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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 2, January 02-January 15, 2009

Middle East Inflamed over Gaza

The recent conflict in Gaza has solicited a wide range of negative reactions from the world's major Muslim nations, notes Press TV. Norman Finkelstein, American political scientist and renowned Palestine-Israel scholar, asserted in an interview with the news site, "The [goal] of the Israeli government" in this situation is "to restore the fear of Israel among the Arab states in the region."

Finkelstein also claimed that since Israel is "[rejecting]…the terms" of negotiation proposed by countries supporting a two-state solution, "Israel’s war is not with Hamas but with the international community."

The ubiquitous Arab indignation towards Israel’s military action has sparked significant internal strife in Egypt. Steven Erlanger of the International Herald Tribune reports, "While few criticize [Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak himself, there is unhappiness with the government’s relative silence about Israel’s bombing campaign and its Palestinian victims, and the apparent lack of diplomatic pressure from Cairo on Israel and the United States to stop the fighting." Hamas and Hezbollah have also "accused Egypt of partial responsibility for Palestinian deaths" because of the Egyptian government’s controversial decision to keep its border with Gaza closed during the conflict.

Jon Leyne of BBC News describes the popular reaction to the events in Gaza in other parts of the Muslim world. "Iran’s official media is full every day with news of protests, demonstrations, and condemnation of the Israeli offensive," although "there’s no sign that Tehran has tried to get its allies in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah, to restart rocket attacks on Israel."

Lina Sinjab, reporting from Damascus for the BBC, also illuminated the widespread contempt for Israel’s ambitions. Recently, "the Syrian government has strongly condemned the assault and called for an immediate ceasefire, a lifting of the blockade and the opening of border crossings, especially Rafah."

In Beirut, Jim Muir described the opposition to Israel as understandably more tempered in order to avoid "another bout of violence between Israel and…Hezbollah, as happened in 2006 with devastating results." Nonetheless, the movement has staged two large rallies to denounce Israel’s armed initiatives. Despite mounting casualties on the Palestinian side, "Hezbollah’s leaders…appear to be sanguine about the outcome in Gaza," and will likely only involve Hezbollah’s forces in armed conflict if it becomes apparent that "Hamas is really losing," reports Robert Worth for the New York Times.

According to another article from Press TV, Jordan, the only Arab state aside from Egypt "to have normalized relations with Israel," is prepared to respond to Israeli military actions that have left over 1,000 Palestinians dead by "[looking] into all options, including reconsidering relations with Israel." "Several Jordanian lawmakers torched the Israeli flag in parliament," and 88 parliament members "signed a petition demanding that ties with Israel be severed."

Meanwhile, attention to the Gaza conflict has been heightened by noteworthy smaller-scale events occurring in the past month. BBC News reported that "a Danish man of Palestinian origin [was] arrested on suspicion of shooting and wounding two Israeli salesmen at a shopping centre in Odense in Denmark." Although authorities are "unsure what the motive was, Danish media have speculated it may have been a protests against Israeli air raids in Gaza."

In Iran, WorldNetDailyreports that a children's show focused on the ongoing conflict. During an emotional account of the current plight of Palestinians, "the TV host asked the Iranian children what they would do if they were in the place of the Palestinian children. "'Would we surrender, or would be fight back?' The children replied in unison: 'Fight back,'" notes the news site.