possibility through consultations with Washington in April. However, the gesture was, according to press reports, snubbed by a number of Israeli politicians. The Qatari effort to promote dialogue and unity in the Arab world at the summit—a role it has been pursuing aggressively over the last two years—was a relative success. The Arab League's internal divisions and rivalries, however, are likely to continue to inhibit its ability, as an institution, to deal with these thorny issues. Syria: The Syrian opposition has scored a