The Third Arab-British Economic Summit 2023, which was held on Monday, November 20, in London, under the slogan “Sustaining an Emerging Vision,” attracted a prominent presence of ministers, representatives, businessmen, and investors from Britain, in addition to the presence and participation of the President of the Union of Arab Chambers and the President of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Samir Abdullah Nass, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the President of the Arab-British Chamber, Baroness Elizabeth Simons, and the Secretary-General of the Arab League. General of the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafi, and the Arab ambassadors accredited to Britain. The summit transformed to an important station for the Arab private sector to convey its position and point of view within British society, regarding its rejection of the ongoing assault that has been taking place for more than a month and a half against the people of the Gaza Strip, and the necessity for the British private sector to pressure its government to take a firm position to stop the war that has led to the deaths of thousands of Palestinians. Thousands were injured, infrastructure was destroyed, and attempts were made to displace Palestinians from their land in the Gaza Strip.
The speech of the President of the Union of Arab Chambers, Samir Abdullah Nass, at the opening of the summit was appreciated by the participants from the Arab and British sides, as he considered that "prosperity cannot be achieved without stability, as I do not think in light of what is happening today in Palestine, that any person on earth can accept that this happens to him, so 78 years of misery suffered by the Palestinian people are enough, 78 years is more than enough where the people suffered Palestinian Racial Discrimination and Ethnic Cleansing".
He continued, "What can I say, it's really painful to see that, more than 70 percent of those killed in Gaza are children, infants and women, so when will the cycle of violence end? So it's time for us, Arab and British business owners, to talk and influence governments in order to push them towards solutions, I don't know how we can consider ourselves human beings and go about our normal lives in this waterfall of daily bloodshed where thousands of people are killed."
Addressing the participants from the British side, he said: "I apologize to say that the Western and British media are distorting what is happening on the ground.. But above all, it is necessary to open the crossings and allow food, water and electricity into Gaza. Hence, I emphasize that we cannot remain quiet and stay silent any more, and from this rostrum, I say: Long live Palestine."
The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, also delivered a resounding speech at the summit, in which he pointed out that "Today we are witnessing a war of dangerous proportions, in which we are living difficult days due to the continuation of the brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza, where there is a deep sense of loss of confidence in the common human values adopted by the world, after it became clear that many Western countries in particular do not place the same value on human life, and deal with wars and their victims with a tremendous amount of double standards, as normal public opinion in the Arab region or elsewhere cannot be convinced of any justification given to kill more than 11,000 people, most of them are children and women. There is nothing that justifies this and no description of this act other than that it is a full-fledged crime."
He said, “This crime must be stopped and put to an end immediately, and its perpetrators must be held accountable. This is what all people of conscience in the world realize, including the hundreds of thousands who demonstrated here in Britain, demanding an immediate ceasefire. These free voices are heard and appreciated by us in the Arab region, and we also appreciate the positions of those who reject wholesale killing and collective punishment. Just as we are deeply disappointed in the international system that allows this crime to continue in front of the entire world for weeks without stopping, it is not only a disgrace to its perpetrators, but also to this entire international system, which we consider to have failed to protect innocent civilians from the scourge of a revenge war. It is waged by a military machine that knows no mercy and does not recognize the law, but rather implements the will of a usurping occupying power.”
He stressed, “Nothing at all justifies attacks on hospitals, schools, and places of worship, just as nothing justifies the devastation that the occupation forces inflicted on the people of Gaza. Therefore, an immediate ceasefire is required, and a sustainable mechanism for bringing aid to more than 2 million Palestinians who are exposed to a humanitarian catastrophe after all life systems in the Strip collapsed, most hospitals stopped working and people approached the point of famine.”
He continued: “Today we are facing the moment of truth, and every day that passes without stopping this evil war increases the feelings of hatred and hostility, and moves us further away from the only possible solution to this conflict, which is the two-state solution, which requires ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state.”
He stressed that “talking about the Gaza war does not deviate from the goal of your meeting. All of you work in the field of trade and investment, and you know how much your field is affected by instability, such as what the Arab region is witnessing today as a result of what is happening. Therefore, the stability that we seek for our region will only be achieved when a just, comprehensive and lasting peace is established and the Palestinian issue is resolved. Then the Middle East region will become more attractive for the settlement of major investments, with the volume of trade exchange doubling.”
He concluded by saying, “The old and renewed ties between Britain and the Arab countries are ties that constitute an important asset that can be built upon to enhance joint cooperation, especially in light of the great opportunities provided by the development plan that Britain launched after its exit from the European Union, and also the development projects included in the Arab plans and economic initiatives, which are many and varied.”
Source (Union of Arab Chambers)
