Nabil al-Arabi…Diplomat, Jurist and Tough Negotiator – Imad al-Din Hussein

Today I write not only about this outstanding diplomat and brilliant international jurist, but also about Dr. Nabil El Arabi, the tough negotiator who was able to lead a team of the most skilled Egyptian figures in legally, diplomatically and politically wresting Taba back from the clutches of the Israelis.

Many people know that Nabil Abdullah Al-Arabi was born in 1935, but few know that his family roots can be traced back to the village of Arab Al-Jahma in the heart of Al-Quwaa in the Assiut governorate.

I was personally surprised when I learned this information, because my secondary school at Muharraq Monastery was only one kilometer away from this historic monastery, where the Virgin Mary and the Lady of Christ spent the longest time during the Holy Family’s journey to Egypt.

One day I was visiting a friend and relative in the village and he showed me a house that had belonged to the family decades ago.

Nabil El-Arabi studied law at Cairo University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1955, followed by a master’s degree in international law and then a doctorate in jurisprudence in New York.

He belonged to that generation of Egyptian giants, who had received a good and distinguished education and became an authority in the field of international law, so it was natural that he became the legal adviser to the Egyptian negotiating delegation at Camp David in 1978 with former President Mohammad Anwar Sadat.

I believe that an important aspect of Arabi’s career, in addition to his diplomacy, was his outstanding legal experience, which qualified him to lead the negotiation team to retake Taba, having previously held a number of diplomatic and legal positions.

As a result of this experience, he naturally took on many international legal positions and assignments.

He served as a member of the United Nations International Law Commission from 1994 to 2001.

He served as a judge on the International Court of Justice from 2001 to 2006, during which time Israel tried every means to prevent him from participating in the ruling on Israel’s 2004 apartheid wall in the West Bank, but all its attempts failed.

He was hired by the Sudanese government to represent it in an arbitration case with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and later South Sudan over the disputed Abyei region.

I think what Arabi was most proud of was that he led the Egyptian delegation that succeeded in retaking Taba from Israel from 1983 to March 1989, first through negotiations and then through international arbitration, and he was a group of the smartest experts, diplomats and history professors.

After this achievement, many thought that this mission was the culmination and end of Arabi’s diplomatic journey, but fate had much more in store for him.

After the January 25, 2011 revolution, Arabi became foreign minister in the government of Essam Sharaf, but the assignment did not last long.

In May 2011, he succeeded the great giant Amr Moussa as Secretary-General of the Arab League – may God bless him with long life and health – and Araby continued in this position until 2016.

After the news of his death was announced, it was noteworthy that many diplomats rushed to praise the virtues of the deceased.

For example, the distinguished Ambassador Mohammad Anis Salim wrote:

Knights of International Law

The giant of Arab diplomacy is on the way, he is a professor of our generation of diplomats, he worked hard in the academic field, engaged in research and dialogue at research centers and international universities, and made great efforts to defend national issues. Waiting for a word of gratitude or a medal of appreciation.

As for Mona Makram Elbeid, she described him as “a great thinker and a giant of Egyptian and Arab diplomacy”.

I believe that this important book published by Dar Al-Shorouk, representing the memoirs of Nabil El-Arabi, entitled “Taba… Camp David and the Wall”, will be of great importance for every Arab negotiator who is forced by circumstances to negotiate with Israelis, present or future.

Thanks to all this experience, it was only natural that Arabi became a distinguished expert not only in international law, but also in the field of diplomacy and negotiation warfare, after the Egyptian army was able to achieve a military victory on the battlefields of the Glorious October War of 1973.

Palestinian negotiators, as well as any Arab negotiators, urgently need to read Nabil Arabi’s biography to understand how to confront Israel in the negotiation arena, especially since Israel is now adept at obstructing negotiations while also inflicting heavy damage with its brutal military aggression on the Gaza Strip from October 7 last year to date.

May God have mercy on Nabil Arabi and place him in a spacious garden and grant his family patience and comfort.