Referring to the absence of a position by the Arab League towards normalization of relations between some Arab regime and the Zionist regime, Seyyed Sabah Zanganeh told the Online Strategic Council on Foreign Relations that the Arab League has failed to adopt positive measures to resolve the problems and crises of the Arab world.

“The Arab League was established upon a proposal by the then-foreign secretary of Britain in the 1940s. In that period, Britain was pursuing a different goal than Arab governments in establishing the Arab League. The Charter of the Arab League calls for solidarity and cooperation among Arab states. For this to realize, Arab government set up subsidiary organizations in financial, customs and defense cooperation as well as cultural and educational partnership. However, all such mechanisms have failed to enhance cooperation and solidarity among the Arabs.”

Arab League unable to resolve Arab issues

Sabah Zanganeh pointed to Arab wars and displacement of Palestinian refugees and said there is a long list of crises in the Arab world for the elimination of which the Arab League has been unable to take positive steps.

He said Arab Leagues remain unsuccessful in mobilizing other countries and finding a solution for the issue of Palestine at a time when Palestinians are suffering from a lot of pressure and have lost their homes and lands and UN aid is being suspended.

The issue of Palestine taken out of the Arab League agenda

He said Arab League remained silent in normalization of relations of some Arab regimes that have no conflict or neighborhood with Israel, adding that “the utter silence of the Arab League was interpreted as its approval.”

“When the Palestinian Authority issued a statement against this normalization, the Arab League refused to even consider and put it in its agenda. This means that the same Palestine promised by Balfour to the Zionists is now being formed and established in deadly silence of the Arab League. ”

Arab League collapse in practice

Sabah Zanganeh said the Palestinian Authority refused to take the rotating chairmanship of the council of foreign ministers of the Arab League and Qatar, as the next chair, also refused to replace Palestine.

“Such developments are suggestive of the collapse of the Arab League in practice. The Arab League in fact collapsed and lost its independence structurally soon after Gamal Abdel Nasser died in 1970,” he said, referring to the suspension of Syrian membership in the              the Arab League in 2011.

He added that Arab League is being directed by decision makers who are serving the US interests and being bankrolled by petrodollars, saying “under these conditions where petrodollars govern the Arab League and its members, values and principles of the Arab union are being compromised.”

Arab League disintegration

Referring to increasing problems of the Arab world and criticisms of the Arab League performance, he said there are signs the Arab League is going to collapse and be disintegrated into smaller unions.

“The Arab countries are experiencing a situation which could be described as the collapse of the disintegrated entities. It seems that the Arab League will be divided into smaller regional unions for dealing with thematic issues while its members will be also disintegrated into heterogeneous and uncoordinated regions,” he said, referring to signs of disintegration in some Arab countries.

Sabah Zanganeh said such disintegration has been designed to move forward gradually to allow trans-regional powers to dominate the whole Arab world while the Arab League continues to be an ineffective entity with a secretariat which is only a listener and has no power in action.