Self-deception is one of the characteristics of the Middle East narrative. Whenever wars and political upheavals tear the region apart, someone will claim that life is improving, that peace may yet be discovered. And so it is today. As Iraq collapses deeper into anarchy, the US has been trying to push the Arab Gulf states into opening relations with Israel.
Qatar did that long ago and has agreed to expand its trade. But Kuwaitis are now talking openly of ties with Israel and of ending their long-standing trade embargo. Bahrain, home to the US Seventh Fleet, has already lifted its trade sanctions as part of a recent free-trade agreement with the US. Beyond the Gulf, Tunisia's foreign minister has held talks with Israel's foreign minister, Silvan Shalom.
Israel's abandonment of Jewish settlements in Gaza has been held up by the US as good reason for Arab nations to demonstrate warmth towards Israel. On the surface, the argument looks watertight. With Israel out of Gaza and with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, talking regularly to Ariel Sharon, what do other Arab states have to gain from a boycott? Why should Kuwait, with its nationalist credentials but its contempt for Palestinians who took Saddam Hussein's side after he invaded Kuwait in 1990, continue to show enmity towards Israel? If the Gulf states want stronger relations with the US, then they must pay some attention to Washington's closest ally in the Middle East.
All well and good. The problem is that Israel, while leaving the Palestinians to sweat in the garbage tip of Gaza, has shown little sign of ending its colonial expansion in the one area where a Palestinian state might one day be created. When the current US president talked about "facts on the ground" in the West Bank - endorsing Israel's maintenance of its largest settlements - in effect he tore up UN Security Council Resolution 242, the original international land-for-peace demand that was supposed to be the basis for any Arab-Israeli settlement. How can Palestinians have a state that is "viable" when the West Bank is littered with Jewish colonies and with Israeli-only "access" roads, plus a massive wall that has not only consumed more Palestinian land but cut the West Bank off from Jerusalem?
In the incendiary world of the Middle East, where the fires of Iraq frighten the Gulf states almost as much as they do the west, these questions are not being asked by Arab leaders. True, they are being asked by their people - but when did the region's kings and dictators ever represent those they rule? It's all very well for Kuwait's Arab News to editorialise that the country should "leave the Palestinian cause to Palestinians because it is they who are really concerned with this issue", but what can the Palestinians do on their own?
The Gulf Arabs have been persuaded, it seems, that any Arab initiative that follows the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza will, in the words of another local editorialist, "permeate every aspect of the Arab political, economic, cultural and social life". Yet when Saudi Arabia proposed not only closer ties but recognition of Israel four years ago - in return for an end to the occupation of the West Bank - its initiative was ignored. And Saudi Arabia is now the one major Gulf state to show no interest in a relationship with Israel: al-Qaeda's would-be revolution in the kingdom has also, no doubt, persuaded King Abdullah to stay away from America's latest attempts to help Israel.
Interestingly, the European Union has become wary of committing additional funds to the Palestinians unless there are clear signs that the Gaza withdrawal is going to lead to negotiations towards a West Bank Palestinian state. In other words, Arab Gulf states are showing more faith in an Israeli-Palestinian "peace" than the EU. There is a lesson there somewhere, if the Arabs are listening.
Post this article to
We want to encourage people to comment on our content and to exchange views with other readers and hope this will be done on a courteous basis. However, if you encounter posts which are offensive please let us know by emailing comments@newstatesman.co.uk and we will take swift action where necessary.
