Palestinians blast Arab world’s inaction, which ‘Encouraged US Jerusalem Decision’

The Palestinians are learning they are alone fighting the US and its foreign policy. 

The Palestinians are angry at the Arab world’s lack of action in response to President Donald Trump’s historic recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Malki on Thursday decried the Arabs’ “failure to carry out their decisions over the past decades” which he claimed “has encouraged the United States to continue with its unfortunate approach and to make its decision on Jerusalem.”

The Arab countries have repeatedly threatened to cut diplomatic ties with any country that recognizes Jerusalem as capital of Israel or move its embassy there. However, when the US made that decision in December, no Arab action was taken against it other than to condemn it in statements or by voting in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution denouncing the US move.

“Our failure has also encouraged a small country like Guatemala to decide to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem,” Malki told WAFA after his participation in a session of the Arab League in Cairo.

He revealed that the Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said she would not accept any Arab pressure on her country to cancel its decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem two days after the US move in May, “simply because she is fully aware that the Arab countries do not have any means to pressure Guatemala to go back on its decision on moving the embassy to Jerusalem.”

Malki said that “this audacity from Guatemala came only after realizing that the Arabs are unable to carry out the decisions they have adopted for so many years. If we are unable to carry out such decisions, how could we prevent Guatemala or any other country from taking such a step [over Jerusalem]?”

Disappointing Arab Response to Palestinians

The Arab countries, however, appear to be preoccupied with other matters. For now, the Palestinians are getting much lip service from their Arab brothers, but see no real action on their behalf.

Unlike the Palestinians, the Arab countries are obviously not interested in ruining their relations with the US administration.

The Palestinians were hoping that the Arab and Islamic countries’ response to Trump’s December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would be much tougher. The very least the Palestinians were expecting was that these countries would respond by expelling the US ambassadors or shutting US embassies in Arab and Islamic capitals. This, of course, did not happen, much to the dismay of the Palestinians, who feel that they have been once again abandoned by their Arab and Muslim brothers.

The Arab countries appear to be fed up with the Palestinians. At most, they are prepared to offer the Palestinians public statements of support and promises to help them achieve their rights. Each one of these countries has its own problems to worry about and the Palestinian issue is no longer at the top of the Arabs’ list of priorities, Khaled Abu Toameh, writing for the Gatestone Institute, pointed out.

Khaled Abu Toameh explained that this Arab apathy towards the Palestinians is the result of a long-standing belief in the Arab world that the Palestinians are an ungrateful people who do not hesitate to bite the hand that feeds them.

Palestinian support for Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait — a country that used to provide the Palestinians with millions of dollars annually — was the turning point in relations between the Arab countries and the Palestinians. Since then, the Palestinians have been almost entirely dependent on American and EU funding.

The Palestinians have good reason to believe that the Arab countries are about to leave them to their own devices. And, after half a century of failed and corrupt leadership, the Palestinian devices leave much to be desired, Abu Toameh concludes.