Weak and fearful Arab leaders have little say in Gaza conflict


July 29, 2014
Sarah Benton

This posting has these items on the public diplomacy about Gaza:
1) MEE: Hope, despite Arab impotence over Palestine, although Israel presents itself as surrounded by hostile and belligerent neighbours, the truth is very different. Arab countries are divided polliticaally and economically and have no wish to alienate the powerful US;
2) al Arabiya: Khamenei slams ‘rabid dog’ Israel over Gaza war, Iran’s supreme leader urges the arming of Palestinians;
3) Cairo Post: Abbas cites Egypt’s absence in Paris for not attending Gaza talks, Abbas is sticking with Egypt and so did not attend the Paris talks, see post below;
4) WSJ: U.S. Meets With Qatar, Turkey to Extend Gaza Cease-Fire, Kerry met with the two countries than can speak for Hamas;
5) MEE: Mixed International responses to escalating Israel-Gaza tensions, Middle East Eye provides a rundown on which country stands where on Israel’s Gaza war;


John Kerry tries to engage regional leaders in getting a ceasefire, but succeeds only in getting the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left and Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah , right,  to his meeting in  Paris on July 26 . Photo by Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Hope, despite Arab impotence over Palestine
#GazaUnderAttack

By Sharif Nashashibi, Middle East Eye
July 29, 2014

Criticism of the Arabs world’s disunity over Gaza forgets that the former is weak – militarily, economically and politically – in comparison to Israel and its allies

There have been statements of support and pledges of financial aid to the people of Gaza from Arab leaders since Israel’s onslaught began. The reaction on social media has been a resounding “not enough”. Such cynicism is understandable, given the impotence – even duplicity – of Arab governments with regard to Israel, and the lip service paid to one of the greatest regional tragedies in modern history.

However, when I ask Arabs what they think their leaders can do – as opposed to what they would like them to do – they are often stuck for an answer. In general, the Arab world is weak – militarily, economically and politically – certainly in comparison to Israel and its allies (primarily the US).

The region is racked by division within and between countries, so on a state level, options are limited to say the least. An effective response is only possible via a united front, but Arab leaders cannot agree on the weather, let alone common policy. This is exacerbated by Palestinians’ own internal divisions, in which their Arab neighbours are taking sides. In my lifetime, I have never seen the region so fractured.

People ask: “Where are the Arab armies?” As if they would not be obliterated by Israel. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad asked during his presidential inauguration: “Why don’t [Arab countries] send their combat soldiers” to Gaza? This from someone who has never responded militarily to a single Israeli provocation against Syria or the Palestinians in his 14 years in power.

What chance would any Arab army have against the strongest military in the region, stocked with nuclear weapons and backed by the world’s superpower? The US is very clear about its aim to maintain its ally’s qualitative edge over combined Arab armies. Even supplying weapons to Palestinian fighters would be extremely difficult given the tight blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt. So in a nutshell: a military option is off the table.

What economic ties Arab states have with Israel – openly or clandestinely – are nowhere near sufficient to provide leverage. The Arab League boycott crumbled long ago, and was never universally or effectively implemented anyway. Resurrecting it now, given regional divisions and Israel’s peace treaties with neighbouring Egypt and Jordan, is wishful thinking and is not even being considered.

Similarly, Arab states have no economic leverage over Israel’s allies. Many of the region’s leaders are too dependent on the US to be willing to pressure it with regard to Israel. An oil embargo similar to 1973-74? Forget it.

OPEC is weaker that it was then, and an embargo today would be more easily circumvented by buying from major oil exporters that are not part of the cartel. The US itself, as the world’s third-largest producer and 10th-largest exporter, is less dependent on Arab oil.

Furthermore, the economies of the wealthy Gulf states are too dependent on oil sales to risk such a strategy. The monarchs are mindful that prosperity has kept at bay public pressure for reforms. They would also not want to jeopardise American backing, particularly given regional turmoil and tensions with Iran.

The US considered invading Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi in response to the oil embargo – Arab leaders are mindful of America’s propensity for regime change in the region to secure its interests.

Arab governments also have little political leverage. Much is made of diplomatic moves by non-Arab countries, such as recalling their ambassadors to Israel. However, besides Egypt and Jordan, Arab states do not have diplomatic ties to sever or downgrade, or deals to cancel. Even if there was the will to push the US to use its influence on Israel, what pressure could be applied that would convince an unflinchingly pro-Israel American polity to change its tune?

