Raw Deal
By Mowahid Hussain Shah
A broader Mideast deal remains elusive, despite the hoopla surrounding the so-called “Abraham Accords” through which UAE and Bahrain have formalized their already normalized transactional ties with Israel.
It unmasks the true face of the moneyed Arab establishment, which has been an integral part of the problem. One can imagine King Faisal – the architect of the OIC – rolling in his grave. It is meant to leave Palestinians abandoned and the Palestinian cause marginalized.
It is more of a business deal connected with trade, travel, tourism, and driven by protection of throne and common sectarian-cum-strategic animus toward Iran. It is an assault on the founding spirit of the OIC, which set as its primary objective “to promote Islamic solidarity among member States.”
Exactly 82 years ago, in Hitler’s Germany, on September 30, 1938, with war clouds hovering over Europe, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain entered into the Munich Agreement, ceding Sudetenland to Nazi Germany and proclaimed it as “peace in our time.” Winston Churchill characterized it as appeasement in our time. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, thereby igniting World War II.
Lest it be forgotten, Gulf sheikhdoms are not at war with Israel nor do they share borders. Defining a terminal cancer as a common cold won’t make the cancer divert and disappear. 53 years ago, the trouncing of Arab armies was thought to have eradicated the Palestinian problem. Instead, it only brought it to the forefront.
Revealing here has been the response and reaction of Democrats who are otherwise vociferous critics of President Trump. Quiet. In his September 11 townhall meeting, Trump praised the liberal pundit Tom Friedman of the New York Times, who had spoken glowingly of the “Abraham Accords.” It is neither Abrahamic nor an Israeli-Palestinian accord – the parties that matter. Accords imbalanced by over-compromise and bad faith tend to have a short ‘shelf-life.’
The over-cautious Democrats’ Mideast posture was equivalent to the ‘silence of the lambs’ when the US decided unilaterally to shift its embassy from Tel Aviv to disputed Jerusalem, flouting international law and longstanding State Department policy. If the Biden administration is inaugurated come January 2021, don’t expect it to move the needle on the Mideast.
When they were weighed on the scale 17 years ago, liberal Democrats were found wanting when they chose to go with the flow on the unprovoked attack on Iraq.
The path-breaking documentary “We Are Many” has now reached American audiences. To cite the Washington Post of September 25, this “stunning documentary revisits the events of February 15, 2003, when nearly 30 million people around the globe took to the streets to protest the US-led invasion of Iraq… When the global protests burst forth, it was a moment of power and clarity.” Further, it states “that marches are good for the soul but it takes sustained action and organization to effect real change.”
Those pinning their hopes on Washington to effect change would do well to study the 1st Presidential debate of September 29, which was replete with cross-talk, personal attacks, crude insults, and rude interruptions. It marks a new low in American civic life.
Empowered by the under-performing Muslim community, Hindutva has been given ample space to make its presence felt on Main Street, USA. It would be an irony of fate should the Pakistani-American community – who remain so reluctant to support their own – look up now to a Kamala for help.
On the stance of the Arab establishment, the less said the better. To expect movement from them on Kashmir defies common sense. Rather, at the peak of Hindutva-inspired excesses in India, the Arab establishment had few qualms in rolling out the red carpet for Mr Modi.
Is being less-powerful such a disqualifier for fair play?
