The Israel-Hamas conflict threatens to reach its final stage. None could be sure which way would it go. Amongst the many facets which continue to baffle an observer is the lack of coherent support for the Hamas against Israel. Other than Iran and Hezbollah, which are both Shia entities, no overt support seems to be coming the Hamas way. It is almost as if the Arab countries are happy Israel is fulfilling their wishes. To analyse this issue the article below tries to analyse the truth and the causes of this issue. I hope the readers will find something new in it.
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Arab States and Hamas: An Uneasy Relationship
The war in Gaza is entering a decisive phase; at least, that is what everyone thinks. The uncertainty of this eight-month-old conflict has tested the patience of the most stubborn. Hard-core supporters of Israel are having second thoughts about the righteousness of their chosen side. President Biden is facing massive protests at home and in American universities. His biggest worry is if his stance in the Israel-Hamas conflict will affect his party's chances of coming back to power. If reports are to be believed, his handling of the situation will likely rob him of a significant vote share in the November '24 Presidential elections. Suppose this dilemma reflects the helplessness of the American President. In that case, it’s true reasons rest in the complexity of the Israel- Hamas, albeit Israel- Palestine problem.
What is baffling to most is the complete lack of unity in the Arab world on Hamas. There is little support for Hamas in the Arab countries, signalling to Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel is free to prosecute Hamas till its war aims are achieved. While Hamas has support amongst the population of the Arab nations, which is visible today, historically, it's not the case. Statistics lay bare the reality. Throughout the history of this conflict, population surveys have shown that support for Palestinians and Hamas has been on the lesser side, meaning more on the unfavourable side. This article attempts to analyse if the above statement is true and, if 'yes', what are the reasons for the same.
Genesis
The genesis of this problem has two critical milestones. The first is the formation of Israel and the displacement of the Palestinian population in 1948, and the second is the Six-Day Conflict of 1967. In both of these conflicts, the Palestinian population had to shift en mass from their homeland to other nations. In 1967, Arab nations gave legitimacy to PLO by recognising it as a de jure organisation representing the interests of the Palestinians. PLO became the legitimate voice of the Palestinians in forums of the world. The second milestone, the Six-Day War, also broke the myth that Israel could be disintegrated or wiped out. Until then, it was a common belief amongst Arab nations that they could recapture the lost territory and end Israel's existence. While dealing with Palestinian migration, it became apparent no country in the Middle East was willing to accept the Palestinian people on their lands. Yet this diffidence was not too strong. Jordan and Lebanon accepted Palestinians and allowed them to settle in refugee camps on their soil. At this point, the fear was not so much on account of the population as much as from the Palestinian Authority, the PLO Fateh group under Yasser Arafat, who could lay claim to the foreign territory for the Palestinians. PLO under Yasser Arafat was a prophesying secular ideology which was at variance with the Islamic thought process advocated by almost all the Islamic nations in the Middle East. The fear of the population being influenced by such an ideology was an existing threat. In hindsight, the region had the best chance of solving the Palestine problem in the late sixties and early seventies. The conflict was essentially confined to a fight for space and not religion.
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