Arabs react to the Arab League summit

#trending: The Arab League summit in Sharm al-Sheikh caused a plethora of reactions among social media users in the Arab. Here's what they said..

Narrated

3 min read

Dalal Jebril-Rogers

30 Mar, 2015

Arab social media users were busy over the past days responding to the outcomes and resolutions of the Arab League summit in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt.

The main item on the agenda of the summit was the situation in Yemen, where a Saudi Arabian-led military operation started just before the summit, which in turn announced plans for a joint pan-Arab military intervention force.

That discussion – as well as the lack of talk about other pressing regional issues – sparked a wide response among Arabs on social media, with a notably heavy Saudi tweeting presence.

One of the most tweeted angles of the summit was the response of Saud al-Faisal, Saudi FM, to a letter addressed to the assembled Arab leaders from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Faisal described Russia’s call for peace as a hypocritical act, due to Moscow's continuous support for Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad.

“They speak about tragedies in Syria while they are an essential part of the tragedies befalling the Syrian people, by arming the Syrian regime above and beyond what it needs to fight its own people,” Faisal said.

The tension began when Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sisi read Putin’s letter towards the end of the Arab summit. The letter stated: “We support the Arabs' aspirations for a prosperous future and for the resolution of all the problems the Arab world faces through peaceful means, without any external interference.”

People on Twitter, mostly Saudis, broadly applauded their FM’s response.

Translation: Sisi tried to corner Saudi Arabia and GCC countries when he read Russia’s letter, but al-Saud’s response put him back in his place.

Translation: BREAKING: Prince al-Faisal responds firmly to the Russian “Mafia’s” letter to the summit by highlighting the criminal role of Russia in the region.

Translation: in his response to Putin, al-Faisal sends a clear message stating that we do what we want and not what we’re told to do

Another popular topic was the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the way the issue was discussed. Many found it surprising that Arabs would use force to fight Houthis but do nothing to combat Israel's occupation of Palestine.

Translation: The joint Arab forces is more like an Arab Nato, since Palestine is not one of its specialties.

Translation: The Arab League gives Israel 48-hours to hand Jerusalem back or else it will attack Yemen.

Translation: Palestine will remain a thorn in the sides of Arab leaders... just resolve the issue and relieve yourselves from us. It’s much better for you.

There was also a number of individual responses to developments at the summit.