Gaza war fuels Arab support for Palestinians, to little effect

CAIRO: A year into the Gaza war, grassroots support for Palestinians has surged across the Arab world, but the groundswell has yet to trigger stronger action against Israel, with governments largely ignoring these calls.

“Our government, just like other Arab governments, has ignored the demands of its people, including the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador,” said Ahmed, a 27-year-old Bahraini at a September rally in Manama.

Bahrain, along with Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates, recognised Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords of 2020, seeking diplomatic and military support.

Egypt and Jordan, which signed the peace deals with Israel in 1979 and 1994 respectively, have not reconsidered those agreements, despite accusing Israel of war crimes in Gaza.

Jordan´s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the agreement was “covered with dust”, but questioned whether scrapping it would help the kingdom or Palestinians.

Rachid Fellouli, of Morocco´s National Action Group for Palestine, said 5,000 sit-ins were held in the past year. He finds hope in the pro-Palestinian mobilisation of a “new generation”.

Arab governments that have moved closer to Israel have “their own reasons... which are all still applicable”, said Hussein Ibish, an analyst at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

“None of them are considering reneging on that based on the wars,” he said.

Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa director at the International Crisis Group, said Arab governments value the security, diplomatic and military gains from ties with Israel.

“There´s also the question of not giving in to popular pressure, which would set a very dangerous precedent for many of these countries,” he told AFP.The Arab Spring protests still haunt these governments, said Ibish, adding “not one of the major grievances has improved”.

Arab leaders face a delicate balancing act with public demands for action.

Suppressing protests could stoke unrest over issues like mismanagement, unemployment or rising living costs, said Ibish.