Yossi schwartz ISL (The section of the RCIT in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 27.12.2023
It is beyond reasonable doubt that the Arab local rulers are afraid of a new wave of the Arab revolution and they want to stop the war of Israel on the Palestinian people as soon as possible. In addition to the war and the genocide of the people of Gaza the Houthis are given an example how to deal with Israel and the demands to cut all relations with Israel and even go to a war on the side of the Palestinians are spreading. Demands that we support. Let us examine the situation in each Arab state.
Jordan
Jordan is a close ally of Israel and the American imperialists. Nevertheless, the king and the queen have demanded to end the war against Gaza and call it a genocide. The tone of Jordanian politics has changed sharply towards Israel, and the countries’ bilateral relations are at a low point. It is clear that Zionist genocide of the Palestinians is rapidly contributing to widespread support for Hamas not only among the Palestinians but also among Jordanians and Arabs across the region. This may end the Abraham accords at risk and is changing the political map of the Middle East, with its new alliances, the rise of the BRICS bloc, and the increasing influence of Iran, Russia and China in the Arab world.
The day after October 7th “Jordanians circulated video clips and sarcastic comments about the high death toll and capture of Israelis, an unprecedented loss for Israel in its history of its wars with Palestinian resistance movements. Spontaneous festivities took place in Jordanian streets, as people distributed sweets and chanted slogans in support of the leadership of Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades” [1]
This is the renewal of the popularity of Hamas that prior to the attack on Israel declined because Hamas dealt with the running of Gaza at the expense of its commitment to resistance.
“This gap between the movement and the Jordanian public also widened as the result of Hamas’ rapprochement with Bashar al-Assad’s regime” [2]
During the recent protests in Amman, Jordanians called out the names of Hamas’ military leaders, including Mohammed Deif, the commander-in-chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the movement’s official spokesman, Abu Ubaida, and Yahya al-Sinwar, the head of the Hamas movement in Gaza. After the Al-Ahli hospital bombing, King Abdullah canceled a summit that Jordan had planned to host with the U.S. President Joe Biden. Among other changes in the official Jordanian position, Crown Prince Hussein entered the political discourse, taking a sharp stance against Israeli killing of civilians in Gaza. Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi also made diplomatic efforts at the United Nations, and with the support of 120 countries, the General Assembly adopted a Jordanian resolution that called for an “immediate, permanent, and sustainable humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities,” and a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Israel’s genocide, with full American support, to the October 7. Hamas attacks could internationalize the crisis and compel multiple states across the Middle East to become engaged in a wider conflict. This is the most important concern for the Jordanian government that also fears the possibility of mass transfer of Palestinian civilians
In Egypt, the war exposed the cooperation with Israel into the limelight, and have pushed millions of Egyptians out of their inward focus on daily survival in time of high inflation and unemployment. They are now confronted with Israeli plans to recolonize Gaza using Egypt as a conduit, by forcing Palestinians south into Sinai. Both the Egyptian state and its citizens reject this vehemently, but for different reasons. These differences reflect a chasm between the regime and the population beginning with the signing of the Camp David accords in 1978, in which the massacres of the Palestinians are widening further and further every passing day.
Egyptians have a long history of support for the Palestinian cause, in the context of a shared Arab national identity. The public first opposed the Zionist colonization project in the 1930s, and under the pressure of the masses the Egyptian army fought in the 1948 Palestine war. In the 1950s, Egypt’s president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, offered state support to the Palestinians. Sadat and Mubarak policy of cooperation with the Zionist apartheid state was against the will of the Egyptian masses that rebelled against the corrupted dictatorial regime serving USA and Israel imperialism in the Arab revolution. The justified attacks of the Houthis against ships serving Israel are supported by the Egyptian masses.
“For Egyptians, the events of 7 October signified the Palestinians breaking their siege, which pierced the steady news stream of abuses, detentions, executions, and land grabs in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. Egyptians then felt a sense of impotence as the bombardment began, particularly given their geographical proximity to Gaza. Israel has repeatedly bombed the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border and obstructed aid convoys getting through. As the flow of devastating images continues, Egyptians’ grief and fury have mounted. Mosques host continuous prayers for the dead, becoming spaces for a collective processing of the horrors unfolding” [3]
The actions of the Houthis in support of the Palestinians that block the passage of ships to Suez Canal cost Egypt significant economic losses, the fear of the masses and at the same time Al Sisi opposes the Zionist plans of driving the Gazan to Sinai desert explains the involvement of Egypt in the negotiation of cease fire between the Zionists and Gaza.
