Call of the Arab People’s Summit – Final Statement
Parallel to the convening of the Arab and Islamic World Leaders Summit in Riyadh on November 11, 2024.
Based on the principle that every Arab citizen embodies the homeland, the Arab People’s Summit convened virtually at the invitation of the Arab Council to deliver the voice of the peoples to those speaking in their name.
The message of our summit to their summit is as follows:
What the Peoples Demand
- A clear and decisive stance: The peoples do not seek yet another hollow statement condemning, denouncing, and calling for reason or a two-state solution. Such phrases, prepared by foreign ministry writers for your speeches, will not suffice.
- Real political, economic, and military pressure: Use all means available to halt the genocide in Gaza and put an end to the recklessness of the least ethical military in the world, which avenges its battlefield failures by brutalizing civilians, destroying hospitals, mosques, and all aspects of life.
- Sever ties with Israel: The peoples demand resolute decisions to cut all relations with Israel until the Palestinian people enjoy their full rights.
- Exert strong pressure on primary backers of aggression: The peoples expect significant pressure on the chief funders of the genocide in Gaza—namely, the United States and Germany.
- Announce a tangible reconstruction program: Launch an effective program to rebuild Gaza, Beirut, and Khartoum.
- End political repression: Halt executions, release political prisoners, and open dialogue with all components of society to seek genuine reforms that prevent further national divisions, conflicts, and human tragedies.
- Listen to the cries from Jerusalem: The peoples demand that you heed the calls for help emanating from Jerusalem and elsewhere, responding to the desperate pleas of “Where is the defender?”
A Reminder to the Leaders
As you sit at your lavish banquet tables, remember the children of Palestine and Sudan dying from hunger.
As you dwell in your grand palaces, remember the children of Syria, Sudan, and Yemen who sleep in camps, and the children of Palestine and Lebanon who rest under the open sky amid rubble.
Remember those who perish in prisons without charges and those who face the gallows nightly.
Do not be deceived by the silence of the volcano. Pay heed to the rumbling within before the eruption.
Responsibility Lies with the Peoples
Ultimately, the responsibility to end this nightmare afflicting the nation rests with the people themselves, before any other actor.
To Our People Across the Arab World
We understand the pressures you endure: poverty, injustice, wars, displacement, and exile.
We recognize the immense sacrifices you make to secure a livelihood for future generations.
We share in your pain, for it is our collective pain.
Yet, we must candidly acknowledge, with sorrow and a lump in our throats, that the Israeli people have set an example by mobilizing in the streets in hundreds of thousands for over a year to pressure their government.
We urge you to return to the arena of struggle with full force through all forms of solidarity actions: hunger strikes, mass protests every Friday, akin to the Algerian movement, until the demands directed at those who govern in our name are fulfilled.
Let the snowball grow steadily, fueled by our youth’s mastery of social media, as witnessed during the initial Arab Spring uprisings.
A Call to Action
People of the Arab world, it is time:
- To emerge from the shock and paralysis that followed the suppression of your noblest revolutions in this era.
- To confront the challenges posed by an arrogant external enemy who openly despises your rights and a complicit internal enemy who dismisses your capacity for anger and uprising.
- To overcome despair and hopelessness.
A History of Resilience
Our nation has endured similarly dire circumstances during:
- The Crusades in the 10th century,
- The Mongol invasions in the 13th century,
- And colonial conquests in the 19th century.
Each time, it teetered on the brink of annihilation, yet found within itself the strength, vitality, and will to rise to every challenge, enabling survival and growth.
A Shared Responsibility
Today, we must collectively summon that latent power within each of us to overcome this existential crisis. This is a crisis marked by the collusion of internal and external enemies, one that forces us to confront the fundamental truth of the struggle for survival.
