By Salama A Salama Having failed in peace as well as in war, the Arabs seem to have run out of steam. Right now, all they are doing is waiting, in the hope, perhaps, that Binyamin Netanyahu will throw them some crumbs or that Washington will extract something for them from Israel's claws. The latest crisis in which we find ourselves began when Israel refused to stop building settlements. Israel was asked only to halt the building of settlements until talks had been given a chance but even this proved unacceptable to Israeli leaders. The Arab-Israeli conflict has reached a watershed. It used that we negotiated to get land back in exchange for peace but this is no longer true. Everything we have done seems to have backfired. Now Jerusalem is about to be lost for good. Al-Aqsa Mosque is about to be taken over by the Israelis. Half the West Bank is under occupation, and Gaza is under siege. Meanwhile, the Arabs don't seem to have anything to say to Israel. The countries that signed peace treaties with Israel -- Egypt and Jordan -- have run out of words. Those that remain eager to have peace treaties with Israel, and maintain unofficial ties, are keeping quiet. There is a crisis going on about which the Arabs are doing nothing. And nothing is precisely what will happen during their next summit. For now, the only source of Arab satisfaction seems to be the fact that the US and Israel are at loggerheads. Obama doesn't seem thrilled with Netanyahu, nor vice versa. This has sent Arab commentators speculating about the future of US-Israeli relations and how they work in our favour. Before we get carried away, let's not forget that US support to Israel is as solid as a rock. Regardless of differences between the two, Washington is not going to change its policies on Israel. If need be, it will change them towards Arab countries. Arab leaders are due to get together once again, this time in Sirte, Libya. But what exactly will they do? Can we expect them to tell the truth? Will they act on their own rhetoric? The answer is no. Arab leaders will repeat themselves yet again. They will call their summit something resounding, maybe even the Jerusalem Summit. Then they will issue the same old declarations. Don't expect decisive measures. Don't expect any change of pace. Don't expect our leaders to revoke the Arab initiative. Don't expect them to annul their cooperation deals with Israel. Don't expect them to do what is right. The Arabs have not run out of options, but they act as if they have. They could, for example, sign up for security cooperation with Iran. It is possible that they put down their collective foot for once. But none of this will happen. Our leaders are not in the habit of taking sides. Talking is enough for them, and that is what they will do. This may be the Arabs' last summit. The way things are, no one knows what is going to happen to the Arab League. Secretary General Amr Moussa doesn't seem keen on another term and in his absence the Secretariat-General could easily fall apart. It is hard to guess what the future holds for the Arab League, which countries will remain members and which will leave. And people like our own Ahmed Ezz aren't helping.
