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Why Arab rulers aren't more vocal about Gaza as global outcry grows
Why Arab rulers aren't more vocal about Gaza as global outcry grows

NBC News

time4 days ago

  • Politics
  • NBC News

Why Arab rulers aren't more vocal about Gaza as global outcry grows

Arab governments that for decades have been fierce advocates for the Palestinian cause are now facing criticism for their timid response to the extreme suffering in Gaza caused by Israel's war, risking a dangerous rift with their increasingly restive citizens. As deaths from starvation and Israeli bombardment have mounted, Palestinians, their supporters and some analysts have directed their anger toward Arab rulers in the region whom they perceive as being too passive and quiet. They point to countries outside the Middle East who have publicly criticized Israel and tried to stop it from expanding its military operations in Gaza. 'Where are the Arabs? The Arabs are napping. The Arabs are nowhere to be seen. The Arabs, and I'm talking about the Arab rulers, have buried their heads in the sand,' said Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. The situation in Gaza has become even more dire as Palestinians risk their lives to get food. An aid distribution system implemented by the U.S. and the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has led to hundreds more Palestinians being killed, often by Israeli soldiers. Wafaa Eeed, a Palestinian woman in Gaza, told NBC News last month that she had walked several miles to a GHF aid distribution site onJuly 24, a day set aside only for women. She and two other witnesses said they were shot at, pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed. 'Arab states, why don't you help us? We don't want the Americans,' Eeed said. Two women were killed on their way to the site, a Gaza health official said. The GHF said at the time that there were 'no incidents' at the site itself. The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to a request to comment on the incident, but at the time it told the BBC that early in the day it had "identified suspects who approached them, posing a threat to the troops" and "fired warning shots." It was not aware of casualties, and the shots were fired "hundreds of meters away" from the GHF site before its opening hours, it said. Israel also denies there is starvation in Gaza, contradicting medics in the Palestinian enclave, global aid groups and even a close ally, President Donald Trump. Some Arab leaders dependent on American aid and security guarantees are wary of angering the U.S. and Israel and see little strategic advantage in helping Palestinians, whom they may even see as a threat, experts say. Arab states have participated in airdrops of aid and food convoys into Gaza, but Palestinians and aid groups say it's nowhere near enough to ward off a looming famine. Egypt and Qatar have also mediated talks among Israel, the U.S. and Hamas, but they have not led to an end to the conflict. Several Latin American states, along with Spain, Ireland and Norway, have blasted Israel for its conduct in Gaza and threatened sanctions or a downgrade of diplomatic ties. And in recent weeks, longtime Israeli allies like France and Australia have pledged to officially recognize Palestine — a move decried by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. In late 2023, South Africa filed a case with the United Nations' top court alleging that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Arab states have been much less vocal, with Egypt and Jordan even cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests and activism, fearing they could turn against the country's leaders, experts say. 'Palestine resonates deeply in the Arab imagination," Gerges said. "Palestine reminds Arabs of the subservience of their governments. Palestine reminds Arabs of the hegemony and domination and the continuing colonialism and imperialism of the West." He added, 'I would say that Gaza, the tragedy of Gaza, the destruction of Gaza, could really serve as a time bomb that implodes the Arab political order from within.' Polling before Oct. 7, 2023, showed that most Arab citizens rejected normalizing ties with Israel, a sentiment subsequent surveys show has only deepened since. A survey published in June by pollster Arab Barometer found that support for such a move has collapsed, not exceeding 13 percent in the seven countries surveyed. The Egyptian and Jordanian embassies in the U.S., along with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this story. Egypt and Jordan, even with the crackdown, have allowed limited protests, though hundreds of activists have also been arrested, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The Gulf states rarely allow protests, but they have largely maintained diplomatic and trade links with Israel throughout its devastating offensive in the Gaza strip that began after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, in which some 1,200 were killed and 250 taken hostage. Health officials in Gaza say that more than 61,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in the ensuing war. Many academics, including Israeli scholars, have in recent months joined rights groups in condemning Israel's operations in Gaza as genocide, a charge Israel vehemently denies. 'Despite the genocide, in the middle of the genocide, this extraordinary depravity that we see in Gaza, not a single Arab state that has relations with Israel has cut relations with Israel, although other states in other parts of the world have,' said Ussama Makdisi, professor of history and chancellor's chair at the University of California, Berkeley. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were among the Arab states that signed the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, paving the way for economic and diplomatic ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia had been set to follow, but the Gaza conflict put those plans on hold. For Gulf Arab states, better ties with Israel have little to do with public attitudes and more to do with realpolitik, experts say. The Gulf states host several U.S. military bases that analysts say help shield them from regional rival Iran and also help maintain Western access to the region's vast energy supplies. Access to Israel's vibrant tech sector has also been a draw for some Arab states, who have used its surveillance technology to stifle dissent, experts and rights groups say. 'Those regimes in the Arab world that depend on the U.S. for their security, they don't depend on their legitimacy vis a vis their own people. They depend on U.S. protection, U.S. military bases,' Makdisi said. Houthi rebels, who control large parts of Yemen, have fired missiles and drones at Israel and ships in the region in what they say is an attempt to end Israel's offensive in Gaza, but Yemen is alone among Arab states in pressuring Israel militarily. Arab countries could apply economic pressure through oil embargoes or restricting access to the Suez Canal and Arab airspace, but experts say such moves are unlikely. Arab countries once supplied Palestinian militant groups with weapons, funding and bases from which to attack Israel, but such solidarity proved costly and dangerous. In Jordan, tensions between Palestinian militant groups and the ruling monarchy exploded into the 'Black September' civil war in 1970, leading to the militants' eventual expulsion and relocation to Lebanon. The presence of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon in the 1970s exacerbated the country's civil war and triggered an Israeli invasion in 1982 to target 'Palestinian terrorists.' More recently, Israel invaded Lebanon last year, heavily bombing southern Beirut in an offensive against the Hezbollah militant group, which had been firing rockets at Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran, which has led some Arab states to distance themselves from both groups. For Ryan Crocker, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Lebanon and Kuwait, lukewarm Arab support for the Palestinian cause is less about U.S. and Israeli pressure and more about self-preservation. 'The Palestinians, both the cause, the PLO and the population, in the Jordanian and Lebanese examples, have both been seen as a threat to the rule of these Arab regimes,' Crocker told NBC News. The U.S. and Israel had floated plans for Arab countries to accept tens of thousands of Gaza refugees, but the idea was flatly rejected, with those Arab countries fearing both renewed Palestinian militancy and accusations of aiding ethnic cleansing, experts say. Crocker compared Palestinians to the Kurds, another stateless group in the Middle East. 'There's a saying among the Kurds, who are scattered between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, that they have no friends but the mountains,' he said. 'Well, the Palestinians don't even have the mountains.'

