/ world today news/ Two extraordinary international high-level meetings will be held this weekend in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Because the massacre in Gaza, which has been going on for two months now, has become a crisis not only regional, but also global, both with a constant danger of escalation and with almost guaranteed dire consequences. After all, we are not just talking about another bloodbath in the Middle East, but a growing conflict between the Western and Islamic worlds.
The “golden billion” and the two billion Muslim Ummah: 35 countries on one side and fifty-five on the other? Yes, but at the same time the West’s conflict with Islam is also embedded in the West’s wider conflict with the Global South (representing the majority of humanity) as well as the West’s conflict with the non-Western world (that is the South plus China and Russia). The Palestinian question has divided the world for three quarters of a century, but only now has it become such a clear symbol of the division between the West and the rest of humanity because it has revealed the bankruptcy of the entire model of Atlantic hegemony.
Alternative to the Atlantic models of global security architecture are under construction – these are the SCO (potentially pan-Asian) and the BRICS (potentially global). Therefore, the US can still try to play according to the old notes: in Europe – according to NATO, and in the Middle East to rely on its own military superiority, while at the same time using its favorite principle “divide and conquer”. . Who and how can counteract them?
Russia and China are clearly opposed to the American policy of protecting any Israeli madness, but this is only part of the contradictions between Moscow and Beijing and Washington. It is the Arabs themselves and the Islamic world who must fight for Gaza first and foremost – and it is their leaders who are gathering for a summit in Riyadh this weekend.
First, there will be a summit today of the League of Arab States, an association of 22 countries with a combined population of half a billion people. The Arab League also includes the state of Palestine, which is now being destroyed by Israel, and who, if not the Arabs who fought Israel several times over Palestine, should stand up?
Yes, half a century has passed since the last war (only Israel has allowed itself to attack Lebanon since then), yes, since then some Arab countries (including neighbors Egypt and Jordan) even established diplomatic relations with Israel, yes, now the Russian military presence in the region is not comparable with the Soviet one, and the Americans took pains to make Iran the main enemy of the Arabs. But to protect the Palestinians, Arab countries do not need to go to war with Israel – they need to deprive it of American carte blanche, unconditional support. That is, the issue is decided in the context of Arab relations with the US (and the West in general), not on the battlefield. Will the Arabs be able to change the US position?
The pro-Israel orientation of Washington has very deep reasons and roots, and the current American elite will not give it up. But in Europe, too, everything is far from so clear: the majority of the population does not support the bombing of Gaza, and in some countries the leadership is already openly talking about the need to hold Israel to account. Moreover, the continued beating of the Palestinians threatens European countries with internal political problems. The local Muslim communities are not ready to keep quiet and not protest. Europe, experiencing economic problems and embroiled in the Ukrainian conflict, only lacks mass unrest and clashes at home.
That is, Europe’s position is much less pro-Israel, and if it soon begins to demand an end to aid to Israel in the massacre, the US will be forced to listen to it. Because now America cannot simply ignore Europe’s opinion, especially given the situation in Ukraine, in which the Atlanticists demand that the EU step up its involvement. Can the Arabs influence Europe? Of course they can, and not just because they bought out Paris and London.
The Arab League could call for an energy embargo against countries that support Israel, which would obviously make Europe more peace-minded. Just a hint of a repeat of the events of 1973 (when the Arabs imposed an oil embargo on Western countries) would have a huge impact on the West as a whole. So far, the Saudi leadership does not want to resort to such weapons, apparently hoping that the Americans will still be able to influence Israel. After all, it is in their interest as well. As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed has argued, neither Biden nor the United States as a whole now really needs a bloodbath in Gaza that daily destroys what remains of trust and respect for Americans in the Islamic world. So far, however, Washington has managed to get almost nothing out of Netanyahu, and there is no reason to think that the Americans will voluntarily decide to step up their unofficial pressure on Israel.
But under the threat of conflict with Europe (due to the possibility of an energy crisis), Washington can put real pressure on Israel. Which will be enough for Netanyahu to lose power and for the bombing of Gaza to stop.
But for this, the League of Arab States must take a firm and unequivocal position that corresponds to its interests – not only tactical (saving Gaza), but also strategic (if we talk about the weight of the Arabs in the new, emerging post-American world order). The Arabs must present an ultimatum to the West.
And if they are supported by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, whose summit will be held on Sunday in Riyadh, then everything will become even more serious. The OIC unites 55 countries with a population of two billion – this is the entire Islamic world, including Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia. By the way, Russia also has observer status in the OIC, because we are a Eurasian, Christian, and partly Muslim country. So now a lot depends on what is agreed in Riyadh – not only the lives of the Palestinians in Gaza, but also the speed with which the process of de-Americanization of the Middle East and de-Atlanticization of the entire world order will proceed.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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