Comment on US-led Gaza plan to force Palestinians into dystopian re-education camp leaked
Limerance@piefed.social 6 hours agoThe Arab states have tried many times for decades to fight Israel directly and indirectly without success.
Jordan and Lebanon received huge problems with Palestinian militants inside their borders (Black September, Lebanese Civil War). Palestinians in Kuwait supported the invasion by Saddam Hussein. So after spilling a lot of their own blood and receiving turmoil at home, they chose it’s not a worthwhile or winnable fight.
Prince Bandar gives his perspective on his frustrations with Arafat in this interview https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=idJx1bB30EM The Saudis spent a lot of money and political capital to get to peace talks, only for Arafat to refuse the deals offered.
Many Arab rulers like Egypt are internally threatened by Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood, which Hamas is an offshoot from. Hamas, Hezbollah, and their allies are seen as threats to their own power.
Supporting the Palestinian cause has become a losing proposition. Even more evident now that Al Assad in Syria lost power and the Iranian regime got a bloody nose.
Lose wars against Israel and threaten your own power domestically is just a bad proposition.
Palestine isn’t even the worst place to be in the Middle East. Syria over the last decade plus and Yemen, Sudan are drowning in war, death, famine, genocide happening. Palestinians have an above average living standard, education, and life expectancy for the region.
Squashing an uppity group brutally with force is just another Tuesday for the Middle East.
The biggest crime in this war, that nobody talks about, has been Egypt keeping the border closed to refugees. No other warzone doesn’t let refugees leave. This has contributed immensely to suffering and death inside Gaza. Egypt does this because it doesn’t want Hamas inside its borders. There are already terrorist groups active in the Sinai. The Muslim Brotherhood is the enemy of the current government. Hamas is both of these.
The question is also how much did the Palestinians fuck up to make their Arab neighbor Egypt their enemy.
zeezee@slrpnk.net 5 hours ago
that’s a whole load of words to victim blame and say the Palestinians brought this upon themselves and that they deserve everything they’ve gotten and that it could be worse since their main “allies” are doing a worse genocide in other countries so they should feel lucky…
Limerance@piefed.social 4 hours ago
The question was why there’s not more support by Arabs and I gave an answer based in historical fact. I even provided a link to an interview with a very respected Arab leader making similar remarks.
Palestinians deserve a dignified life in prosperity and a future. Their political leadership and allies have failed the Palestinian people repeatedly.
Palestinians are mostly used as political pawns and symbols by their supporters abroad. Improving the actual lives of Palestinians is an afterthought. Fighting Israel takes precedent over fighting for Palestinians.
Palestinians are oppressed by Israel, the Palestinian authority police state, Hamas’ brutal Islamist regime, kept as eternal refugees by Arab host countries their grandparents were born in. UNRWA‘s mission and definition of refugee is markedly different from the UNHCR, keeping Palestinians stateless and without rights. Millions of people fled in the 1940s around the world. They found new homes, settled elsewhere, built lives, and their grandchildren live a good life. Palestinians are the only refugees this future was denied.
Western pro Palestine activists repeat the falsehoods and incitement of Hamas. Even there the voices of moderate Palestinians are shouted down and marginalized. Palestinians don’t have free speech under the PA nor Hamas. Their supporters in the west call for more violence (intifada) and war (destroy Israel). That path of failure has caused immense suffering for Palestinians.
Palestinians are in a terrible situation and have the worst supporters. It’s heartbreaking, really. They deserve better.
zeezee@slrpnk.net 3 hours ago
you mean the guy who was caught taking £1bn in bribes from BAE for the Al-Yamamah arms deal? the guy who reportedly funded Fatah al-Islam terrorists in Lebanon? the saudi intelligence chief nicknamed “Bandar Bush” because he was so deep in the pockets of the American war machine? that’s your credible source on Palestinian leadership failures?
sorry I don’t have time to go point by point why you’ve presented a very one sided story that conveniently omits the main reason why Arab states feel reluctant to support the Palestinians - the fact they’ll have to go against the US empire and its buddies which economically and militarily outcompete them - your posturing around how its the Palestinian authorities fault they can’t have allies under an active occupation turned genocide just shrugs away responsibility from the ones that have real power onto those that have extremely limited options of resistance.
Limerance@piefed.social 3 hours ago
You are forgetting 1948, 67, 73 when lots of Arab countries waged large scale war against Israel. There was even a huge oil embargo in the 1970s by Arabs against the West.
Of course having a good relationship to the US is important to many countries. It’s very beneficial to them. However those governments opposed to the US aren’t particularly great for their population either.
There’s certainly no lack of bad regimes in the Middle East.
Regarding Prince Bandar and Saudi policies in the region. Saddam’s Iraq became an enemy with his invasion of Kuwait. Iraq had been a regional rival to the Saudis even back to the time it had a Hashemite king. The Hashemite and Saudi clans are old rivals for power in the region. Saudis have their own interests in the region. Iran is a regional rival for example and their Islamist ideology a direct threat to the kingdom. Yes, Saudis have played some stupid games with spreading Wahhabism and supporting Islamists militias against other governments in the region. Of course the Saudis prioritize their own interests above the Palestinian cause. They have been a big supporter historically both financially and politically.
I really recommend you watch the interview to hear another perspective and his personal interactions with Arafat during the peace process.