Voices From The Arab Press: The Arab-Israeli conflict and the int'l burden

Many Israeli historians share the view that “had it not been for the British presence in Palestine after World War I, Israel would not have existed.” Similarly, had it not been for the American support to Israel in the years that followed the war, Israel would not have grown into the country it is today. 

These are two important historical facts to recognize. Newcomers who were backed by the maturity of Western industrial societies built Israel. They arrived in the region with the scientific knowledge that helped them build political institutions and establish a modern economy in an environment that had been predominantly agricultural prior to their arrival. 

Today, over seven decades later, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a crisis for both sides: on the Israeli side, because the country is becoming increasingly racist and there are no political players left in sight who are willing to make peace; and on the Palestinian side, because the conflict has become a de facto religious war, to which modern Western societies have zero tolerance. Indeed, more and more Arab and Muslim voices across the region are finding solace in political Islam.

 And as countries like Iran and Turkey rally behind the people of Palestine, their ideologies become a source of hope for people whose rights have been usurped. Palestinians, too, feel like political Islam might be their last remaining hope. 

There’s no better evidence to this fact than the most recent Israeli elections, in which Israeli Arabs voted en masse for the United Arab List, which represents the Islamic Movement. The Palestinians and Israelis are at a stalemate. Israel has gone through several election cycles and is still unable to form a government. The Palestinians are split internally between the PLO and Hamas, which is considered a terror group by most international organizations. The weak international intervention in this round of fighting only made the situation on the ground worse. Without a clear end-game in mind, both the Israelis and the Palestinians fight until the bitter end. 

The question is whether or not this bloodbath will continue. This depends to a large degree on the international community: Will world powers push both sides to lay their weapons down and work to prevent the next crisis from happening? Or will Iran continue arming Hamas while the United States continues arming Israel? 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a leading role in advancing development in developing countries in general, and African countries in particular. It is a role derived not from political or financial interests, but from a sense of responsibility toward countries that need help – even if those countries aren’t politically aligned with Riyadh. 

The kingdom’s pioneering role isn’t limited merely to financial aid; Saudi Arabia also engaged in diplomatic and political efforts aimed at solving systemic issues that hinder stability, development and public health. Following the Summit on the Financing of African Economies in Paris last week, the kingdom affirmed its leadership role in advancing the development of African nations, and its keenness to support international efforts directed at fostering security and stability in the African continent. 

In his address at the Summit, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman emphasized his support for international and regional efforts that would lay the foundations of security and stability in Africa, resolve local conflicts, and fight terrorist groups and extremism in the region. The crown prince articulated his vision for economic development in Africa. He spoke out against one-off donations that fail to eradicate poverty or create local jobs. Traditional aid, in his view, often undermines sustainable development goals. Similarly, debt restructuring often helps developing countries in the short term but hurts them in the long run. The crown prince emphasized the need to search for creative solutions that will push these African nations toward economic empowerment and sustainability, allowing them to rely on their own capabilities rather than those of donors. 

I am certain that this is what African countries desperately need, and what donor countries must be keen to achieve in order to narrow the development gap between developing and developed countries. The kingdom’s vision for development is bold but crucial. The only way to get these nations out of their debt spiral is to encourage creditors to forgive the loans they’ve given developing nations and help the latter implement the necessary reforms that would boost their local economies and attract foreign investments. 

Accusing Hamas of igniting a futile war as an implementation of an Iranian agenda is equivalent to denying the historical and human rights of the Palestinian people. This is an equation established by the Israeli propaganda machine, and it is completely contrary to the truth. The tragic reality that the people of Gaza have come to live in, with all of its inhumane and immoral aspects, requires us to stand with the Palestinian people – innocent victims whose only sin is the fact that they happen to live in Gaza, which has been taken over by a violent terror organization. 

Hamas’s leaders fled Palestine in order to fight from a distance, leaving behind men, women, and children to suffer. The outcome of the current Gaza war already is and will continue to be disastrous. Not only because it is an asymmetrical war but also because it managed to portray the Palestinian side as the aggressor with respect to the international community. 

Unlike the popular protests we’re witnessing in different capitals around the world, held by Palestinians and their allies, the halls of the world’s most influential international institutions are filled with individuals who stand by Israel’s side. How absurd it is for the Western world to convict the victim of initiating the aggression. How ridiculous it is to blame the victim for encouraging his own death. All political talk now revolves around Hamas rockets. And if the international community itself has shown a kind of leniency with the Houthis in Yemen as they direct their missiles and drones at Saudi civilian targets, then its position will not be the same with regard to rockets fired by Hamas toward Israel, even though the source is the same – namely, Iran. 

That is what one must keep in mind, regardless of acceptance or rejection. It has become evident that the world has double standards. All we have to do is remember what happened to Iraq based on suspicions of weapons of mass destruction compared to what is happening with Iran, whose nuclear program is known to all. This is a crime, but the greatest crime is committed by most of the Arab media, which mislead the Arab public as to the crimes committed by the Israeli monster. 

Israel does not differentiate between the people of Gaza and the armed organizations that rule it; both are one and the same. If we assume goodwill on the part of Hamas – that is, that it launched Iranian missiles at Israel in solidarity with the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood – then this act is nothing more than political stupidity. What is far more likely is that Gaza is being used by Iran to flex its muscles at a time that coincides with nuclear negotiations in Vienna. 

Make no mistake, this is a double crime: first, because it diverted attention away from the Israeli crimes in Jerusalem; and second, because it resulted in the death of innocent Palestinians. Gaza has gone up in flames while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh sits at his comfortable Qatari mansion and follows the events as if they were a reality television show. He talks about a victory that he knows no one believes. He will return to Gaza not to see its devastation, reassure the comfort of its dead, and count the number of its orphans, but to reproduce the deceptive popular discourse teeming with religious metaphors that mislead the people. 

Hamas is fighting on behalf of Iran. The tragic reality of the Palestinians in Gaza will not erase that.