What is the Arab World Stand In the Israel-Palestine War?

 Arab World & Western World

1948, Amman, the capital of Jordan -  Ismail Al Khalidi a Palestinian diplomat, meets King Abdullah, the king of Jordan. King Abdullah wanted the Palestinians to become a part of Jordan after the end of British rule.

On the other hand, the Palestinian political class wanted Palestine to become a free country, not a slave of the king of Jordan. But they were also bothered by the fact that Britain wanted to establish a new country, Israel. Such a country that would ultimately take over the entire Palestine.

A little scared, diplomat Ismail tells King Abdullah that Palestine appreciates his offer but cannot accept it. The king got angry, the king was shocked, and ended the meeting. At the same time, a messenger comes to the room and says that BBC has just broadcasted that the UN General Assembly has passed the partition plan without asking the Palestinians.

Half of the Palestinians have already been taken by Israel. King Abdullah looked at Ismail and said, You Palestinians rejected my offer, now suffer.

On 18th November 2023, Jordan's Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, stated that no Arab soldier would go to Gaza. No Jordan troops will go save Palestinians.

He also said that we will not let Palestinians be ousted in this way. But, anyway, which Palestinian is still in Gaza?

Just like King Abdullah of Jordan said to Palestinians in 1948, You suffer. Similarly, Jordan and other Arab leaders are also treating Palestinians in the same way That Israel can do anything, you suffer. Israel is doing everything on West backing - money, weapons, support.

They are not worried about the bomb. 15K-16k Palestinians died yet the support. But no one seems to be with Gaza. Just there are prayers. There is no action to stop the killing. Ceasefire was for only a few days, to exchange hostages. Israel has restarted bombardment. Israel has also announced that it will vacate the South Gaza. The same South Gaza which was a safe zone for the last month where Hamas was not present.

Hamas is just an excuse. A legal expert from Oxfam has said that 15 lakh people are being relocated to an area the size of an airport.

In such a small area, all these people are being kept as prisoners. Foreign aid is also not reaching. The disease is spreading. Medical facilities are over. Because as you know, Hamas is under hospital.

Some Arab countries like Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, and Lebanon have tried to help. But Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and UAE, like big and powerful Arab countries, have not shown any special support. Common people are in support. They are also getting down on the road, but the governments are only making statements. Many countries are selling oil to Israel, which is used in planes to bomb the Gaza Strip.

The general perception is that Arab and Muslim countries are always with Palestine, ready to destroy Israel - but the situation is something else.

Not the talk on how to stop the genocide but how to govern the country after that. We are not asking the Arab nations to attack Israel. But we are asking, why are so many countries not willing to stand up against genocide?

No clear stand? On the other hand, countries like the US, the UK, France, and Germany - are with Israel providing all kinds of aid. pro-Israel narrative is being created and no one is left to raise their voice for Palestine. And why is the Arab world quietly watching the genocide? Either it is helpless, or it is shameless, or it is sick.

Let's find out the real reason.

First of all, it is important to understand who are the Arab nations?

This is the map of the Middle East and North Africa. In this region, all the countries where Arabic is spoken are called Arab countries. That is Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria. However, there are many different dialects but the script is the same. Most of the people in these countries are Muslims. But, important to note, that there are Christians, Jews, Druze, and other religious minorities. Sunni majority in most of the Muslims and Shia majority in some. This means that Arabs are also very diverse.

The population is 50 crore. GDP is 3.5 trillion dollars. It is not a lightweight. The world's oil production is 30%. So, the world's oil tap can be turned off or tightened. Why they are not able to cease fire is an interesting question.

Politically, there is an Arab League of Arab countries. Like there is SAARC in South Asia, there is the EU in Europe. So, this means that there is a political clout and an economic clout. Despite this, a genocide is going on. Why is it not being stopped? It is a very complicated issue. I am not saying that it is an easy issue. You can read Israel vs Palestine, the cursed war.

Now, let's come to the core question. Let's see what public opinion is. From Morocco to Iraq, Europe was a colonial power. France and the UK. Just like Indian children learn about British rule, Arab children also learn about cruelty by colonial powers.

So, Arab people have sympathy with them. They feel that they have been treated the same way. They were also slaves of the West.

And the same West had stolen our resources and imposed taxes on us. And this European colonization did not end suddenly. It is still in place to some extent but its shape and size have changed. There is still a lot of Western domination in the region. The issue of Neocolonialism is still going on Palestine is an important issue in itself. But it is a struggle for the Arabs against Western domination. Palestine is its symbol. What is happening in Palestine today has happened in other countries. And many people are afraid that the same thing might happen again. But why are the leaders of Arab countries silent despite the widespread pro-Palestine public support? And, a few months ago, they were even talking about joining hands with Israel. Because when Arab nations tried to take a firm step, the West started to put pressure on them. Before Egypt, President Nasser was a pan-Arab nationalist. He believed that all Arab nations should come together, and become one nation. And in this nation, the foundation of nationalism should not be a Sunni identity or a Muslim identity, but a pan-Arab identity. And this Arab nation will not remain a slave of the West. It will make its own state policy, and stand against the West.

