Ignominious Arab stampede?
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain signed agreements on September 15, 2020 in Washington for normalising relations with Israel, becoming the third and fourth Arab countries after Egypt and Jordan to break ranks with the long standing Arab and Muslim consensus on no peace with the Zionist entity without a just settlement of Palestinian rights. In a triumphant ceremony on the lawns of the White House, a beaming US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated the reversal of decades of hostility without anything resembling a resolution of the Palestinian plight. As if this development were not bad enough, Trump announced that at least 5-6 countries would also be joining the normalisation process with Israel very quickly. Although Trump refrained from naming the countries, Oman is mentioned in reports as one of them. Inevitably it is Saudi Arabia that is now the focus of attention. Although Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud reiterated his country’s traditional position that there can be no reconciliation with Israel without a just settlement with the Palestinians, there appear to be straws in the wind indicating a softening of the Saudi stance. For one, the UAE and Bahrain are essentially under the influence of Riyadh. While maintaining a pregnant silence on these two countries’ abandonment of the Palestinian cause, Saudi Arabia seems to have encouraged the process from behind the scenes to test the waters regarding the reaction to and fallout of this development. Significantly, when the UAE announced its intent to normalise relations with Israel, reports spoke of Saudi airspace being opened to flights between Israel and the UAE. In a further sign of the shifting winds, the Imam of the Grand Mosque of Makkah, Abdul-rahman al-Sudais called on Saudis to shun emotionalism and treat Jews well so that they embrace Islam. The Imam’s sermons in the past have been tearful, emotional appeals for the victory of the Palestinians. This could be read as a sign of the changing times.
Trump and Netanyahu are dubbing these developments as a pivotal change of history, but the jury may still be out despite the indications of an Arab stampede in the direction of accepting Israel’s creation and occupation of Palestine. Although the Arabs and Palestinians accepted the compromise of a two-state solution after the Palestinian armed struggle virtually ended in the late 1970s for want of an operational base, it is Israeli intransigence regarding the creeping annexation of the West Bank and reducing the Gaza Strip to the world’s largest open air prison that has held sway because of the US-led west’s support. Even the peaceful protest movement (intifada) by the Palestinians was met with brutal force and put down by Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proved a weak and ineffective leader, despite the recent rapprochement between rivals Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in the interests of a joint struggle against Israel. The Palestinians now face a historic reckoning. Either they surrender and join the Arab herd galloping towards the US-supported Israeli stable, or revisit their options. It must be recognised that Israel and the US share with the Arab countries breaking (or contemplating breaking) ranks their fear of and hostility to Iran, not the least because it has helped roll back Washington’s planned control over Lebanon and Syria, and is thought to have prevented Saudi Arabia and the UAE from imposing their will on Yemen against the Houthis. The strategic setbacks to Washington and Tel Aviv in the region have convinced not just them but also an increasing number of Arab countries that their best interests lie in hitching their wagon to the US cavalcade. Hamas continues its armed struggle against Israel to the extent possible from Gaza. The unanswered question remains whether the PLO will now shed its long standing illusions about a US-brokered peace that guarantees them at least their own state on the West Bank and Gaza and revisit all its options, which must of necessity include political, diplomatic and military possibilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment