'The complicity of the Arab states in abetting the Israeli siege.' (Photo: AP)
18:27 12/19/2008
By Rannie Amiri
"…a person who hears the voice of a man who calls the Muslims to his help but he does not respond to him, is not a Muslim." -- Prophet Muhammad
Although located in the middle of the Arab world and bordering one of its principal and most populous countries, it could very well be in the middle of the ocean, isolated and unbeknownst to anyone. Its residents, if given the choice, may actually prefer this setting than bear witness to the malignant neglect afforded them by their fellow Arabs as
If there were any doubts of its dire situation, they were removed by Dr. Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the
On Dec. 9, Falk clearly and forcefully stated that, "An urgent effort should be made at the United Nations to implement the agreed norm of a responsibility to protect a civilian population being collectively punished by policies that amount to a Crime Against Humanity.”
Yes, crimes against humanity are being committed in
"If the UN says that the tight siege on the Gaza Strip is a war crime, we wonder why Arab leaders do not demand the reopening of the Rafah crossing," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, in reference to the land border crossing shared with Egypt.
The UNHRC harshly reprimanded
In the face of Dr. Falk’s and the UNHRC’s findings and conclusions, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the princes, sheikhs and emirs of the Gulf fiefdoms, and the feckless Arab League, all remained silent.
Some Ships Set Sail … and Others Don’t
Since then, the Israelis have imposed ever more severe restrictions on what may enter the territory, now significantly limiting even the most basic of humanitarian supplies including food, fuel, clothing, cooking oil and medicine.
As a result, according to
It has run out of flour and with all border crossings closed by
Attempts have been made to break the siege on
The U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement has successfully landed four ships on its shores, bringing humanitarian relief along with academicians, journalists and doctors, and leaving with patients in need of medical attention and students otherwise prohibited from studying abroad.
Heroic grassroots movements such as this have raised needed awareness of
In early December, a Libyan cargo vessel carrying 3,000 tons of food, powdered milk and blankets to
.
A Qatar-based aid group, simply named Qatar Charity, was set to send a shipment of $2 million in cancer medication shortly after the Libyan endeavor. Under intense pressure from the Israeli government, however,
Within the last week,
"Unfortunately so far the Egyptian government had not allowed us to send the relief items to them by air," said its Secretary-General, Ahmad Moussavi.
And that aptly summarizes the second heinous crime being committed against
Protests From Afar
There have been large rallies in
This caused
"Certain Arab leaders should be tried as 'betrayers' for all Israeli crimes in the occupied lands and the Gaza Strip.”
Mubarak replied to
The Real Threat Posed by
No one should be surprised at the Arabs’ foot dragging (at best) or collusion with the Israelis (at worst) in maintaining the siege.
But what threat does Hezbollah and Hamas pose to them?
These groups are looked at much differently in the Middle East than in Western Europe or the
Hence the unelected monarchs and dictators such as Mubarak and the Kings Abdullah find parties such as Hamas and Hezbollah anathema, for they have used the power of the ballot as a stamp of their legitimacy. That is something those rulers have never had, or if so, in nothing more than sham elections. For this reason alone, the Israeli siege of
The vast majority of human rights activists, advocates and people of conscience are rightly condemning
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, in a recently televised speech, called for open-ended demonstrations until the siege is lifted. He also addressed the Arab heads of state directly:
"Where are your Arab sensibilities? When a million-and-a-half Arab people in the Gaza Strip are living under a siege, in hunger, under threat? My humanitarian, religious, Islamic, and Arabic sensibilities call on me to take part in actions and protests against it.”
When the siege of Gaza ends - and it will end, but only after a terrible price has been exacted -and its citizens in future years and generations are asked why it was allowed to continue on for so long, they will point east, west and south, and say:
“We had met the enemy. And they were us.”
- Rannie Amiri is an independent commentator on the Arab and Islamic worlds. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
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