The West started dividing and ruling. It started supporting conservative kings against nationalist governments, like the royal families of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. On the other hand, it started military pressure. In 1956, the UK, France, and Israel invaded Egypt to control the Suez Canal.

In 1967, Israel invaded Arab countries with the help of the West. After the 1967 attack, Arab countries also adopted the formula of no peace, no recognition, and no negotiation for Israel.

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia also banned the oil export to Israel and America. This led to a serious energy crisis in America. But in the end, forgetting the royal family, the Arab nationalists could not escape Western business influence.

In 1979 Israel and Egypt held peace talks and since then foreign policy of Egypt worked as per the US. The same happened in Libya ... they didn't listen to the West and suffered bombing I am explaining all this geopolitical history because the silence of Arab countries is a part of the process of Western domination. Libya and Iraq are already ruined what can they do apart from condemning? Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, and Oman are under the control of leaders who are with the West.

Egypt is trapped in a debt trap. It has to pay off 160 billion dollars of debt to Western financial organizations like the IMF and World Bank. What else can Egypt do? This is the same story of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. There is a genocide in Sudan and France's colonial influence in Mali is not ending. All countries are helpless. But now, Arab countries have stopped lowering trade interests.

In 2022, the US initiated normalization talks in the Abraham Accords between Morocco, Sudan, UAE, and Israel. Countries like Saudi Arabia, which did not recognize Israel diplomatically, criticized it in official statements - and now started establishing links. Trade was going on for a long time. But in 2020, the optics the pretense that they could not tolerate apartheid, and ethnic cleansing in Palestine - ended that posturing and accepted Israel in the Arab world.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel were normal in 2023-2024. But now, it seems that there is a speed breaker in Gaza. But it won't make a difference. UAE has already said that it won't impose any economic sanctions on Israel. Because we do not mix politics and trade. It is a matter of money. If the people protest, send the police. End the matter. We are also hearing that the Western leaders are trying to give a deal to Egypt. Writing off debt for hosting refugees. Meaning, to help in ethnic cleansing, to help in cleaning Gaza, deport Palestinians, and get money.

On 10th November, in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, the OIC, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, was held. All Arab countries were present at this meeting. Along with that, Muslim-majority countries. The meeting called for a cessation of arms exports to Israel.

But the funny thing is that among these are the countries that are selling oil to Israel. For bomber planes. No talk about that. Turkey's Erdogan has also said that Israel should stop the bombing. Egypt said the same. But if this doesn't happen, then what will we do? Silence. Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco closed the Israeli embassies under public pressure. But they only did posturing. The day the government decided to shut down the embassy, that day, protesters were chanting slogans outside the Israel embassy - It's not enough

Only Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and UAE, these 5 countries, have 20% oil production. If they want, they can crash the oil markets and bring an emergency They can put an oil embargo on Israel. As far as aid is concerned, Gaza is on the Mediterranean coast. But if the Arab countries want, they can send ships there directly for aid. By the way, the interesting fact is that in these 5 countries, there are 27 US military bases. Where there is oil, there is the US military. If the leaders of these countries really wanted to stand with the Palestinians, they would have first emptied the US military bases. But if they do something like this, conditions will be like in Libya.

On the contrary, Jordan arrested 25 people last month. Listen to their crime. They were planning to launch a pro-Palestine strike. And in Saudi Arabia, those people have been arrested who were praying for Palestine. A British Muslim actor who had gone to Saudi Arabia for Hajj was detained because his prayer beads were in the colors of the national flag of Palestine. He was wearing a Keffiyeh, a Palestinian scarf which has become a symbol. The same thing is happening in Egypt, UAE, Oman, and all Arab countries. You cannot protest or raise your voice  - if this is not shamelessness then what?

Some Arab leaders are trying to save Palestine. Bahrain is a small country but they have cut all economic ties with Israel.

Qatar has been with Palestine from the beginning. State-sponsored Al Jazeera has played a very important role in showing what is happening in Gaza.

Qatar played the role of mediator as well recently. Hezbollah offered military support. Yemen has captured Israel-owned cargo ships. Iran has supported Hezbollah but it cannot do much because the US has already imposed so many sanctions on it In Turkey, Erdogan is abusing Israel but he is a NATO member. He has even asked to join the EU. So, his shouting is just a show. No action.

If anyone is standing with the Palestinian cause, they are either a common citizen or a Palestinian. But the way the Arab people have come out on the streets in the last two months may put some pressure. Optimistic but maybe after this pressure, some leaders might try to show West a mirror and ask them to cease fire. I know that this is unlikely to happen because the leaders of Arab countries are in the US pocket Their economies are dependent on the Western nation. That is why business interests are given more importance than the lives of Palestinians.

But if Israel is doing something in the name of self-defense, in the name of killing Hamas, look at how big a free pass it has got.

On the other hand, due to a lack of unity and economic pressure, the Arab and Muslim world is unable to even make a ceasefire. I know it's a deep dive and a little complicated. But it's important to understand why geopolitics is so complicated. Especially the most complicated issue of Israel and Palestine.

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