Of all the Arab states, public anger should be directed most towards Egypt. It is bad enough that regional leaders are either unable or unwilling to help the Palestinians. However, Egypt – once a champion of the cause – is actively partaking in the blockade of Gaza, stopping aid convoys, and directly contributing to the misery of its inhabitants. This is an inexcusable shame.

Without a united Arab stand, any individual action or decision, no matter how strong, would likely be more damaging to that particular country and its people than to Israel or its allies. Despite Arab governmental impotence, public solidarity with Palestine has always been strong.

This should not be jeopardised by giving an impression that the wellbeing of Palestinians should come above that of their Arab kin. Solidarity cannot be implemented at any price – this is counter-productive and will backfire. To be effective, it has to be expressed and harnessed practically.

Arabs are right to be angry, but their anger should be directed at the general Arab malaise, of which ineptitude and inaction over Palestine is a symptom. Arab leaders were no less ineffective when Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006, or when the US invaded and occupied Iraq. The list goes on.

For the foreseeable future, it seems futile to expect any more, or any better, from Arab governments. Better then to focus public energies on grassroots campaigns, for which there has been a groundswell of support amid the Gaza onslaught, including many people who were not previously involved or aware.

For example, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel has gone from strength to strength, without any state help or the endorsement of the Palestinian Authority. One can lobby for a wide range of issues, from media coverage to human rights and everything in between. Protest, meet your MP, write letters, tweet, boycott goods or stores – whatever and wherever you feel you can make a difference.

Today, there are far more organisations dedicated to various aspects of the Palestinian cause than existed just 15 years ago. Those that did exist then are now much larger. They can help guide activists and lobbyists, so people should not feel unable to contribute.

There is a tangible change in public opinion in countries whose governments have been traditionally sympathetic to Israel. That has come about through people power, not Arab leaders. That is cause for hope. Activists have done more for Palestine than Arab governments ever have. As has been shown throughout history, when governments cannot or will not, then the people must, and can.

– Sharif Nashashibi is an award-winning journalist and analyst on Arab affairs. He is a regular contributor to Al Arabiya News, Al Jazeera English, The National, and The Middle East magazine. In 2008, he received an award from the International Media Council “for both facilitating and producing consistently balanced reporting” on the Middle East.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.



Khamenei slams ‘rabid dog’ Israel over Gaza war

By Al Arabiya News / AFP
July 29, 2014

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday accused “rabid dog” Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza, calling on the Islamic world to arm Palestinians, AFP reported.

In a speech marking the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, Khamenei said: “This rabid dog, this rapacious wolf, has attacked innocent people and humanity must show a reaction. This is genocide, a catastrophe of historical scale.”

“A people surrounded in a small place with closed borders, unsure of having water and electricity, this population faces an armed enemy,” he said of three weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 1,100 Palestinians and 53 Israelis.

“The people resist unabated. This is a lesson for all.”

Khamenei dismissed talk of a ceasefire in Gaza, saying it was a ploy by the United States and European states to save Israel and said Hamas should be re-armed, rather than disarmed as otherwise they will be “unable to defend themselves.”

“They have been pounding innocent people day and night and these men women and children are defending themselves with minimum means, and now Americans and Europeans want to take even that away … so that those merciless beasts could pound without qualm,” he added.

“The U.S. president issued a fatwa that the resistance is disarmed so that they cannot respond to all those crimes (committed by Israel),” the supreme leader said, referring to a call by Barack Obama for the “disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarisation of Gaza”.

“We say the opposite. The world and especially the Islamic world should arm … the Palestinian people,” Khamenei said.

His comments follow rallies held across Iran on Friday in a show of support for Palestinians and to protest against Israeli military action in Gaza.

Iran does not recognise Israel’s existence and supports Palestinian Islamist groups that fight it.

On Thursday, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani, told state television’s Arabic service that Tehran had provided Hamas with the technology it has used to rain down rockets on Israel.

During the last major conflict in and around Gaza in November 2012, Larijani said Iran was proud to have provided “both financial and military support” to Hamas.

Israel accused Iran of supplying Gaza militants with its Fajr-5 missile, which has a range of 75 kilometres (45 miles), during that conflict.



Abbas cites Egypt’s absence in Paris for not attending Gaza talks

By Hanan Fayed, Cairo Post
July 29, 2014

CAIRO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not attend recent Paris ceasefire talks on Gaza because they were not initiated by Egypt, he told Saudi newspaper Okaz Monday.

