The Sources of Arabs’ Shame: Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia
“Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” (Arthur Miller)
It is now over two weeks since Israel started its vicious assault on Gaza resulting, so far, in close to 600 dead and
thousands of injuries mostly civilians. Israel true to its nature is once again ignoring all international laws and
conventions. With its usual thirst for blood of the civilians, Israel is continuing its bombing of workshops,
administrative buildings, roads, bridges, fuel depots, prisons, schools and mosques; killing and injuring large number
of civilians in one of the world’s most impoverished and densely populated areas of the world. The Israelis are
following their old method of destroying everything that makes a society a society, the infrastructure. The collective
punishment of the Palestinians for what Hamas or Islamic Jihad is supposed to be doing or has done, reminds one of the
collective punishments that Nazis meted out in the occupied areas in Eastern Europe during the WWII.
International Red Cross just issued a statement [ 1] condemning Israel for its brutality against civilians. There are
several things that seem to have shocked the Red Cross. In one episode after several days of heavy pressure from the Red
Cross, several ambulances were allowed to enter a neighbourhood to evacuate the injured civilians. In one house they
found 12 bodies all civilians and mostly women and children. They also found four very young children still alive next
to their dead mothers, too weak to stand. They have been holed-up in the same house for close to 4 days.
Apparently the whole neighbourhood was full of dead and injured civilians with Israeli forces only 80 meters away.
According to the Red Cross the Israeli forces knew of the situation and not only didn’t do anything to help the
civilians, but also were stopping Red Cross from providing assistance. Representative of the Norwegian Red Cross’
People’s Action calls this a war crime.
But this is only the tip of the ice berg. The Israeli forces have begun to use civilians as human shields. According to
Amnesty International Israeli forces occupy civilian houses and keep the civilians as hostages on the first floor, while
they position their soldiers on the second floor; ensuring that any fire on the house (especially with anti-tank or RPG
missiles) kills the civilians as well.
In yet another report, the United Nations condemned Israel for targeting civilians. The head of the UN agency in Gaza
running the school that was attacked by Israel forces categorically rejected the claim by Israel that Hamas fighters
were in or even near the school. Israel bombed the UN run school, killing 43 children and injuring 100. [ 2]
Israel also targets ambulances and humanitarian relief convoys in Gaza. According to UN, at least one Palestinian was
killed when UN relief convoy came under fire from Israeli forces. “The attack took place on Thursday as the lorries
travelled to the Erez crossing to pick up supplies that were to have been allowed in during a three-hour ceasefire.” [
3]
The atrocities committed by Israel is a genocide of a conquered people. Gaza is a concentration camp and no amount of PR
can reduce the magnitude of this horrible crime against humanity and decency.
But Israel is Israel. She has shown that cruelty is in her nature. Here I am talking about the successive Israeli
governments and not Israeli people in general. I am sure there are many in Israel that if became aware of what really is
happening would not approve of it. This of course excludes the settlers and the Zionist movement. These groups like the
South African white supremacists consider others to be inferior to them; or that they have the god given right to do as
they please.
But states seldom are representative of their people. It is the elite and / or the governing class that makes the
decisions. The state of Israel is determined to never allow the Palestinians to have a viable state. The maximum that
they are willing to allow is some form of Bantustan (South African) or North American reservation (for Native
Americans). With carte blanche from US and most of the European powers, Israel has been implementing this policy.
Setting-up such a system takes many years. People’s spirit has to be crushed through collective punishment, economic
strangulation and above all excessive and continuing violence. This has to continue for many years so the people lose
hope of ever achieving anything more than what is on offer.
This of course cannot be done without the approval of other countries. Israel has the approval of the world’s most
powerful nation, the United States. In addition, because of her US connections, she has managed to get a nod and a wink
from the Europeans as well. So with this carte blanche in hand she has set forth to change the “reality” on the ground
in her favour. By systematically settling extremists in the middle of populated Palestinian areas, she has made the
creation of a viable Palestinian state almost impossible. A simple look at the map of the Palestinian territories
resembles a Swiss cheese, with pockets of densely populated Palestinian areas surrounded by settlements and their
protective military garrisons.
The violence both official (state sponsored) and unofficial (settlers) has been incessant. Couple this violence with
economic strangulation and you will see the reasons behind the Palestinians’ anger and frustration. Any resistance is
automatically branded as an act of terrorism and punished with even more violence, with US and Europeans cheering the
Israelis on the side lines.
