Arab Leaders Support Israel, Condemn Hezbollah
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Israel and Hezbollah are at it again.
The current round of saber rattling is neither surprising nor historic.
But what is historic is the reaction of the Arab world’s leadership.
With few exceptions, Arab leadership has been silent as Israel and Hezbollah (the Islamic, extremist, Shiite, military group based in Lebanon) exchange fire power.
And some Arab leaders have even taken the historic step of publicly voicing their support for Israel .
While that alone is a sign of massive change, it’s not yet cause for celebration.
Normalization, the euphemism used by many in the Mideast to put the kibosh on public interactions between the Jewish state and her many Arab neighbors, is not quite around the corner but it's inching closer and closer to reality.
And for that, we have Iran to thank or to blame, depending on your political bent and perspective. The forces for normalization are gaining momentum principally because the major counter-force — for them as well as for Israel and the West — is Iran.
Many leaders in the Arab world including the intelligentsia are rabidly anti-Iran.
They view Iran as a threat to the entire region. They also know that Israel has the undeniable ability to check Iran and so they are siding with Israel. For Israel, unlike the United States, there is no downside to confronting Iran. It is them or us, literally, do or die.
In the case of Hezbollah the equation becomes vividly clear.
Hezbollah equals Iran. Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran. Hezbollah gets its weapons, its training, its money, all from Iran.
Hezbollah takes its commands from Iran. Hezbollah has at least 130,000 rockets. Hezbollah will only unleash those rockets when Iran gives the word.
And recently, Iran has sent the command and Hezbollah has sent the rockets flying.
On Sept. 1 Prince Khalifa, the Foreign Minister of Bahrain, tweeted: He not only tweeted in Arabic, he also tweeted the Google Translate of his tweet so that the world would know what he and the rest of the leadership of Bahrain was thinking.
And, they think that Hezbollah and Lebanon are simply wrong and that Israel is correct .
The message Prince Khalifa sent out to the world is that Lebanon was wrong while "standing by watching battles take place on its borders."
He wrote that the decision to: "make war, peace or stability should be the decision of the state."
He celebrated Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for slapping down Iran or, as he called it "Iran's ugly face." Then Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalifa concluded with the phrase "Netanyahu knows what to do against Hezbollah."
Historic is a bit of an understatement.
As for the remainder of the Arab world, their silence speaks almost as loudly as Prince Khalifa’s tweet. In the past, the Arab world’s response was both loud and automatic.
There was wall-to-wall condemnation of Israel. But not now — not in September, 2019.
Of course, there is blowback. Iran aside, there are people in the Arab world, in the highest echelons of Arab leadership and on the Arab street, who are wary of any change whatsoever.
Embracing Israel, however informally is not only frightening, it is an anathema to their very existence.
But they are no longer the majority and they are no longer intimidating other voices into silence. Arab political leaders and diplomats are becoming more pragmatic.
They believe that good terms with Washington, D.C. requires some type of relationship with Israel.
They rightly understand that the U.S. is pushing normalization as a way to avoid a larger conflict in the region.
And even more than the United States, they do not want that conflict to erupt.
But sometimes the blowback needs to be managed.
And that’s what is happening in Morocco.
After a year of construction work, just as the work was about to be completed, Morocco's first Holocaust memorial was destroyed. The structure was located just outside of Marrakesh, the country's largest city, when a bulldozer mowed it all down.
The bulldozer was hired by the local municipality.
Morocco's Holocaust memorial was sponsored by a German group dedicated to teaching the lessons of Holocaust and creating bridges between people. The name of the group — which has pledged to raise more funds and see the building to its completion, is called PixelHelper.
The memorial received media coverage and the media coverage caused blowback.
The ostensible, or publicly presentable, reason for the memorial’s destruction was that the construction was not legal.
The real reason was that those who were challenging the memorial claim that their government is getting too close to Israel and this memorial was further proof.
The shame is that Jews of the Arab world were murdered under the Nazis.
They were attacked, ghettoized, and even deported under the Nazis. This Holocaust memorial was intended to be a memorial to those Jews and to the LGBT community, who was also targeted by the Nazis.
Normalization with Israel comes with risks. Two steps forward, one step back. And sometimes the local extremists need to be mollified. But it’s still two steps forward.
And it's still historic.
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Although it is rare indeed, it is good to see some reality occur.
I have no problem with them calling out Hezbollah; or the Sunni Arab countries starting to back Israel over Iran- it just shows the Muslim religious divide is growing.
But, calling out Lebanon for not stopping Hezbollah? With what military are they supposed to do that with?
Hezbollah fought the Israeli military to a stand still last go around. What is the Lebanese military going to do against them?
If the Sunni Arab countries are so concerned they should ante up and send troops, aide, and logistic resources to Lebanon to combat Hezbollah. Of course that build up will have to receive Israeli approval since Hezbollah operates within the 12 mile Israeli self-declared demilitarized within Lebanon. Especially with air space, as Israel regularly sends drones and fighters into Lebanon.
Hezbollah needs to be dealt with for the sake of Lebanon; but no one wants to do anything about it. Israeli involvement is not the answer.
U.S. Marines and Lebanese army troops. Beirut, 1983
How many times has the Prince led troops in Lebanon? How many troops has Bahrain sent to Lebanon?
The Lebanese army has lost a huge number of troops going back to the 1980's. When the Prince can say the same then he should speak.
It's best to remember the suicide bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in 1983...Or the suicide bombing of the French Paratrooper barracks the same year. Or the American Embassy.
Talk is cheap, Prince. Action takes guts.
I'm happy to see the condemnation of the Hezbollah group. Now let's back it up Arab states.
Agree completely.
It is time for the Sunni Arab nations to step up; but that would take talking directly to Israel to make sure they stay out of it.
Neither side is willing to do that, but at least he is playing lip service now. Must be learning from Western politicians.
Yes it does, and nothing is yet actually being done; but, at least now someone in their leadership is coming out and saying it publicly. None of them would even do that before. It takes small steps. When we were just kids, King Abdulla of Jordan wanted to make peace with Israel. Later, Anwhar Sadat did make peace. Both were killed by their own people.
Yes he does.
I can still remember what Netanyahu said after the Arabs kept trying to replace Arafat and the choices kept dying. "Sooner or later, they'll find someone who won't want to step up into the crosshairs." They found Abbas, who at least knew when to keep his mouth shut.
Hopefully, the Sunni Arab states will come around and become involved.
Next month, October 23rd will be the 36th anniversary of the suicide bombing of the Marine Corps barracks and the French Paratrooper barracks in Beirut.
Many Americans and French have this day burned into their memory.
Perhaps not many here know exactly why it is burned into YOUR memory. I'll never forget for that reason as well.
More than you might think Buzz, although I believe that that story was not on the main page.
Same here. I believe the phrase, "One hell of a Marine" fits the situation exactly. That's about the highest praise you can give to a Marine.