從伊朗、阿富汗到伊拉克，美國的軍事干預有效嗎？ - TNL The News Lens 關鍵評論網
從伊朗、阿富汗到伊拉克，美國的軍事干預有效嗎？ - TNL The News Lens 關鍵評論網

News Lens

time07-07-2025

  • Politics
  • News Lens

從伊朗、阿富汗到伊拉克，美國的軍事干預有效嗎？ - TNL The News Lens 關鍵評論網

美總統川普批評干預主義，卻攻擊伊朗核設施，顯示美國中東政策矛盾。歷史上，美國干預伊朗、阿富汗及伊拉克，均造成長期動盪，反恐戰爭反而助長極端主義。專家建議美國應尊重區域安全共識，而非強加自身秩序。 文：諾伯托．帕雷德斯（Norberto Paredes，BBC西班牙語記者） 美國總統川普去年五月嚴厲批評前任總統的干預主義政策時，引起外界譁然。 「最終，那些所謂的國家建設者摧毀的國家遠多於他們建立的。」他明顯是在指2003年極具爭議的伊拉克戰爭。 「干預主義者介入了那些他們根本不了解的複雜社會。」他又補充道。 這番話是在他訪問沙烏地阿拉伯首都利雅德期間發表的。一些分析人士今年曾表示，至少在川普第二任期時，美國在中東的干預主義可能成為過去式。 然而，不過一個多月後，美國就對伊朗的三處核設施發動攻擊，將華盛頓捲入伊朗與以色列最新一輪衝突之中。 透過此次攻擊，美國和以色列意圖終結伊朗的核武野心。 「我們的目標是摧毀伊朗的核濃縮能力，遏止這個全球頭號恐怖主義支持國所帶來的核威脅。」川普在行動後表示。 然而歷史表明，當西方國家試圖在海外「解決」問題時，結果往往事與願違。 黎巴嫩裔美籍作家、倫敦政經學院中東政治與國際關係教授法瓦茲．格爾蓋斯（Fawaz Gerges）指出，自1940年代末以來，美國干預主義便一直是中東國際關係的主軸。 「最近美國對伊朗的空襲就是該政策的又一明顯例證。」這位《真正出了什麼錯：西方與中東民主的失敗》（What Really Went Wrong: The West and the Failure of Democracy in the Middle East）一書作者對BBC表示。 那麼，美國還在哪些地方發動過干預？又產生了哪些後果？ 伊朗政變 1953年，伊朗民選總理穆罕默德．摩薩台（Mohammad Mossadeq）被推翻，這場政變由伊朗軍方主導，並獲得美英支持。 摩薩台僅當時上台僅兩年，他發誓要將伊朗龐大的石油資源國有化。 然而，這一舉措，再加上當時看似日益上升的共產主義威脅，令倫敦與華盛頓感到憂慮——戰後兩國經濟在很大程度上依賴伊朗石油。 儘管這場政變最初被包裝成恢復穆罕默德．禮薩．巴列維國王（Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi）統治的民眾起義，但其背後實際上有英美情報機構的策動與支持。 1977 年，美國總統卡特歡迎伊朗國王巴列維訪問白宮。 2000年，美國時任國務卿歐布萊特（Madeleine Albright），首次公開談及美國在伊朗政變中的角色。 2009年，美國總統歐巴馬在開羅發表演說，也承認了華盛頓參與了這次政變。 2013年，即政變60週年，美國中情局（CIA）公布了一批文件，首次正式承認其在政變中扮演的角色。 美國國家安全檔案館釋出的文件中寫道：「這場軍事政變……是在中情局的指導下實施，作為美國外交政策的一部分。」 格爾蓋斯教授指出，當前美伊衝突的根源可追溯至那場秘密干預。 