Palestinians skeptical about Arab League support for Jerusalem

Saudi King Salman

Daoud Kuttab, in AL Monitor, writes, “When the Saudi leadership decided to move the annual Arab League Summit from the Saudi capital of Riyadh to the eastern Saudi city of Dhahran, it appeared that the April 15 summit would be called by the name of the city it was being held in, or at least another city within the kingdom. The last summit, held on the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan in March 2017, was called the Amman Summit. But midway through the public opening statements and as he was introducing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud announced a change. “This summit will be called the Jerusalem Summit,” the king told the 15 other heads of state and six other representatives of the Arab League.”

“He also announced a number of donations, including $150 million for the maintenance of the Islamic endowment in Jerusalem and $50 million to help cover the annual budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees after the United States cut its aid to the agency earlier this year….It is not clear exactly what made the Saudi monarch decide to raise the profile of Jerusalem. The king’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — who is also the kingdom’s defense minister — had just concluded a wide-ranging tour in the United States between March 19-22 that included a visit to the White House.” (read more)