Like the many annual Arab summits in the last decade, the latest in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott was an unexciting event.

Other than expressions of goodwill, empty promises and routine political rhetoric, the summit produced nothing that can be viewed as hopeful.

One cannot even describe the summit’s conclusions and decisions as a disappointment simply because not many had any real expectations for anything better.

Perhaps the most notable and disturbing thing was the banner promoting the summit, showing outlines of all the Arab member states’ territories circling the emblem of the Arab League.

The map of “Palestine”, however, was reduced to two separate bits: the West Bank and Gaza.

The poster, which carried welcoming words to the participants, was displayed all over the Mauritanian capital. But by also showing a map of Morocco that excluded Western Sahara, the poster could only be seen as a political statement determining on behalf of the concerned parties, even before the summit had started, the fate of two of the most complex issues on the Arab League’s agenda for decades.

Apparently the poster was made in Nouakchott, possibly by the preparatory team. But such preparations are usually made in cooperation with the Arab League secretariat, in which case the league could not escape blame for such a massive political blunder.

Those who decided to discount most of Palestine in favour of Israel must have assumed that the century-old dispute is finally settled — effectively in Israel’s favour. The reality is that we are many years away from a final settlement to this historic conflict.

Despite the false hopes pinned on the Arab Peace Initiative, UN resolutions, the two-state solution and many other formulas, Israel is proceeding with colonising all of Palestine.

Despite the capitulations of the Palestinian Authority, this reduced map of two bits of territory does not and never did represent what Palestinians consider to be Palestine.

The vast majority of Palestinians, either under occupation in the West Bank, under siege in Gaza, within Israel or in the diaspora, has not abandoned its full political, territorial and historic rights in the whole homeland.

In the absence of any objective and fully democratic consultation with the entire Palestinian people, one does not know if they would accept any of the circulating projects, including the Arab Peace Initiative, which are often decided on their behalf.

Israel has rejected each and every plan put forward, including the Arab Peace Initiative. The consistent response of the Arab League has been to constantly lower the ceiling of Palestinian demands to accommodate Israel. The shameful map is the latest symptom of that.

Israel, by contrast, does have a plan: to complete the violent colonisation of all of historic Palestine by any means necessary.

As long as Israel expects additional Arab concessions, it will not have any reason to change its behaviour.

The Arab Peace Initiative, which was also tailored to meet Israel’s maximalist terms, has been resoundingly rejected by Israel, despite many adjustments to the original idea, to meet Israel’s demands.

As we are so far from a settlement, it is shocking to realise that the Arab League is prejudging the outcome in a manner that seems to reflect the current Arab mindset of helplessness and submission.

It is hard to predict the final lines once the conflict is over. But a very likely outcome — more so than the so-called two-state solution — is a reunited Palestine in its whole historic territory as a state for all who live there.

While awaiting the conclusion, which will not be determined by Israel alone, as some may now believe, reducing Palestine to little bits of separated land is a blunder that only serves the interests of the occupier.

Let us hope we will not see Syria minus the Golan Heights in the poster for the next Arab summit.