Late Palestinian-American intellectual and critic, Edward Said, had noted the Arab pusillanimity in the face of Israeli belligerence, “In this entire panorama of desolation, what catches the eye is the utter passivity and helplessness of the Arab world as a whole”.
Years after Edward Said’s death, his words ring true yet again. Israel with a population of about 10 million has routinely and successfully attacked the sensibilities of 500 million odd Arabs (from 22 countries) and an additional 90 million Turks.
His lament that Arab Sheikdoms failed to support the Palestinian cause are well documented with the term “panorama of desolation” reserved for Palestine’s neighbouring Arab states, which historically did precious nothing.
His moral argument that the native Palestinians had been made to disappear from the history of the region, has probably never been truer, than today.
Despite the relentless pummeling and flattening of the Gaza Strip and killing of nearly 70,000 Palestinians, there was the usual dose of mealy-mouthed platitudes “condemning” the Israeli action. Even other Islamic countries like Pakistan who have traditionally espoused the Palestinian cause, have been falling over themselves to slavishly ingratiate themselves with the principal supporter and co-conspirator of Israel, the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
On the contrary, the mantle to offer any form of resistance to the Israeli bulldozing of the Palestinian people and narrative had been left to the sectarian-opposite, Iran. The recently killed Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had hauntingly said, “It will be written in books that there was a mob who once killed thousands of children and women in Gaza”.
Khamenei had framed Palestine as a moral obligation, criticizing the situation in Gaza Strip as the “extent of world injustice”. Khamenei had goaded the Arabs to do a lot more by insisting, “Today isn’t the time to remain silent regarding Gaza. Muslim governments have heavy responsibilities. If any Muslim government backs the Zionist regime in any form … an eternal mark of disgrace will stain their reputation.”
But it all fell on deaf ears of the Arab monarchies who were basically content to cut side deals and pursue Abrahamic Accords, whilst leaving the Palestinians to their forgotten fate.
It harked back to the cold prophecy of the Libyan leader, Mummar Gaddafi, at the Arab League Summit at Damascus in 2008. Gaddafi had similarly warned Arab leaders about their obsequious and cowardly ways by telling them that the same fate awaited them as was done onto Saddam Hussein, if they did not stand up to the US guiles.
Gaddafi’s blunt warning, “Your turn is next … what happened to Saddam awaits you too” was met by sneers and laughter. Soon Gaddafi met a far more gruesome end than Saddam Hussein did, and again the Arab monarchs had kept sheepishly silent.
Today, Israel-US jointly attacked Iran under the ironically called “Operation Epic Fury”. Expectedly, the Arab world reacted instinctively with their meaningless inanities suggesting restraint and soon shifted gear to literally supporting the Israeli-US action on Iran, after Tehran started attacking Arab countries who had given military bases to the US.
It wasn’t the first time that the Arab countries were effectively backing Israel as Iran was taking on Tel Aviv. Last year, as Iran had fired drones at Israel in retaliation to Israeli attacks on Iran – it was the Jordanian Air Defense Systems who had shot down the Iranian drones as they were on their way to hit targets in Israel.
However, when the same Israeli forces had relentlessly gone after Palestinians in Gaza Strip killing nearly 70,000 – Jordan with an estimated 60% of its population with Palestinian ancestry, has remained curiously silent. Jordan’s monarchy is of the Hashemite dynasty that traces its roots to the Quraysh Tribe in Mecca.
Similarly, the Washington Post carried a report suggesting that Saudi Arabia had encouraged the recent US-Israel duo to attack Iran, in the days leading to the attack. If proven true, it tantamounts to Saudi complicity even when it supposedly had accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. As in reality the Saudis did nothing tangible to come to the aid of Palestinians, and targeted the only nation that did stand up to Israel, even if Iran was pursuing its own agenda.
Now the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that houses American Military bases have mulled taking on Iran (alongside with the US and Israel) as they surreally posited the “option to respond to Iranian attacks”.
Meanwhile the continuing demonisation of Iran in the US-Israeli narrative is historically not corroborated with facts. Fact is that when Donald Trump unilaterally reneged on the Iran Nuclear Deal, the UN-mandated watchdog agency, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had repeatedly confirmed that Iran had been complying with all the deal’s nuclear restrictions (as had all other P5+1 countries).
Even in fighting terror against the terror organisations like Al Qaida or later the ISIL, it was Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Quds Force who were at the forefront (even if there were sectarian considerations at play). Iran also was avowedly opposed to other extremist forces like the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Yet the Iranian War Hero, General Soleimani, who had led the charge against ISIL was eventually killed by the US forces (with the usual bogey of “imminent attack” on US forces).
Still earlier, the 9/11 Commission had found no evidence linking Iran to the attack planning on 9/11 (as all 19 hijackers were Arabs and not Iranians) – yet immediately after 9/11, American President George W. Bush had named Iran (along with Iraq and North Korea) as the number one sponsor of global terror in the so-called “Axis of Evil” which also purportedly pursued development of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
That the earlier accusation of WMDs in Iraq had itself come a cropper, did not deter the US from continuously making similar accusations at Iran, which ultimately culminated in the recent war.
Even though much of the Islamist terror industry (from the Middle East to terror nurseries in Pakistan) can be traced back to largesse from the Arab Sheikdoms, the same has been conveniently glossed over in favour of the Arabs. No such sanctioning or militaristic action was ever afforded on the likes of Saudi Arabia despite shocking events like the Khashoggi-murder, which were laughed away by Donald Trump.
For all its imperfections and sectarian agendas – Iran is perhaps the most democratic country in the Middle East with functioning elections that do offer candidates who could be from the ranks of reformists or conservatives.
It is decisively secular unlike any other country in the Middle East with functioning Churches (with an estimated 500,000 practicing Christians) and even Synagogues (with an estimated 15,000 Jews).
The Iranian parliament also reserves seats in its Majlis (Parliament) for its minorities i.e., 2 seats for Armenian Christians, I seat for Assyrian & Chaldean Christians, 1 seat for Zoroastrians, and unbeknownst to most in the Western world, even 1 seat for Jews! This is unbelievable and unmatched societal accommodation for a Middle Eastern nation – yet the US-Israeli duo accuses Iran of bigotry and intolerance.
Contrary to Western rhetoric and propaganda of subjugation of its people, Iran has made dramatic improvements in education and women empowerment with female literacy hitting up to 97-99% with amongst the highest female participation in STEM disciplines. Unlike the Arab world, Iranian women straddle all professional, technical, scientific, political and managerial fields that can easily shame the track record of far more affluent Arab nations. Yet the popular and “manufactured” perception of Iran as a dark nation ruled by zealots and a bloodlusting regime, persists.
Nuance is almost lost in the war of perceptions with the “monopoly of truth” with the proverbial West.
Iran is sadly cornered, isolated and fighting with its back to the wall.
The Arabs who have made much noise and empty bluster, remain as inefficacious, servile, and obsequious, to the US-Israeli agenda.
The 6000-year old sophisticated people of the Persian Civilisation have had many legitimate grouses with their Ayatollah regime – but the same cannot be answered by the unilateral bombing of Iran, by Israel and the US.
Lt General Bhopinder Singh (Retd) is former Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands & Puducherry. Views expressed here are the writer’s own.