Neither the threats from Iran nor the indignation expressed by the so-called “Arab street” in demonstrations in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen… made an impact on the governments of the Middle East to a greater extent than on other occasions, with the exception that the condemnation of Israel was unanimous and immediate, and revealed the possible end of the attempt at normalization between the Arab world and Israel sponsored by the United States and the return of the Palestinian cause in some way to the official discourse before the aforementioned “street ” becomes a bigger problem.
Thus, on Tuesday, the Saudi Council of Ministers resolved to “renew our demand to advance the peace process in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations and the Arab Peace Initiative.” This meant shelving in some way the process of rapprochement with Israel and returning to the principle formulated two decades ago: recognition of the State of Israel in exchange for the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces to the 1967 borders and the recognition of the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
Shortly after, and when the explosion in the Christian hospital in Gaza was still shocking the world, Saudi Arabia accused Israel without nuance. In New York, Arab ambassadors gathered together to demand that the UN Security Council stop wasting time, only to be met with a US veto of a soft Brazilian resolution proposal.
Even the United Arab Emirates, a signatory country of the so-called Abraham Accords (along with Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan) that made peace with Israel, “strongly condemned the Israeli attack directed at the Baptista Al Ahli hospital.” The Emirates, by the way, supported Russia’s proposed resolution in the Security Council, which on Monday called for a ceasefire.
Equally significant was the fact that the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hosein Amir Abdolahian, attended yesterday the extraordinary meeting in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) of the council of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which groups 57 countries. The Saudis and Iranians resumed relations last March, thanks to the mediation of China, and the minister sent by Tehran proclaimed yesterday that “time is up”, almost replicating the words of the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, when he said that “the end of “Zionist regime begins with the attack on the hospital.” According to Raisi, Israel “awaits harsh revenge at the hands of Muslim countries.” He said this in a speech during a large demonstration in Tehran.
Despite the forcefulness of the language, reality yesterday had many nuances. The one in Tehran was a promoted demonstration, while the protests that took place in the Egyptian universities of Cairo and Alexandria did not reach the official media and were known through social networks. And, according to the Middle East Monitor, in Saudi Arabia the demand last Friday from a parishioner who asked the imam to talk about Gaza in his sermon was kindly answered by three security agents who accompanied him to the door of the mosque.
Overall, Islamic condemnation of Israel regarding the Gaza hospital was general. However, the conclusion of the OIC council at its meeting yesterday in Jeddah did not go beyond, as it said in its final statement, “obliging Israel to end all its violations, attacks and crimes” against the Palestinian people, referring for this to the UN Security Council, the Secretary General, the Arab League…
The Iranian minister was the only one to go further, calling for an immediate and complete embargo on Israel by Islamic countries, including oil sanctions, as well as expelling Israeli envoys if relations have been established with the “Zionist regime.” Abdolahian also called for the formation of a team of Islamic lawyers to document possible war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.