The Gaza Problem

With the announcement of a cease fire in Gaza over the weekend and the withdrawal of Israeli ground forces just in time for the inauguration of Barack Obama (the timing of which cannot be coincidental), the problem of Gaza has suddenly shifted back to the Arab world.  Not surprisingly, they are already dropping the ball.  At an Arab League summit in Kuwait Monday and Tuesday, Arab leaders could not agree what to say about the situation in Gaza officially. Apparently, they found it more efficacious to argue about how much to blame the situation on Israel rather than doing anything productive to help address the calamity that has befallen the people of Gaza.  Even more pathetic than the statement (which even Amr Mussa was embarrassed about) was the League's inability to establish a mechanism for transferring reconstruction and recovery aid to the Gaza Strip.  Instead, only Saudi Arabia and Qatar vaguely promised funds and the League vaguely promised to figure out a way to get those funds to the Palestinians.  Which Palestinians is of course the problem.

The issue of Gaza is an incredibly tortured topic for most Arab leaders.  Many, particularly the less aggressive regimes, dubbed the Arab moderates in western press, tend to loath Hamas and would rather seen them go, even if it means that Palestinians living in the Strip have to suffer to achieve those goals.  The more aggressive regimes of the region prefer to egg on Hamas to stick it to the Israelis but use no opportunity or means to actually do something productive, like build a viable state there.  All sides harbor a certain and sometimes equal distaste for Fatah, believing that faction to be corrupt and untrustworthy, especially when it comes to delivering funds and acting as toady to the west when it is convenient.  Before the Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 which handed Hamas a clear majority, many Arab donors, with the possible exception of Saudi Arabia, were looking for ways to bypass official Palestinian bodies altogether by giving aid in the form of direct investment/charity.  Gulf countries built hospitals, schools, etc without the direct participation of the PA.  This is an issue that western policymakers and even some Israelis tend to overlook or conveniently forget since they lack any other alternative: Gaza suffering does not equate with an increase in support or a new found trust in Abbas or the PA.  In an interesting comment to a Kuwait Times article on the summit posted on Zawya this morning, one reader said, "the Arab world is divided between those people who support Hamas and those who do not; I know almost no one who supports Abbas as he is seen as a puppet."   

As if the situation isn't complicated enough, the Israeli penchant for destroying Palestinian infrastructure as soon as it is built makes donors incredibly reluctant and hamstrings any government or private group's attempt to get back on their feet.  And, of course, there is the perpetual problem of the borders.  I would argue that no Israeli politician can be considered serious about a long term solution while advocating border closures.  I know that many Israelis believe that they are safer as long as Palestinians are kept locked behind walls, but no lasting, stable, and reasonable neighbor will emerge if Palestinians are not allowed to trade and have freedom of movement.  At the very least, the Arab League, UN, and Quartet (if such an entity still exists now) should demand Palestinian control over its air and sea borders and its border with Egypt.  

At the end of the day, it's hard to determine who in fact is the worst enemy of the Palestinian people- the Israelis who keep them locked up to keep themselves "safe," the Palestinian leaders who would rather keep the loot for themselves and watch their people die as long as they can claim moral victory, or the Arab states who twiddle their thumbs and tsk and say what a shame it all is.