If you recall when Georgia invaded the Russian protected enclave of Abkhazia, and met Russian counter attack, the whole
Western world with US at its head condemned Russia. Pushing for UN action and even sending warships with “humanitarian”
supplies. Russians did not commit one thousandth of the Israeli atrocities and we had the Georgian president and other
politician talking day and night about the horrible things the Russians were doing. Yet today we have US and European
governments sitting silently watching this genocide taking place without doing anything. US even vetoes resolutions
condemning Israeli actions, forgetting that no peace is ever made possible by killing so many innocent women and
children.
But whenever a power tries to relocate a group of people by force, the Newton’s Third Law of Motion comes into effect.
Newton's Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that if you try to
imprison a person that person will try to break out. If you try to subjugate a people they will resist. This is the
underlying causes of most liberation movements. The same applies to the Palestinians. They are resisting. We can agree
or disagree with their methods, but theirs is a reaction to actions taken against them; we call this self-defence.
Israel is trying to push Palestinians into submission and in the process forcing many to leave the occupied territories.
They are trying to show the Palestinians that they are alone and resistance in the face of an overwhelming force is
suicide. Israel has tried this tactics before and has failed. The children that had to stay with their dead mothers for
four days will not forget. The starved people of Gaza are not going to forget this barbarity; and neither shall the
people of honour and conscious, regardless of their nationality, Israelis included.
But as for one of those who have followed the Israel’s actions for the past 30 years, I can say that I didn’t expect
anything different from Israel. The lies and deceits are all too familiar to fall for again. The current Israeli action
in Gaza was not a reaction to the recent event, but planned a year ago. Just read the New York Times article in which
among others they interview a senior Israeli military officer [ 4].
Israel is now trying to portray herself as a nation that is defending itself, while the truth is that Israel is a cruel
occupying power trying to force a people out of their land. And this is being done with the help of some Arab nations;
the very same nations that constantly talk about Arab and Muslim solidarity. These nations are: Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
Jordan.
The Arab Collaborators
The often asked question, when it comes to the Palestinians, is about the role of Arab countries in the Palestinian
struggle for freedom. The people not familiar with the political landscape of the area often see the Middle East as two
camps, Arab countries on one side and Israel on the other. The reality is totally different. Israel has seldom been
alone. Beside its usual American , French, British and other staunch allies, she has had the hidden backing of several
Arab countries.
For close to 30 years now, many Arab countries have been collaborating with Israel; some like Egypt (gained
independence: 1922) and Jordan (gained independence: 1946) openly while others like Saudi Arabia (founded: 1932), UAE
(founded: 1972) and Kuwait (founded: 1961) from behind the scenes. The reasons for this collaboration vary from country
to country but they all have one thing in common: the rulers of these countries are all dictators and need foreign
protection from their own people. Some such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and UAE were put in power by the British.
The founder of Saudi Arabia, Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (the kingdom is name after him) was put in power by the British. The
same goes for the others, except Egypt which experienced a coup by the army officers in 1952 resulting in the ousting of
the monarchy and the accompanying British influence. But the Western influence returned with Anwar Sadat. All these
countries are dictatorships and all are under pressure from their people. What they cannot accept is any democratically
elected form of government in their mist. They fear that if an Arab government becomes democratic they may have to
become one themselves, hence losing power. One of the things that they love about Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian
president, is that he won the election not by popular vote but by popular method of rigging the election; something that
these Arab leaders understand and respect.
In contrast Hamas really represented the aspiration of the people. Soon, Mahmood Abbas term as president is over and he
had to stand for re-election something that he would surely lose. In contrast Hamas really won the municipal elections
in 2005 and the Parliamentary election in 2006. The elections were supervised by international observers, many from
Europe, and US.
Palestinians were fed-up with the corrupt regime of Mahmoud Abbas and the Fatah. They wanted to clean house. But as
soon as Hamas took over, the US and the Europeans put an embargo on Hamas, calling it a terrorist organisation and not a
peace partner. Israel closed the borders and refused to let anything into Gaza. Egypt also did the same.
What is not mentioned much in the media is that this was done with the complete approval of the Saudi Arabia, Egypt and
Jordan. After all, Egypt could have opened its border for transfer of food and fuel. The reasons behind this hostility
were and are that Hamas is a truly elected government and worst of all, Hamas is a branch or an off-shoot of Muslim
Brotherhood of Egypt.
Muslim Brotherhood has a branch or related organisation in Jordan as well. Egypt and Jordan are worried that should
Hamas survive and show its resistance, their people may get the idea that they can also resist the tyrannical rule of
these despots. One must not forget that Muslim Brotherhood represents the only serious challenge to the Mubarak’s rule
in Egypt.
