Arab silence

August 23, 2024

NEW DELHI – If there is one ‘bloc’ that the Israel-Palestine war has completely discredited, internally and externally, it is the Arab Sheikhdoms and their overentitled and inefficacious monarchies. As concerns on the horrors of Gaza Strip mount, Arab Street is distraught with the pusillanimous and meek expression of its princelings who meekly profess support for the Palestinian cause but refuse to go beyond meaningless platitudes. As the Palestinian death count spirals beyond reason, the Arab leadership has yet again shamed itself by remaining complicit with their telling silences.

If anything, the only modicum of counter to Israel’s disproportionate retaliation has come from the other sectarian ‘bloc’ led by Shiite Iran and its proxies in the region e.g., Houthis, Hezbollah etc., whereas some like the Jordanians actually shot down Iranian drones as they were headed towards Israel ~ this when the Jordanian Queen Rania, is of Palestinian origin (like 20 per cent of Jordan)! It is a two-faced and insincere approach of supposed support for the Palestinian cause that has routinely got exposed. Murmurs of secret parleys between Arab capitals and Tel Aviv have done the rounds for years ~ today, it is not even discreet anymore.

While Egypt and Jordan had formalized relations with Israel long back, the recent ‘Abraham Accords’ have led to normalization of official relations with Israel by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Others like Oman and more importantly, Saudi Arabia, have been having backchannel meetings and side deals with Israel to advance their bilateral agendas. The sudden eruption of the Israel-Palestine War (triggered by the dastardly 7 Oct 2023 Hamas attack) has optically