A roll-call of moral lepers

A lot of unfortunate video and still-life images have been seen by millions of us, in the last several days. But the ones that stuck in my mind are the sights of Arab leaders at a meeting in Cairo, and another of them at the UN Security Council,  appealing for a ceasefire in Gaza. 

There are countless clips, of many aspects of the tragedy unfolding right now in Palestine, but the aforementioned pictures of Arab leaders are the most unfortunate, in my opinion. 

This is because they are the best placed to end Israeli carnage in Gaza and the West Bank. They have no need to beg others. 

There is no need for them to issue platitudinous statements begging Israel to desist and go back to the two-state solution. 

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All they need to do is to announce a suspension of all crude oil sales to America and Europe, until Israel halts its murderous operations in Palestine. 

All they need to do is to send every Israeli diplomat packing from every Arab city and recall theirs from Tel Aviv. 

What they need to do is to deploy the sophisticated weapons they’ve been buying and stockpiling from the US and Europe, to the borders of Palestine and threaten to use them against Israel, the moment it starts a ground invasion of Palestine. 

Yes, this is truly what we want to hear from leading Arab countries because it is both do-able and necessary. But why are we not hearing it? 

Why are demonstrations taking place all over the world, in solidarity with Palestine, including in most Arab countries but their governments are unable to lift a finger to do what is right? Why do they prefer to pay lip service to the Palestinian cause rather than act decisively to aid it? 

What is it about these wealthy Arab nations that all they fear is incurring the wrath of US and Israel, rather than the dire need to stand by their Palestinian kith and kin? 

The most perfect weapon in their arsenal is actually the oil wealth Almighty Allah has given them. He, SWT, chose to give them what their enemies desperately need to survive, why can’t they withhold it and without a shot being fired have the murderous duo of US and Israel dancing to their tune? 

I know there are people today who say that oil politics is no longer fashionable because the Western world is busy trying to find alternatives to crude oil. But the truth is they haven’t found that alternative so their homes, their transport and aviation industries are all dependent on crude oil to function. 

If the US can so shamelessly support the current carnage in Gaza, with Joe Biden even saying that the attack on Al-Ahli hospital was the handiwork of Palestinians themselves, why won’t their Arab brothers and neighbours use any tool at their disposal to help them? 

American war ships have already been deployed in the sea near Israel, with the sole aim of assisting, whenever Israel needs them. Why won’t the Arabs do the same? Perhaps the moral leprosy that has spread all over them has finally taken its toll. 

Saudi Arabia sits on one-quarter of the world’s daily crude oil supply, imagine the upset it would cause if it were to announce a suspension of oil sales for at least a week. But they won’t even try it. If the idea is to put pressure on Israel, we must remember that Saudi’s de facto ruler, crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman openly told a Jewish organisation giving him an award that his own mother was Jewish. Never mind that the lady in question was said to be his nanny. 

Whether out of filial loyalty to her or as part of his unholy reforms in the Kingdom, Bin Salman certainly will not stick his neck out for Palestine. And so, the bloodbath continues!

King Abdullah of Jordan has every reason to want a totally liberated Palestine. Almost half the population of Jordan are Palestinians on exile since the 6-day war. Additionally, his own Queen, Jordans first lady, Rania, is a Palestinian by birth. But none of these could make him do more than read that statement stating their lame position after the Cairo summit.

The worst part of it is that they openly said that they wouldn’t take a position after the summit because some participants, ie the Western diplomats have refused to let Israel be castigated. 

Therefore, King Abdullah ended up reading a report that rehashed the old platitudes about ensuring safety on both sides, resorting to the two-state solution while saying nothing about stopping Israel and punishing it for atrocities committed in the Occupied Territories.  

Yes, we know that Jordan doesn’t have oil. But it still patronises Israeli goods and services. Therefore, boycotting all Israeli businesses, closing down their offices and sending home their diplomats is well within the capacity of Jordan to make. But they won’t do it. 

The Emir of Qatar was shown showing concerns about Israeli savagery in Gaza and the death toll, but there is no willingness to stop oil sales to Israel and the US. 

In November last year they hosted the most expensive World Cup in history. In fact, the money spent on that sports jamboree was more than what was spent in all the previous World Cup tournaments combined. 

With that kind of wealth, what will Qatar miss if they suspend crude oil sales for at least a fortnight? And it will certainly cause enough upset in the market to force the Israelis and their American sidekicks to their knees. But they won’t do it. And we all know why. 

The United Arab Emirates was the first to condemn the October 7 attacks on Israel three weeks ago. It appears they are totally oblivious to what Palestinians had to endure in the last several months, since the desecration of al-Aqsa mosque in Ramadan.  

Innocent worshippers were whipped and killed in cold blood while observing their prayers in Islam’s third holiest site. 

But the Emiratis have forgotten all that, just like they conveniently forgot that for the last 75 years Israel has committed all manners of atrocities against Palestinians. 

To the Emiratis, October 7 was unprovoked and stands condemned. With this, it is obviously too much to ask either their President, in Abu Dhabi, or the Dubai Emir to stand with Palestinians, through a stoppage of crude oil sales or by boycotting Israeli services. Nothing can make them consider breaking diplomatic ties with their beloved Israel.  

The world’s first 7-Star hotel, the iconic Burj al Arab, is said to be a joint venture between Emiratis and Israelis. This is how attached the UAE is to the apartheid state. Do you see why they can’t waste their breath on poor and oppressed Palestine?

According to North Koreans, a moral leper is someone with no sense of right and wrong, on issues that matter. When they crowned former US president, George Bush Snr a moral leper during his reign, they celebrated it by printing a giant photo of him on the carpet of a hotel lobby in Pyongyang. 

Whoever was walking into the hotel would have to step foot on George Bush’s face then. They were not to know that a worse evil would befall the world in the form of his son George W Bush Jr. 

Suffering a double dose of moral leprosy, George Bush Jr staged the September 11 attacks and then launched the world into a war on terror that costs countless lives and limbs. That’s the story of American statesmen. However, they are the same people the rulers of Arabia cherish and revere. 

In a roll-call of moral lepers surely those of Arabia will only come second to those of the US.

What a tragedy. But again, I repeat, Israel will lose this war in the end. Whether they launch a ground offensive in the next few days or continue with their aerial firepower, whether the Arab leaders act decisively to help their brothers or not and whether the US deploys all its military might in the aid of Israel or not, the Israelis will never ever win against the Palestinian resistance and the Divine Might behind them.