HM King Hamad: A leader who will shape the Summit

By Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood

This week, our beloved Kingdom will host an event that is the most important in the Middle East region, which is the 33rd Arab Summit.

The preparatory meetings began yesterday and by May 16th, we shall have the final meeting of Arab leaders at the full and comprehensive Sakhir table.

This is the first time that Bahrain is hosting this very important meeting of Arab leaders which puts in place the policies and ideas that shape the social, economic and joint foreign policy stance of the Arab world.

It is apt that the Summit is led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who has carved a name for himself as a leader who puts Arab solidarity first and foremost, who believes in developing the building blocks of Arab cooperation such as an Arab Court for Human Rights and whose voice has always been heard endorsing tolerance and inter-faith harmony.

Of course, taking centre-stage in the proceedings will be the brutal Israeli attack on our brethren in Palestine.

For more than seven months, the war has continued ceaselessly, reaping its bitter harvest of lost lives and a destroyed country.

The attitude of many Western countries, highlights hypocrisy and a colonial overhang, teaching and preaching lessons of correct behaviour to us while they do not seem to apply to them.

This makes it imperative for Arab leaders to take up the idea of an Arab Court for Human Rights seriously.

There are many initiatives put forward by His Majesty the King in order to achieve that ultimate goal of world peace and harmony, the most prominent of which is the King Hamad Chair for Interreligious Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence at the Italian Sapienza University, which confirms that Bahrain brings a unique global concern to the urgent matter of searching for the solutions needed to strengthen the Arab world.

There are many other issues that will be discussed at this Arab summit, including economic partnership, climate problems, its impact on food, energy demand, and the impact of all of this on world stability and people’s prosperity.

With his experience and his world view tempered by his own understanding of the need for harmony as an adjunct to prosperity, the leadership of His Majesty the King will undoubtedly guide all solutions to a fitting finale.