「伊朗人從未原諒美國推翻了一位合法的民選總理，並扶植一位殘暴的獨裁者——伊朗國王成為國家最高統治者。」他解釋說。 「今天伊朗的反美情緒，是因為政治菁英認為美國改變了伊朗政治的發展方向。」 格爾蓋斯教授亦指出，美國曾試圖影響埃及總統納瑟（Gamal Abdel Nasser）的國內政策，並改變他的民族主義路線，但收效甚微。 美國曾支持阿富汗伊斯蘭分子 1979年，蘇聯軍隊入侵阿富汗，以支持一年前上台、正陷入分裂的共產政權。 但蘇軍很快遭遇名為「聖戰士」（Mujahideen）的伊斯蘭抵抗行動。 這支隊伍由反對共產政府的伊斯蘭極端主義分子組成，獲得美國、巴基斯坦、中國、沙烏地阿拉伯阿拉伯等多國支持。 在冷戰期間，美國是對阿富汗提供武器與資金最多的國家之一，目的是阻撓蘇聯在當地的目標。 Photo Credit: Getty Images / BBC News 蘇聯入侵阿富汗最初是為了鞏固那裡的共產主義政府。 根據後來解密的文件、記者調查與證人證詞顯示，美國當時的策略是要將蘇聯困在阿富汗，使其深陷一場如同越戰般消耗人力與資源的泥濘。 這項行動名為「旋風行動」（Operation Cyclone），被當時媒體形容為「中情局歷史上最大規模的秘密行動」。 時任美國總統雷根（Ronald Reagan）甚至在白宮橢圓形辦公室，接見了一個聖戰者領袖代表團。 1988年，在簽署《日內瓦協議》後，蘇聯領導人戈巴契夫（Mikhail Gorbachev）開始撤軍，結束長達近十年的佔領。最後一批蘇軍於1989年初離開阿富汗。 但不久之後，阿富汗便陷入內戰，參戰方包括各派軍閥與失去蘇聯支持的政府軍，後者很快瓦解。 塔利班勢力於此背景下崛起，他們遵循嚴格的伊斯蘭教法（Sharia）。其領導人多數曾在聖戰者運動中與蘇軍作戰，並獲得美國等國提供的武器。 同樣地，在蘇阿戰爭結束後，一群阿富汗老兵創建了蓋達組織（Al-Qaeda），試圖將伊斯蘭聖戰擴展至阿富汗以外。 塔利班為該組織及其領袖賓拉登（Osama bin Laden）提供庇護，使其得以策劃並發動2001年9月11日對美國的攻擊行動。 阿拉巴馬大學政治系中東研究教授瓦利德．哈茲本（Waleed Hazbun）指出，在冷戰期間，美國對中東的多數干預可被視為一種「權力平衡行動」。 「他們試圖反制任何反對美國及其盟友利益的政治力量。」他在接受BBC訪問時表示。 哈茲本教授認為，美國主導的波斯灣戰爭（1990–1991）便是一個例子。 「那場行動旨在反制伊拉克入侵科威特。科威特得以主權恢復。冷戰結束後，美國政策制定者與該地區領導人進行討論，以尋找滿足共同安全需求的方法。」他說。 然而，他指出，自柯林頓政府起，美國開始採取另一種策略。 「目標是建立一個符合美國利益及其區域秩序願景的安全架構。」他解釋。 「這包括一方面推動和平進程及阿拉伯–以色列關係正常化，使所有阿拉伯國家與美國及以色列結盟；另一方面則透過軍事手段與制裁遏制伊朗和伊拉克。」 在某些情況下，美國的干預政策與對以色列的支持攜手並進——這種支持被美國領導人形容為「無條件且堅定不移」。 自第二次世界大戰以來，以色列一直是美國對外援助的最大接受國，每年獲得數十億美元資金。 重返阿富汗追擊塔利班 2001年10月，美國發動對阿富汗的入侵行動，聲稱此舉旨在驅逐塔利班、支持民主，並在911攻擊後消除蓋達組織帶來的威脅。 華盛頓迅速攻佔阿富汗首都喀布爾。 自2003年起，北約部隊亦進駐阿富汗，參與戰鬥任務，並訓練當地安全部隊。 三年後，一個新政府在阿富汗上台，但塔利班的血腥攻擊仍持續不斷。 