Egypt
The 81 year old Hosni Mubarak of Egypt has been “president” since 1981 (28 years). He has won every election with a
comfortable majority. He is much loved by his secret services. Prior to every election he arrests and imprisons all the
opposition, ensuring a “clean” election. Torture is so widely used and accepted in Egypt that US outsources torturing of
some its prisoners to Egypt. This alone should tell you volumes about the nature of Mubarak’s rule. He is now trying
hard to crown his playboy son as his successor. But the Americans are not so sure if the son is capable of keeping the
80 million Egyptians in line and is therefore looking for alternative candidates. The head of the feared main secret
service is one of the prime candidates along with some of the top generals. Challenging him is the Muslim Brotherhood
organisation, enjoying grass root support from all sections of the Egyptian society including Lawyers, doctors, judges
and student associations. Not surprisingly, US and Israel call Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation.
By all accounts, the Muslim Brotherhood be it in Jordan, Egypt or the occupied territories such as Gaza runs a clean
operation, running many charity organisations and providing services to the poor and the needy. As such wherever they
are, they pose a threat to the corrupt regimes, since they provide an alternative to the people of that area.
Jordan
King Abdullah II of Jordan, born of a British mother, educated in the West, including the Jesuit Center of Georgetown
University, was brought to power by the CIA. His Uncle was a long time crown price, yet after his father died in a US
hospital, Madeline Albright, Clinton’s Secretary of Estate flew to Jordan to inform the Jordanians that the King on his
death bed had changed his will and named his son Abdullah as his successor. The new king Abdullah II married the
Princeton graduate Lisa Halaby, the daughter of the former head of Pan American Airlines. She is now called Queen Noor;
Noor meaning Light in Arabic.
The majority of this Kingdom of 5 million people are Palestinians who are not very friendly to this King. In 1967 there
was a Palestinian uprising (led by PLO) against King Hussein (ruled: 1952-1999, the father of the current king), which
resulted in heavy casualties among Palestinians. In addition, the Kingdom is currently full of Iraqi refugees who resent
the King’s help to the Americans in invasion of their country. On top of all this, we have the Muslim Brotherhood which
tries hard to abolish the monarchy. King Abdullah relies heavily on the US support and backing for staying in power.
King Abdullah also sees a natural ally in Israel, a country that can come to its aid in case of another uprising.
Saudi Arabia (House of Saud)
I don’t have to tell you much about Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom is run by the 84 year old, ailing Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz
Al Saud. His personal wealth is estimated at $21 billion USD. He rules a clan of 8000 princes who in turn rule the
country. Saudi Arabia is the centre of corruption in the Arab world. The Saudi rulers corrupt everything with their
money. Lacking the necessary mental power or physical courage, they try to stay in power by subterfuge, lies, and
deception. They fund the real extremists on the one hand while portraying themselves as the protectors of the Western
interest on the other. They preach intolerance and xenophobia to their people decrying the Western decadence, while
spending a lot of time enjoying the life in the West. They pay the West for protection against their own people and they
pay the extremists to do their fighting elsewhere. Saudi rulers are indeed the worst of them all.
House of Saud is also the financier of the so called “Arab Moderates” and extremism that they cause. House of Saud
financed the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. They later financed the Taliban. They also paid the Saddam
Hussein to fight Iran. Then they paid the Americans and Egyptians to fight Saddam Hussein. They are the financiers of
death and misery. They finance anything, anywhere, as long as this reduces the threat to their illegitimate rule. They
are currently financing the civil war in Somalia, bandits in Baluchistan (Pakistan and Iran) and god knows what else.
They are detested by their own people and neighbours yet loved by Bush, Cheney and the oil companies. As long as they
provide the money and oil the US is willing to tolerate them. And guess what? Muslim Brotherhood hates the House of Saud
too. This makes them a threat and hence has to be dealt with.
The Collaboration
As can be seen each country has a good reason to eliminate Hamas, but each is restrained by its population. Israel has
no such a restrain imposed on it. She not only can wage a terrible war, but also get assistance from Arab countries.
Indeed it is the second time (the first was the Lebanon invasion of 2006) that Israel is getting open and solid support
from these Arab countries. The invasion of Gaza was discussed in Egypt before its implementation. Egypt, Jordan and
Saudi Arabia are Israel’s active partners.
