[Peace-discuss] It's not "brave little Israel in a sea of Arabs/Muslims"

[C. G. Estabrook via Peace-discuss]

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/18829/stopping-israel


"The biggest supporter of Israel in the region remains Saudi Arabia. Locked into an alliance with the United States, Saudi Arabia sees Israel as an asset in its regional struggle not only against Arab nationalism (of the radical Nasser variety, as in 1967), but also against current Iranian and Shiite empowerment in the region. Ex-head of Saudi Arabian Intelligence Turki al-Faisal’s support for Israel was blatant when he blamed Hamas for the current Israeli invasion of Gaza.

"Even King Abdullah’s belated statement barely mentioning Gaza had far too many warnings and attacks against “terrorists” that Islamic Jihad felt it was directed against the Palestinian resistance itself. If a popular regime change in Saudi Arabia seems unlikely today, a weakening of any link in the Saudi-Israeli-Egyptian-Jordanian-American chain is not out of the question, especially as the Arab revolutionary spirit re-organizes and coalesces again.

"Many states in the region are complicit in Israel’s occupation. By buying $11 billion in arms from the US and hosting the biggest US military camp in the region, Qatar contributes to US power in the Middle East, even as it gives diplomatic and political support and refuge to Hamas. Supporting the end of the siege while empowering Israel’s main backer in the region (not to mention suppressing democracy and human rights in its own backyard, while funneling monies to fundamentalists in Egypt and Syria) only conveys the peculiarities of the Qatari monarchy, not its commitment to Arab freedom. If Qatar is not as big a problem as Saudi Arabia, it still is a problem, and plays an active part in the anti-democratic Gulf regional bloc (the GCC)..."

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