“We are committed to the Egyptian initiative, and we are ready to participate in anything that comes from Egypt’s side on the basis of this initiative.” Abbas said. “We will not accept any initiative from other parties, especially since such initiatives would hinder Palestinian action.”

Hamas rejected Egypt’s proposal of a long-term truce on July 16; it was all but approved by Israel. Hamas said the initiative did not tackle the group’s main objectives: Ending the eight-year blockade on Gaza and releasing Palestinian captives.

Israel detained Hamas-affiliated people in the West Bank during its search for three abducted teen settlers, although the prisoners had been released as per a 2011 agreement to free then-captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The Egyptian initiative is almost identical to the one approved by all parties in 2012 while Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was still in power.

As Egypt did not call for the Saturday international meeting in Paris and did not partake in it, it was “not feasible to go,” Abbas told Okaz while in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

“We are facing a very serious problem; this problem is primarily known for the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want [Palestinian] national unity or a government of national reconciliation and does not want any political solution,” Abbas said. “These are the priorities and headlines that Netanyahu sets for himself, and they are the real cover for the aggression unfolding in Gaza Strip.”

The Palestinian president said there have been discussions on Palestinian and Israeli delegations meeting in Cairo for talks, but none of these proposals have been confirmed.

“For its part, the U.S. tried to bring views closer together, but its efforts have been unsuccessful. One of its initiatives was the meeting that was held in Cairo with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and [Arab League head] Nabil al-Arabi,” Abbas told Okaz.

“We were invited to attend that meeting, but we did not go because the invitation was supposed to come from Egypt and not from any other party. Therefore, we refrained from attending.”

Since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza in early July, thousands of homes have been reduced to rubble, thousands of Palestinians have been displaced in the 360 square kilometer enclave and at least 1,049 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians.

Earlier Monday, at the beginning of major Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, eight children and two adults were killed in a huge explosion in a public park in northern Gaza.

While Israel claimed the incident was a misfire by a Hamas rocket, locals said it was an Israeli airstrike, Reuters reported.

Forty-three Israeli soldiers and three civilians have also been killed since the Israeli offensive began July 8.



U.S. Meets With Qatar, Turkey to Extend Gaza Cease-Fire

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Seeks Long-Term Cease-fire and to Start Talks on Gaza’s Future

By Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal
July 26, 2014

PARIS—U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Saturday with Palestinian militant group Hamas’s two major international backers—Turkey and Qatar—in a bid to forge a longer-term cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Kerry brokered a 12-hour pause in the fighting between Hamas and Israel that went into effect Saturday morning after a week of shuttle diplomacy across the Middle East.

The U.S. diplomat is now seeking to use the break in violence as a bridge to a longer-term cease-fire and a formal negotiation over the future of the Gaza Strip.

“We are hopeful that that can happen,” Mr. Kerry said Saturday ahead of his trilateral meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Qatar’s chief diplomat, Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah.

Washington’s closest Middle East allies, particularly Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, are wary of Qatar’s and Turkey’s diplomacy because of their support for Hamas and other Islamist movements tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. But Mr. Kerry on Saturday said Messrs. Davutoglu and Attiyah had played critical roles in achieving the initial cessation of fighting in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Mr. Davutoglu, whose government’s relations with Israel have soured in recent years, said he believed a longer-term cease-fire lasting at least a week was nearly forged during frenetic negotiations on Friday. But the Turkish diplomat accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of blocking a deal.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry wasn’t able to secure a cease-fire in Gaza, but detailed continuing efforts to deescalate the violence. WSJ’s Jerry Seib discusses on the News Hub with Lee Hawkins. Photo: AP.

“We wish to have a sustainable cease-fire, which we approached very closely up to the last minute,” Mr. Davutoglu said before the trilateral meeting at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Paris. “Unfortunately, it was rejected by the Israeli side.”

Qatar’s Mr. Attiyah said his government remained committed to finding a long-term solution to the crisis in the Gaza Strip. He stressed that the economic siege on the Palestinian territory—led by Israel and Egypt—needed to be lifted to achieve this.

“We will be working hard to the point where we have a cease-fire and the lifting of the blockade…[and] the free movement of goods,” Mr. Attiyah said.

Earlier Friday, the three diplomats met with the foreign ministers of France, Italy, the U.K. and Germany to discuss the situation in Gaza.

