Arab States Have 'Leverage,' Still Won't Budge for Palestine
The Electronic Intifada highlights the perpetual hand-wringing over why Arab states, with their undeniable economic and diplomatic power, choose not to exert real pressure on the US regarding Palestine. They ponder what 'role' these nations could play. The unasked question, of course, is what role they have played for decades: enabling US policy while issuing toothless condemnations from luxurious
conference rooms. It's less an oversight and more a feature of the geopolitical landscape. History provides the unvarnished context: from the US-backed 'peace processes' that steadily eroded Palestinian land to the current Abraham Accords, normalization with Israel has consistently overshadowed any meaningful action to stop occupation or ethnic cleansing. The 'leverage' exists, sure, but so does
the deep entrenchment of fossil fuel economies, military aid agreements, and regime stability guaranteed by Washington. When 'stopping genocide' conflicts with maintaining those arrangements, the latter consistently wins. One might wonder if the real leverage is always held by those who stand to profit.