The Gulf attention was abruptly directed towards Tehran and the Gulf leaders, Arabs and Arabists all rushed to Iran to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit held in a state that is unashamed to “align" with the criminal regime in Damascus and participate with it in the oppression of the Syrian people. In Tehran, there were long speeches, words were twisted, the “great Satan" was attacked and slogans were raised calling for independence and justice by countries in which justice is violated more than anywhere else. Some participants came to Tehran just to have their pictures taken, without saying a word, perhaps to mend wavering political relations with the Persian state that is “aligned" in favor of Al-Assad's regime. The likes of the latter know that this goes against the charter of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was founded for the states and populations to earn their freedom and independence. And unfortunately in Palestine, as usual, the brothers in Fatah and Hamas clashed prior to the conference over who should head to Tehran between Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyah and who received the invitation first. The clearest position expressed by the states of the region was probably that of Ankara which turned down Tehran's invitation early on – knowing that it is not a member in the movement – thus confirming the fact that Turkey no longer trusted Iran and its tricks! The majority of the leaders conducted a pilgrimage to Tehran under the pretext of attending the non-neutral Non-Aligned Movement summit, at a time when the Syrian people are being killed and when their dignity and humanity are being violated daily. In the meantime, the majority among those leaders did not bother condemning the actions of the Syrian regime, as though their mission were to humor Tehran and its leaders, except for Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who came under the spotlight following his speech at the summit and who will apparently be an active player at the level of the future political scene in the region. Nonetheless, he is expected to quickly oust Damascus' ambassador from Cairo and prevent the passage of the Iranian ships that are loaded with weapons to Syria via the Canal of Suez, considering that words which please the crowds no longer satisfy all the populations! Did Riyadh contribute to breaking Tehran's isolation after the Saudi monarch invited the Iranian president to attend the recent Islamic solidarity summit in Mecca? What has changed? Prior to the Mecca conference, didn't Iran call on Islamic states to hold a ministerial consultative meeting in Tehran to discuss the developments affecting the Syrian crisis, without anyone responding to that call except for a few ambassadors? It seems that Tehran benefitted from its attendance of the recent Holy Mecca summit which brought together the Saudi monarch, the Iranian president and the leaders of several Islamic states and was able to open a new Gulf-Arab-Islamic window! This happened although the Iranian political positions have not changed and are becoming more stringent vis-à-vis the Syrian crisis, and although Iran has been occupying Arab-Gulf-Emirati territories since 1970 and is still refusing to negotiate over them! Moreover, the Iranian command has not changed and is the same one accused by the Arab politicians of interfering in their countries' internal affairs. It is also the same one which is insisting on the stay of the Syrian regime, is participating with it in the oppression of the popular revolution, refusing to condemn the massacres of Al-Assad's thugs, and even finding justifications for them! The questions are numerous, along with the Syrian regime's sins and crimes. Moreover, the Syrian people are being subjected to daily slaughters, and half of them are taking refuge outside their country, seeking a missing security under Al-Assad's regime. But the Bahraini foreign minister suddenly came out from Tehran to announce that the Non-Aligned Movement summit will reach excellent decisions and that his country's relations with Iran will return to its golden age. Less than 24 hours later, Tehran distorted the Egyptian president's speech in regard to Syria, thus replacing the latter with the regime in Bahrain! These politicians are truly rushing and undermining their status before the people! Unfortunately, some politicians practice politics as though they were waiters working in a restaurant with dazzling internal design and artistic mosaics, but serving expired food and beverages. In time, both the waiter and the customers will discover the reality of that restaurant! The Non-Aligned Movement summit is practicing bias and non-neutrality, as long as Iran is insisting on supporting Al-Assad's regime which is rejected domestically and besieged externally. How many victims are falling in Syria every day? How many among them are displaced, kidnapped, fleeing, living in exile or taken by force? Is it not one of the priorities of the Non-Aligned Movement to support people's independence firstly? During the summit sessions, around 200 people were killed in Syria within two days, i.e. at a rate of 100 people per day. And prior to the inauguration of the summit, Al-Assad's regime was committing a massacre in Dariya, following the previous massacres in Houla, Qubeir and Aazaz. And while the convened in Tehran were lying to each other and spreading stories, they failed to realize that the people can no longer tolerate any “false and lousy political" recipes that do not rise up to the level of their strong sentiments. This is due to the fact that there was no focus on the massacres of the regime in Damascus, at a time when the majority of the participants seemed embarrassed and unable to get Tehran to call on its ally Al-Assad to step down and stop the bloodbath. The only leader who attended the summit with an honorable speech was the Egyptian president, who delivered a comprehensive address, praised the Syrian revolution and announced that solidarity with the Syrians against an oppressive regime that has lost legitimacy was a moral obligation. The rest found their desired pretext in the Palestinian cause. What is certain is that the Non-Aligned Movement was founded six decades ago to liberate the people, at a time when Tehran, which will be heading it for the next three years, is insisting on the confiscation of the Syrian people's right to freedom and dignity. This confirms that the movement is losing the spirit of the 1955 Bandung Conference and causing the emergence of a mark of shame on the forehead of Iran and its allies. [email protected] twitter | @JameelTheyabi