“Al Sisi is afraid that the masses will push Egypt to fight Israel as happened in 1948. Or at least cuts all relations with Israel “President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has publicly stated that Egypt will not allow a displacement of Palestinians, as it would mean “the end of the Palestinian cause” and a potential threat to Egypt’s national security. But news reports have suggested that Israel might offer to pay off some of Egypt’s vast public debt in exchange for allowing the forced displacement of people from Gaza into Sinai.” [4]
Most Saudis reject diplomatic relations with Israel contrary to the local ruling class.
“A new poll has found that 96 percent of Saudis believe that Arab countries should cut all ties with Israel to protest the war in Gaza, posing a significant challenge to the Biden administration’s push for Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.According to the poll, 40 percent of Saudis expressed positive attitudes toward Hamas, compared with 10 percent in a poll several months before the war began. Only 16 percent of Saudis surveyed in the poll said that Hamas should stop calling for the destruction of Israel to accept the creation of Palestinian and Israeli states side by side — the “two-state solution” to the conflict that the Saudi government publicly supports” [5]
Algeria
“President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in 2021 that Palestine is the “mother of all causes” and refused to join or endorse the Abraham Accords that, according to him and the majority of Algeria’s political class, fail to address the root causes of the conflict… Reactions to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza were also shared by the Algerian population. Following a general call coordinated by major political parties and civil society organizations, thousands of citizens marched across several cities and regions to condemn Israeli attacks and the perceived silence of the international community. Remarkably, these protests were the first since the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 amendment of the constitution which put all demonstrations under strict state control. The unfolding events in Gaza come amidst a renewed talk on normalization processes between Israel and Arab states, most notably Saudi Arabia. Average Algerians stand behind the government’s official rejection of the Abraham Accords and protesters illustrated this attitude by calling upon Arab capitals that have relations with Tel Aviv to expel Israeli Ambassadors” [6]
“The Algerian parliament officially authorized Abdel Majid Tebboune, the president of this country to go to war with Israel by a 100% vote. The voting session of parliament was accompanied by long slogans in support of Palestinian people & resistance groups. pic.twitter.com/6p2z0aCyfG — IWN (@A7_Mirza) November 2, 2023” [7]
“Algeria is the second Arab nation that looks to enter the war against Israel, following Yemen’s declaration of war just two days prior.”We launched a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and a large number of drones at various targets of the Zionist enemy in the Palestine Occupied Territories,” the spokesperson of the Yemeni armed forces, General Yahya Saree, said earlier this week. “We emphasize that this operation is the third operation in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine” [8]
“The Algerian Parliament has voted to allow President Abdel Madjid Tebboune to enter the Israel-Palestine war. The vote will let Algeria join and support Palestinians in the war. The voting sessions witnessed long slogans in support of Palestine and resistance groups. Algeria is the second Arab nation, after Yemen, to enter the war against Israel” [9]
Morocco
The crowd in Rabat of about 10,000 people denounced what protest leaders called a “war of extermination” as well as the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel.The protesters were called to the streets by a disparate group of organizations backing the Palestinian cause, including left-wingers and members the Islamist Justice and Charity movement .They marched along Mohammed V Avenue in the heart of the city, beneath banners declaring “stop the war of extermination in Gaza, stop normalization” [10]
Thus, the arrogant racist Israeli declared at the beginning of the war on Gaza that Israel will change the face of the Middle East and indeed it managed to change the Middle East. Instead of Abraham accords Israel is facing the hostility of the entire population of the region Moslem and Christians. If for decades the issue was the result of the 1967 war now the issue is the result of the 1948 war.
History has a few dialectical laws. The most important and relevant law is the negation of the negation. In 1948 a socialist democratic state with a Palestinian majority was negated by the ethnic cleansing and the formation of the Zionist state on 80% of Palestine. In 1967 Palestine was unified by the Zionist occupation of the entire country that was negation of previous division but as an apartheid state and now comes the turn of the process of negation of this negation Palestine red and free from the river to the sea that will be what it ought to be in 1948 but on a higher level.
Cut all relations with Israel!
Join the war on the side of Hamas!
Exchange of all the political prisoners!
Down with the Zionist apartheid state!
For Palestine red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[1] https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/90930
[2] Ibid
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/29/war-gl
[4] Ibid
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-poll-israel-gaza-war-hamas.html
[6] https://www.euromesco.net/publication/algeria-and-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict-reactions-and-policies/
[7] https://new.thecradle.co/articles-id/11641#:~:text=The%20100%2F100%20vote%20icame,of%20liberation%20against%20French%20colonialism.&text=Algeria%20is%20the%20second%20Arab,war%20just%20two%20days%20prior.
[8] Ibid
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkgZpoujVJE
[10] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231224-thousands-of-moroccans-rally-against-gaza-war-israel-ties