Egypt is actively involved in stopping all aids from getting to Palestinians in Gaza save a token few trucks. These few
trucks are allowed to go through so they can be filmed and shown to Egyptian people. All demonstrations are banned and
all Egyptian volunteers for Gaza are either arrested or sent back.
There are hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the Muslim world that are willing to go to the aid of the
Palestinians, but the Egyptian authorities don’t allow them passage. Egyptians even stop medical aid from passing
through their territories. This is part of a report from Associated Press:
“RAFAH, Egypt: Frustration is mounting at Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip, where many local and foreign doctors are
stuck after Egyptian authorities denied them entry into the coastal area now under an Israeli ground invasion.
Anesthesiologist Dimitrios Mognie from Greece idles his time at a cafe near the border, drinking tea and chatting with
other doctors, aid workers and curious Egyptians.
"This is a shame," said Mognie, who decided to use his vacation time to try help Gazans. He thought entering through
Egypt, which has a narrow border with the Hamas-ruled strip, was his best bet.
"That in 2009 they have people in need of help from a doctor and we can go to help and they won't let us. This is
crazy," he added.” [ 5].
In addition there are many Iranian cargo planes full of food and medicine which have been sitting on the tarmacs in
Egypt for days waiting for permission to deliver their cargo. Egyptians even denied the medical aid sent by the son of
the Libyan President Qaddafi to land in Egypt [ 6].
One thing is clear: these three countries do not want the Israelis to fail in their mission of totally destroying Gaza.
Hosni Mubarak said so himself. The daily Haaretz reported that Hosni Mubarak had told European ministers on a peace
mission that Hamas must not be allowed to win the ongoing war in Gaza.
As Egypt physically aids the Israeli military by denying food, fuel and medicine to the civilians, The House of Saud
helps Israel by giving her time and diplomatic cover. When Israel started its invasion there was an immediate call for
an Arab summit. Saudi Arabia and Jordan (along with Egypt of course) delayed the summit. The Saudis along with the UAE
said that they had another meeting to attend to and therefore Palestinian issue had to wait. After a few days when the
summit was eventually held, they issued the same old statements. Yet this time same as the Israel’s invasion of Lebanon
in 2006, they blamed the victims. In a statement Saudi Arabia blamed Hamas for Israel's continuing offensive in the Gaza
Strip. Saudi Arabia, after blaming Hamas, declared that it will not even consider an oil embargo on Israel’s supporters.
She then again blamed Hamas.
By this time, the three Arab countries along with Kuwait and UAE began singing the old song: international community is
not doing anything about the catastrophe that is taking place in Gaza. It seems that these Arab tyrants have no shame at
all. This reminds me of a quote from Marquis De Sade (1740-1814): “One is never so dangerous when one has no shame, than
when one has grown too old to blush.”
These Arab leaders (many are indeed too old to blush) are complicit in the murder of so many civilians, especially young
children. According to Agence France-Presse, quoting the medics on the ground, fully one third of all people killed have
been children [ ]. How can these Arab leaders justify this to their people?
The answer is that they cannot. Israel knows this and for the second time can show the Arab street that their leaders
are nothing but a bunch of old hypocrites. These Arab leaders are now exposed and can do nothing but to cooperate fully
with Israel and US. What stand between them and their people’s rage is their army and secret services; which in turn are
supported by US.
Israel has cleverly exposed these leaders for what they are: collaborators of the worst kind. These Arab leaders have
brought an unimaginable shame to their people. To quote Lucien Bouchard: I have never known a more vulgar expression of
betrayal and deceit. Our hope is now with the people of these countries to clean this stain from their honour.
NOTES
[1] ABC News Norway. “Røde Kors sjokkert over Israel”(Red Cross Shocked by Israel), 8 January 2009.
[2] Aljazeera.net. ” UN: No fighters in targeted school”, 8 January 2009
[3] Aljazeera.net. ” Israel fires on UN Gaza convoy”, 8 January 2009
[4] nytimes.com. “For Israel, 2006 Lessons but Old Pitfalls”, 7 January 2009
[5] The Associated Press. “Doctors stuck at bottleneck on Egypt-Gaza border”. 6 January 2009
[6] google.com: hosted news. ” Egypt denies Kadhafi's son permission to land at airport”. 6 January 2009
[7] Agence France-Presse. “Children make up third of Gaza dead”, 7 January 2009
*************
Dr. Abbas Bakhtiar lives in Norway. He is a management consultant and a contributing writer for many online journals.
He can be contacted at : Bakhtiarspace-articles@yahoo.no