By Not Normalising Ties With Israel, Arab Leaders Serve Their Foes' Interests

With all due respect to Arab Leaders: just drop the act. Those who follow the Middle East closely know the usual Arab Platitudes and, quite frankly, it is getting old. There's one interesting development however: the Arab League blacklisted Hezbollah as a terrorist group...with a twist.

The Middle East Could be a Power House

Arab leaders are pitiful in a sense that they allow external forces to put them down (i.e. to keep them divided, underdeveloped and as a military test lab) at the expense of the people, instead of uniting not for war but for the construction of a better future. They prove that the enemy of the Muslim people, in the ME, are not the Americans nor the Europeans but their own leaders – on whom the responsibility for the human development of their respective nations lies upon.

PM Bibi Netanyahu has already invited Arab nations to unite with Israel since the possibilities of doing so are endless. But in order for those possibilities to unfold Arab States need to purge themselves of the usual platitudes; but even if they drop them now, it will take time to create change because Arab leaders have taught the Arab people to hate Israel – a word that has evolved into being a synecdoche of Jews - ever since Abdel al-Nasser advocated for Pan-Arabism (which instead of solely focusing on the greatness of the Arab union, it morphed into a Jew-Hatred Project). This is why the increasing Arab voices calling for the normalisation of ties with Israel seem to be falling in deaf ears (moreover, is the West truly interested in seeing such a normalisation taking place? The obsolete way of doing politics dictates they win more by keeping the region in constant conflict).

Dropping the Act

Whenever an Arab leader, a pundit or a commenter says something right, immediately he or she will say something stupid – pardon the directness of my language. For instance:

• When the Dubai Security Chief stated that the time had come for the Arabs to normalise ties with Israel, that the Two-State solution wasn't viable at the moment (a fact most are starting to see but refuse to admit in public), that Arabs in Palestine should live under Israeli law; he immediately said the stupidest thing a person can say: one day Arabs/Muslims will outnumber the Jews and Israel will become a Muslim Arab State. 
• When an Egyptian TV commentator was criticising Hamas' lack of strategy regarding Israel (i.e. attacking a much stronger country that hardly suffers casualties in comparison to Hamas) and the senseless animosity towards the Jewish People; he immediately cursed Israel and stated that he wanted the Israelis to burn in hell (by Israelis did he mean the Jews only or all Israeli citizens?). 
• When the Arab League-affiliated Arab Parliament designated Hezbollah as a Terrorist Organisation, it explained the decision “Hezbollah's practices (...) are aimed at undermining the security of many countries in the region” and Ahmed al-Jarwan had to say the most stupid thing a person could think of “I hope Hezbollah points its weapons at Israel”.

Nasser's Jew-hatred is so deeply entrenched in the Arab tissue that even though they know what the right thing to do is, they find it very difficult to get rid of the evil genie that sits on their shoulder; and so the result is nonsensical behaviour and speech. It's getting old and tiresome.

How many Arab nations do business with Israel? Most of them, albeit in a very veiled fashion. This is sheer hypocrisy and the time has come to unshackle themselves from petty and counter-productive feelings; because let's get real, folks: who gets to lose more from all this nonsense? Not Israel, that's for sure. So, now Arab nations have a choice: either they get a grip and normalise the relations with Israel or they don't and remain the West's desert pets.

Conclusion

Israel is here and it's not going anywhere. Accusing the Jewish State of this and that, using the international community to undermine it, putting Israelis (of Arab ascendency) in an ungrateful and treacherous position, will not change the reality on the ground; so a lot of time and opportunity is being wasted. The time has come for Arab Nations to keep up with the times. Seize the moment. It's not enough to build modern buildings to attract  western tourists and investors; Arabs really need to change their stance, their speech and make themselves more credible because when their lips say something but their actions speak otherwise, they show us they are not reliable partners for change in the Middle East. And if they are not: what will become of that beautiful region?

Using Islam as a basis for preventing Arabs from recognizing any sovereign right of Jews over the Land of Israel is new. Such beliefs are not found in classical Islamic sources. Concluding that anti-Zionism is the logical outgrowth of Islamic faith is wrong. This conclusion represents the false transformation of Islam from a religion into a secularized ideology. - Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi

"(..) false transformation of Islam from a religion into a secularized ideology"...How Ironic, n'est-ce pas?

(Image: The Gulf of Aqaba - Jean-Léon Gérôme)

[The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dissecting Society]