It is becoming increasingly clear now that President George Bush’s visit to the Arab world was a non-starter in more ways than one. The region has become more volatile as tension has increased after the US president’s tour.
Israel took full benefit from the expression of Bush’s support against the Palestinian resistance and brutally killed over 40 people in Gaza in just 10 days. Children and women also bore the brunt of Zionist murderous lunacy. Front-page photos of babies severely injured by the shrapnel of Israeli bombs have heightened anger and anxiety across the region.
War crimes committed by Israeli mercenaries in uniform are shaking the occupied territories. The last week has seen unsuspecting commuters being blown up for resisting Jewish aggression, government infrastructure being razed to the ground to tame fighters and civilians being taken out for no fault of theirs.
While Israel’s supporters must be gloating over the misery of their enemies, the Palestinians and their backers are regretting the day when Bush landed in Israel and gave Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak the go-ahead to purge Gaza of those struggling for freedom.
The hawks, in their mad pursuit of a defenceless enemy, did not even spare a son of the most respected Hamas figure in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar. Hussam’s assassination has toughened the Arab stance against Israel.
Over a hundred thousand Gazans have become jobless after the Zionist siege of Gaza. The harsh step of closing all border crossings with the territory, preventing delivery of aid shipments to the 1.5 million people, has dealt a severe blow to innocent men, women and children. Around 80 per cent of Gazans rely on food aid that has been hampered by unjustified punitive measures. Gaza depends on fuel supply from outside to generate electricity. The illegal blockade has rendered thousands of families without heaters in the biting cold of January.
What is more disgusting is the deafening criminal silence of the movers and shakers in world capitals over the systematic pogrom of an Arab nation. No criticism from Washington and London is understandable, but what happened to influential Arab countries?
Although any resolution against Israel will surely be vetoed by the US, the General Assembly and other members of the Security Council should take notice of the naked state terrorism. Ban ki-Moon’s mild appeal to Israel to lift Gaza blockade is just a whimper, which is not going to make any difference.
An unending rope given by Bush to Tel Aviv is making the position of President Mahmoud Abbas very difficult. The onslaught has, in fact, highlighted Washington’s lies about ensuring the state of Palestine within a year. When Abbas shakes hands with Olmert to continue negotiations, Israeli troops prepare their blitzkrieg against the West Bank and Gaza. This is how the Jewish state works.
The high-profile itinerary of Bush was a boon for Israel and a bane for the Palestinians.
The gist of all speeches by Bush in Gulf capitals was: Iran is a monster that should be seen as a dangerous enemy by its oil-rich neighbours. But the Republican thinkers failed to read what lies written on the walls. Gulf countries’ refusal to bow to the US diktat is praiseworthy and it heralds a new era of friendship between them and their Persian brother.
The UAE clearly snubbed Bush by hailing its ties with Iran. Its Foreign Minister, Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said: “We aspire to a consolidation of those relations at the next meeting of the Emirati-Iranian mixed commission.” Bush’s foreign policy advisors perhaps don’t know that the UAE and Iran are major trading partners, and some 400,000 Iranians live in the UAE. According to Iranian Business Council, Iranians have some $300 billion invested in the emirates.
On the same day Bush headed home, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister called Tehran a friend. To quote Shaikh Mohammed Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah: “I can only speak on my government’s behalf. My country knows who is our friend and who is our enemy and Iran is our friend.” He said this while welcoming the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
The main aim of Bush’s Mideast tour was to scare the Gulf countries into buying weapons by portraying Iran as a demon. But if Bush thinks that he partly achieved that goal by inking the $20 billion arms deal with Riyadh, he is wrong again. President Ahmadi Nejad of Iran was officially invited by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj this year.