Analysis: Muslim states and Israel

By Frank Gardner in Doha

Foreign ministers representing the world's 1.2 billion Muslims have ended their emergency meeting in Doha with a call to cut ties with Israel.

The one-day meeting on Saturday also urged the UN Security Council to do more to protect Palestinians and called on the US to exert pressure on Israel to accept a balanced peace.

Now that the meeting is over, the results are coming under the microscope.

This gives a message to Israel that it will be isolated in the international community if it continues its aggression against the Palestinian people

Palestinian minister Nabil Shaath

Delegates disagree on whether the final communique sends a strong enough message of support for the Palestinians.

Iran and Syria wanted a total pan-Islamic boycott of Israel. Iraq said it wanted a holy war.

Instead, they have got a watered-down document that calls on Muslim states to sever their ties with Israel, but which threatens no punishment if they don't.

Condemnation

Both the UN and the US are urged to do more to stop the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Palestinians are satisfied with the outcome

Jewish settlements on Arab land are condemned, and the call was renewed for certain Israelis to face a war crimes tribunal.

All in all, Palestinian Minister for Planning and International Co-operation, Nabil Shaath says he is satisfied with the final communique.

"This gives a message to Israel that it will be isolated in the international community if it continues its aggression against the Palestinian people," he says.

"If it continues to reject all attempts at peaceful solutions, such as the Mitchell report or the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative".

It's not a question of getting the whole Muslim world behind us against Israel, but it is getting the Muslim world behind the right definition of peace

Arab League Secretary-general Amr Moussa

There is no mention of the Mitchell Report in the final communique because the Syrians do not think it went far enough to meet Arab demands.

But their calls for tough measures against Israel have been overruled.

US influence

The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), which ran this meeting, is dominated by moderate countries that have no wish to upset the United States.

Kassem Jaafar, who advises the Qatari Government, believes that the pursuit of peace is the only choice open to Arabs.

There is no military option for the Palestinians

"We're definitely not talking here about a military option because we all know that there is, at the moment, no credible Arab military option against Israel," Jaafar says.

"So that is a fact. But there are other possibilities that perhaps the Arabs and perhaps the Muslim world can do in the political arena.

"And basically, in my view, it is to try and convince the world community, and particularly the US and of course the European Union, of the necessity to intervene at this very juncture - before things are too late".

Another Nakba?

Kassem Jaafar paints a terrifying picture of what could happen in the Middle East if the talking stops - ever bigger attacks on Israelis, ever bigger reprisals against the Palestinians.

He says that is a course which could lead to the mass exodus of Palestinian refugees across borders once again.

Moussa: No peace on Israel's terms

It is the nightmare scenario which he says led to this meeting being held.

Now that it's over, the Arab League's new Secretary General, Amr Moussa, says its achievement is to focus Muslim minds on securing a balanced peace in the region.

"It's not a question of getting the whole Muslim world behind us against Israel, but it is getting the Muslim world behind the right definition of peace.

"That is not to have an Israeli peace to prevail in the area. This will not happen".

Strong words from the man who said this conference would fail if it just brought more speeches.

He insists it is done more than that, by reminding the world of the urgent need for a just solution in the Middle East. The next few weeks will show if anyone is listening.