No
one knows how Israel’s war on Gaza, now entering its second month, will end and
what the final civilian toll will be. But when the guns finally go silent and
the dust settles, the Middle East and, indeed, the rest of the world will wake
up to a new reality. Whatever happens to Hamas will mean little compared
to the human cost already endured: more than 10,000 deaths, almost half are
women and children, and more than 25,000 injured. The
level of destruction is beyond description, not seen anywhere since World War
II.
اضافة اعلان
Most
of Gaza has been turned into a wasteland, and no one knows if Gazans will ever
be allowed to return to their bombed-out homes to resume whatever is left of
their miserable and tragic lives.
But
beyond the humanitarian fallout, which will linger for years, there will be multiple
political accounts that need to be settled. In the eye of the storm will be the
future of US-Arab ties and how the shaky alliance with the West will go from
here.
In
Amman, last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the foreign
ministers of five key Arab countries, in addition to a Palestinian Authority
representative. They all called on the US to accept an immediate ceasefire and
an unfettered delivery of much-needed humanitarian supplies to the besieged
Gaza Strip, now a disaster zone. Instead, Blinken rebuffed their calls,
repeated the now overused statement that Israel had the right to defend itself
and that any truce now would favor Hamas.
The chasm between these allies and Washington could expand depending on the outcome of Israel’s war on Gaza. A forced displacement of millions of Palestinians into Egypt would bring that relationship to the brink, which would leave Cairo and Amman in a tough and precarious position. Jordan has already said that such forced displacement would be considered a declaration of war. No one knows, not even the US, how far Israel would go with its current military campaign. And it is now clear that the Biden administration does not have the necessary leverage to stop Israel from going as far as pushing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into the Sinai desert.
He
pretended to sympathize with Palestinian civilian losses, urging Israel to
abide by the rules of war—whatever that meant—and tossed the Arab world a bone;
a commitment to the two-state solution. In short, the US had taken Israel’s
side completely and ignored the pleas of its Arab allies.
Even
as Blinken said he supported humanitarian pauses; none went into effect so far.
Israel’s pummeling of the entire Gaza Strip picked up pace targeting fleeing
civilians, hospitals, ambulances, civil defense and medical workers, and
journalists. The carnage went on as Blinken continued to warn against expanding
the conflict beyond Gaza.
This
complete indifference to the Arab point of view, which had nothing to do with
defending Hamas but centered on protecting civilians and ensuring humanitarian
assistance has become a watershed moment in US-Arab ties. Washington cares less
for the sentiments of millions of Arabs, as well as that of millions of people
all over the world. It has unabashedly taken the side of Israel, even when the
war had violated all definitions of self-defense and all the scopes of
international laws and conventions.
And
while Arab diplomats pointed to the escalating situation in the West Bank,
where Israeli soldiers and radical settlers were shooting and terrorizing
Palestinians, all Blinken could do was to ask Israel to do something about the
spiraling violence and then say that he was assured that something would be
done.
The
level of public rage against the US position on the war in the Arab world must
not be ignored. It is putting Arab governments under pressure. It is shaking
the foundations of the alliance between the US and its Arab partners.
The
chasm between these allies and Washington could expand depending on the outcome
of Israel’s war on Gaza. A forced displacement of millions of Palestinians into
Egypt would bring that relationship to the brink, which would leave Cairo and
Amman in a tough and precarious position. Jordan has already said that
such forced displacement would be considered a declaration of war. No one
knows, not even the US, how far Israel would go with its current military
campaign. And it is now clear that the Biden administration does not have the
necessary leverage to stop Israel from going as far as pushing hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians into the Sinai desert.
The
final outcome of the war on Gaza could push relations with Washington to a
breaking point. No Arab country can take the risk of abandoning the Palestinian
cause. In fact, if the events following 7 October have proven—for Israel, the
Arabs, and the rest of the world—that ignoring the strife of Palestinians will
keep the region on edge and will not bring peace and security to Israel.
The US cannot be trusted to chair, on its own, another peace round that ends up buying time for Israel to complete its usurpation of whatever is left of Palestinian land. The two-state solution was declared dead a long time ago, thanks to Israel’s policy of colonizing whatever is left of the West Bank while forcing millions of Palestinians in Gaza into another Nakba.
President
Biden and Blinken are yet to say something that Arab leaders need to hear; that
following this horrific round of violence, the US will make amends by
addressing the core of the region’s troubles: Resolving the Palestinian issue.
The problem is that, even if they do deliver such assurances, few will take
them seriously.
For
more than 30 years, the US had taken hold of the so-called peace process whose
aim was to deliver a two-state solution. But over the past three decades, the
US has failed to play the role of an honest broker. It had looked the other way
while an extremist Israel grabbed more Palestinian lands, demolished
Palestinians' homes, empowered Jewish settlers, marginalized the Palestinian
Authority, and enforced an illegal siege on Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants. The
US ignored warnings by its Arab allies that the region was at a boiling point
and that unless the Palestinian issue were resolved in a just way, chaos would
erupt. And that is exactly what is happening now.
No
more US assurances will suffice now. The US monopoly of the so-called peace
process has to end. Israel’s impunity must also end. Israel’s war on Gaza and
its collective punishment of Palestinians ahead of possible ethnic cleansing
must be addressed and cannot be ignored. The fact that Israel has committed
multiple war crimes in Gaza cannot be swept under the carpet. The entire
rules-based world order is about to keel over as a result of Western complicity
and application of double standards.
What
was immediately needed following the war was to have an international peace
conference where Russia, China, the Arab region, and the rest of the Global
South had a key role. The US cannot be trusted to chair, on its own, another
peace round that ends up buying time for Israel to complete its usurpation of
whatever is left of Palestinian land. The two-state solution was declared dead
a long time ago, thanks to Israel’s policy of colonizing whatever is left of
the West Bank while forcing millions of Palestinians in Gaza into another
Nakba.
Israel’s
right to exist has been enshrined in peace treaties and in the Arab Peace
Initiative (API). But it’s not a blank check that is cashed at the teller at
the expense of millions of Palestinians who have the right to
self-determination and a state of their own. The war on Gaza has brought us to
the moment of truth: Israel wants to liquidate the Palestinian issue once and
for all and let the region pick up the tab. That will not happen and the US
must not allow it to happen. The US is not an honest broker and the Arab world
cannot allow it to continue to buy time for Israel while it embarks on a
pernicious scheme to normalize the occupation while disposing of millions of
Palestinians.
America’s
Arab allies need to send a stern message to the US that choosing Israel, no
matter what it does, over its allies and their genuine interests cannot
continue anymore.
Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based
in Amman.
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