The Obama administration is seeking to use international bodies such as the European Union, United Nations and Arab League to help oversee the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip’s economy once a sustainable cease-fire is put in place.



Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah meets UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Doha on 20 July (AFP)

Mixed International responses to escalating Israel-Gaza tensions
#GazaUnderAttack

While Western leaders have emphasised Israel’s right to defend itself, regional powers have called the attack on Gaza ‘savage’

By MEE staff
July 09, 2014

As Operation Protective Edge entered its second day, neighbouring countries and foreign leaders reacted to the Israeli air strikes and rockets launched from Gaza in violence that has killed 35 Palestinians and injured more than 230 others.

Jordan: Jordan, one of just two Arab countries to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, demanded that Israel immediately halt deadly Israeli air raids against the Gaza Strip.

Government spokesman Mohammad Momani said Israeli raids are “barbaric” and have “negative repercussions on the Gaza Strip and the whole region.”

“Jordan demands Israel stop all forms of escalation. The international community should actively intervene to stop the Israeli aggression,” Momani said on Tuesday.

Egypt: Egypt, which has reportedly been in contact with Hamas in an attempt to set up a ceasefire agreement between Gaza and Israel, denounced Israel’s raids on Gaza.

“Egypt totally rejects and condemns all violence that results in the killing of civilians from both sides,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Badr Abdel Aty said in a statement post on Egypt’s State Information Service website.

Despite its denunciation of the Israeli operation, Egypt kept the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed for the sixth day in a row on Tuesday, Mada Masr website reported

White House: While urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stay in contact with Palestinians to resolve the ongoing conflict, the White House reiterated its support for the Israeli Defense Forces and Israel’s right to defend itself.

“We strongly condemn the continuing rocket fire into Israel and the deliberate targeting of civilians by terrorist organizations in Gaza,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday. “No country can accept rocket fire aimed at civilians, and we support Israel’s right to defend itself against these vicious attacks.”

US State Department: In a slightly different tack from The White House, US Secretary of State John Kerry called on both Israel and Palestinians “to exercise restraint and avoid steps that could further destabilize the situation”, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday.

The State Department, like the White House, said it supported Israel’s right to defend itself against the attacks and condemned the continuing rocket fire shot into Israel, but did not label those shooting the rockets as terrorists.

European Union: While the EU, like the US, condemned “indiscriminate” rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s statement also focused on the growing number of civilian casualties caused by Israeli retaliatory fire and called on all sides to exercise restraint to re-establish calm.

“The safety and security of all civilians must be of paramount importance,” Ashton’s statement said.

In a visit to Ashkelon in southern Israel on Tuesday, however, EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Andersen went a bit further saying he expressed “unreserved solidarity” with Israelis living there.

“Indiscriminate shooting of rockets against innocent civilians can never be a legitimate response,” he said.

UK: [Then] British Foreign Secretary William Hague added his condemnation of the rockets fired from Gaza on Tuesday and called on “Hamas and other militant groups to stop these attacks.”

All sides have a responsibility to respect the November 2012 ceasefire and “address the underlying causes of conflict and instability in Gaza,” Hague said. “The people of Israel have the right to live without constant fear for their security; the people of Gaza also have the right to live in peace.”

The Arab League: Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday over the “danger Israeli escalation” in Gaza.

Arabi told reporters that he was in touch with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas as the events unfolded and said Israel’s attacks on Palestinian civilians is “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the Geneva Convention and international resolutions on occupied Palestine.”

United Nations: On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned rocket attacks from Gaza and called on both sides of the conflict to halt aggressions.

Ban also reiterated “his call on all actors to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further civilian casualties and overall destabilization,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Iran: Iran strongly condemned Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip, saying the “savage” operation showed that the Israeli government is “destitute” in the face of “the heroic people of Palestine,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marziyeh Afkham said.

Afkham said Operation Protective Edge had started on “the false pretext of the abduction of three Israeli settlers” and likened the country’s air strikes to “crimes committed by the terrorist in Syria and Iraq.”

She hailed the resistance of Gazans and called on Muslim and Arab countries, as well as human rights bodies, to support the Palestinian decision to prosecute Israel for its crimes in the International Criminal Court.

Turkey: The Turkish Foreign Ministry called for an end to the Israeli military operation on Gaza and urged the United Nations to take action.

“The military operation that Israel has launched against Gaza will result in extending the pain that the oppressed Gaza people, who have been struggling to continue their lives under difficult conditions for years,” a statement released Tuesday said.

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