The first conference of the Arab-International Forum for Support of the Resistance was held January 15-17, 2010 in Beirut. Over 3,000 individuals from the Arab, Islamic, and Western world were in attendance; figuring prominently among them were leaders of the Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqi resistance movements, and representatives from Iran and Syria.

The guest list included: Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas Political Bureau head Khaled Mash'al, and Iraqi Scholars Association chairman Sheikh Harith Al-Dhari, who represented the Iraqi resistance. There were also senior officials from Islamic and Arab countries, including Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini, who read a letter from Ahmadinejad; a Syrian Ba'th Party official representing Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad; and numerous Lebanese officials, including a representative of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, a representative of Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Al-Hariri, and former Lebanese prime minister Salim Al-Hoss. Also among the participants was International Union of Muslim Scholars head Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, as well as officials and intellectuals from various Western countries. The latter included British MP George Galloway, as well as former U.S. attorney-general Ramsey Clark and American attorney Stanley Cohen, who for years have been active in providing legal defense for accused terrorists.

During the conference, in what was in effect a show of strength by the elements of the pro-Iran camp, participants underlined the right to armed resistance against the Israeli and American occupations, and also the importance of the resistance in thwarting the West's policy vis-à-vis the Middle East and creating a just world order. The official website of the conference explained that the idea to convene it was born of the increase in pressure and in attempts to eliminate the option of resistance to occupation after the resistance "proved its great effectiveness in thwarting the hostile plans in Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, and Afghanistan."[1] The conference's concluding statement called for coordination among all the resistance movements, and declared the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq to be a model for ways of "countering the terrorism being implemented by Israel and the U.S."

Iran's and Syria's representatives stood out at the conference; these two countries' support for the resistance was esteemed by the participants. In contrast, moderate countries, particularly Egypt, were the target of attacks. The concluding statement called for these countries to adopt resistance, sever relations with Israel, act to remove this country from the U.N. and from other international organizations, and to prosecute Israeli and American "war criminals."

This conference was held a year after the shift in the balance of power in the Middle East that led to the crumbling of the moderate Arab camp which had been a counterbalance to the pro-Iran camp in the Arab world and had vehemently opposed the resistance organizations. The crucial factor in the weakening of the moderate camp was Saudi King Abdallah's reconciliation with Syria. Saudi Arabia, which reached an agreement with Syria on the establishment of a unity government in Lebanon despite the electoral victory of the March 14 Forces -- a Saudi ally -- paved the way for Syria to return to Lebanon with no guarantee of Hizbullah's changing its policy, and without Syria having to provide anything tangible in exchange.