Speech of His Majesty King Abdullah II At the 26th Arab Summit

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate,

God’s blessing and peace be upon Prophet Mohammad, the truthful Arab Hashemite messenger,

Your Excellency, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi,
Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses,
Your Excellency Secretary General of the Arab League,

Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.

I am delighted to congratulate His Excellency President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and the brotherly Arab Republic of Egypt on hosting the proceedings of this Arab Summit and assuming its presidency. I would also like to congratulate His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and the brotherly State of Kuwait on presiding over the previous Arab Summit as well as the Arab League Secretary General Nabil El Araby and its staff for their sincere efforts to enhance pan-Arab cooperation.

Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses,
This summit takes place while our Arab nation faces its most difficult challenges and circumstances. Achieving our common security and ensuring a safe future for all our people demand cooperation, coordination and collective pan-Arab efforts to achieve a comprehensive Arab strategy to address the growing dangers of terrorism and sectarian and political violence, which aim to distort the true image of our faith and its message of peace.

The war on terrorism and extremism is our war. It is a war in which we, Muslims, defend our faith and its ideals against terrorist groups that have nothing to do with Islam and seek to undermine the security and future of the Arab nation.

Accordingly, we need to adopt a holistic approach to defeat and uproot this new breed of Khawarij. This approach should entail military, security, social, educational and cultural efforts among others. It is complemented by policies and resources made available to fight marginalisation, poverty, exclusion and creating jobs for our youth.

In order to dispel terrorists’ ideology, scholars, intellectuals and opinion leaders must assume their responsibility in formulating discourses in the fields of religion, media and culture that seek enlightenment and reflect Islam’s true principles of moderation, openness and tolerance. This effort is necessary to refute the false claims of deviant groups against our true religion and enhance the role of the media in fighting the lies these Khawarij are spreading.

And because this war is our war, we, Muslims and Arabs, must unite our efforts and lead an Arab-Muslim coalition to face terrorism and confront all forms of Islamophobia, which feed religious extremism.

Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses,
In regards to regional developments, we have followed closely and with great concern what is taking place in brotherly Yemen. Based on our full support for the legitimate leadership in Yemen, represented by His Excellency President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, we will continue to stand by our brotherly country and its legitimate leadership. Our aim is to ensure Yemen’s stability, preserve its political independence, enhance its security, preserve its territorial integrity, protect its borders and guarantee that there are no threats to neighbouring countries, especially brotherly Arab countries of the Gulf, whose security is integral to the security of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and we reject any attempt to compromise it.

We are fully committed to the Arab military effort, which was initiated in response to an official request made by Yemen’s legitimate and constitutional authority to the Arab League and United Nations Security Council, in line with the Arab Joint Defence Treaty and Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations. This effort aims to support Yemen’s legitimate leadership, its brotherly people and uproot foreign intervention in Yemen’s internal affairs - an intervention that serves expansionist powers and brings Yemen and its people no good.

We look forward to seeing Yemen overcome its current situation and to preserve its national unity, sovereignty and achievements. We stress on Jordan’s full support for the GCC’s initiative on Yemen and its executive mechanisms and national dialogue efforts under President Hadi. Jordan condemns all forms of terrorism targeting Yemeni people and Yemen’s social fabric.

Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses,
The Palestinian cause is the core conflict in the Middle East. It is the key to addressing all regional issues. It encompasses the rights of the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate aspirations to establish an independent, sovereign and viable state on national Palestinian soil on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the two-state solution, international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, which together compose the basis to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and achieve comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

Accordingly, we urgently call on the international community and world powers to concentrate efforts on resuming serious negotiations, leading to a just and permanent settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in order to allow our region to embark on building a secure and stable future. Otherwise, our legitimate cause will continue to get used as a rallying call for forces that do not seek our people’s interests, but their interests at the expense of Palestinians.

 In regards to Jerusalem and its holy sites, and in accordance with the historical Hashemite custodianship, Jordan affirms its commitment to protect and preserve the Islamic and Christen holy sites and confront all actions that seek to violate their sanctity or infringe on their status. Jordan will continue to encourage the international community to fulfil its responsibilities to end grave Israeli violations in the holy city, particularly Al Aqsa Mosque Compound — Al Haram Al Sharif. The continuation of these violations thwarts peace efforts. Equally, Jordan will not waver in continuing to uphold this historical, religious and national responsibility to preserve the Arab identity of Jerusalem and support its people’s resistance.

Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses,
The continuation of the Syrian crisis destabilises the region, threatens Syria’s unity and poses a serious humanitarian crisis, which has taken its toll on the Syrian people. We maintain our firm position that since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the only solution is a comprehensive political solution that fulfils the demands of the Syrian people and ensures the inclusion and participation of all components of Syrian society in charting their future.

I take this opportunity to thank all brotherly nations that have extended support for countries hosting Syrian refugees, particularly His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah for hosting two meetings for donor countries and working on hosting a third one in the next few days. We hope that support will continue to be extended to the most effected host countries, chief among them are Jordan and Lebanon. Sharing our already limited resources, Jordan currently hosts nearly 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

Arab countries should also support the efforts being led by the Iraqi government and people to counter terrorism and uproot criminal gangs and organisations from Iraq. Participation of all components of the Iraqi people and their real and continued inclusion is a key requirement for the success of these efforts.

As for the unfolding situation in Libya, we stress the importance of commitment to support its efforts to enroot sovereignty, security and stability. We must also support Libya’s institution-building efforts and its elected national parliament and the government that emerged from it, which represent the foundations of legitimacy. Jordan equally supports national dialogue efforts, encompassing national Libyan groups that renounce violence, terrorism, extremism and call for disarming militias, especially in light of recent developments and the alarming increase and expansion of terrorist activities and cowardly operations targeting Libya and its neighbours.

In that context, I would like to point out that the UN Security Council endorsed yesterday two resolutions on Libya, Resolution No. 2214, which was submitted by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as the Arab member of council. The resolution urges member states to implement the council's previous decisions on Libya, and stresses the need to support the legitimate Libyan government in its efforts to build the country's institutions, including its security capabilities. The resolution also urges the committee formed under Resolution No. 2174 to speed up the processing of special import requests to supply the national Libyan army with the required equipment, in order to enable it to perform its duties, particularly those related to combating terrorism.

From this platform, Jordan, yet again, condemns the cowardly terrorist attack that targeted Tunisia recently.

Your Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses,
Since its foundation, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has dedicated itself to defending Arab and Muslim causes and interests in all Arab and international fora. As Jordan assumes the presidency of the Arab League’s Council of Ministers, Jordan remains committed to working jointly with the Arab Republic of Egypt, which is leading the Arab Summit in service of Arab interests and causes. Moreover, as Jordan reassumes the presidency of the United Nations Security Council, we reaffirm our commitment to channel all our capabilities in order to advance Arab and Muslim causes from this key international platform.

Finally, we again express our appreciation for President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, the Egyptian government and people for hosting this summit and for their excellent preparations and efforts to ensure its success.

We pray to the Almighty to grant us success in our efforts to realise the aspirations of Arab people for security, stability, progress and prosperity and building a promising future, God willing.

God’s blessing and peace be upon you.