Photo Credit: Getty Images / BBC News 美軍在阿富汗戰爭中傷亡慘重。 2009年，時任美國總統歐巴馬宣布增兵阿富汗，一度成功壓制塔利班勢力，但成效並未持久。 2014年，阿富汗戰爭爆發以來最血腥的一年，北約部隊結束任務，將安全責任交由阿富汗軍方接管。 隨後，塔利班擴大其控制區域。 隔年，塔利班勢力持續壯大，發動多起自殺式攻擊，並聲稱對喀布爾的國會大樓及首都國際機場附近的攻擊承認責任。 最終，拜登政府於2021年4月決定從阿富汗撤軍，結束美國主導入侵行動20年後的軍事部署。 這項決定引發極大爭議，也導致喀布爾迅速淪入塔利班手中，外界紛紛將之比擬為1975年南越政府垮台時的情景。 「這是拜登的西貢時刻，」美國共和黨眾議員伊莉絲．斯特凡尼克（Elise Stefanik）在社交媒體上寫道，「這是國際舞台上的災難性失敗，永遠不會被遺忘。」 一位不具名的前阿富汗官員對BBC透露，塔利班藉此獲得大量軍事裝備，這些裝備大多源自美國。 聯合國2023年一份報告指出，塔利班允許地方指揮官保留20%所繳獲的美製武器，導致黑市軍火交易猖獗。 入侵伊拉克 1990年8月，由時任總統海珊（Saddam Hussein）指揮的伊拉克軍隊越境入侵科威特，數百名抵抗者遭到殺害，科威特政府被迫流亡至沙烏地阿拉伯。 對許多人而言，這標誌著中東歷史上漫長且動盪時期的開始。 在多次警告與聯合國安理會通過決議後，由美國領導、英國與沙烏地阿拉伯提供主要支持的聯軍——為二戰以來規模最大的聯合行動——於1991年1月17日發動軍事行動，將伊拉克軍隊逐出科威特。 其後，聯合國安理會通過第687號決議，要求伊拉克銷毀其所有大規模毀滅性武器，包括核、生化武器以及遠程彈道飛彈。 Photo Credit: Getty Images / BBC News 2003年4月，準備部署在巴格達附近的美軍 1998年，伊拉克中止與聯合國武器檢查人員的合作。2001年美國紐約世貿中心與華盛頓五角大廈遭遇恐怖攻擊後，時任美國總統喬治．布希開始計劃入侵伊拉克。 布希指控海珊繼續囤積和製造大規模毀滅性武器，並聲稱伊拉克與伊朗、朝鮮一同構成所謂的「邪惡軸心」。 時任美國國務卿鮑爾（Colin Powell）於2003年在聯合國表示，伊拉克擁有生物武器的「流動實驗室」。 但到了2004年，他承認相關證據「似乎並不那麼可靠」。 英國、澳洲和波蘭加入了美國的入侵行動，但德國、加拿大、法國與墨西哥等多國則表達反對。 時任法國外交部長德維勒班（Dominique de Villepin）曾表示，軍事干預是「最糟糕的解決方案」，而作為北約成員及伊拉克鄰國的土耳其，則拒絕讓美軍及其盟國使用其空軍基地。 哈茲本教授向BBC指出，美國試圖實現政權更替，並將自身的安全想法強加於中東地區。 BBC國際事務編輯傑里米．鮑文（Jeremy Bowen）則表示，這場入侵對伊拉克與其人民而言是一場災難，使該國陷入長達數十年的混亂。 「自2003年爆發的混亂與暴力，不僅沒有摧毀賓拉登和聖戰極端分子的意識形態，反而助長了聖戰主義者的極端行動。」他在2023年、入侵20週年之際發表評論指出。 這場戰爭的另一後果是，蓋達組織得以重組並轉化為自稱的「伊斯蘭國」（Islamic State）。 至於因2003年入侵而死亡的伊拉克人總數，至今仍無法精確統計。 根據「伊拉克死亡人數」統計計劃（Iraq Body Count, IBC）資料，2003年至2022年間，共有20萬9982名伊拉克平民死於戰爭。 哈茲本教授表示，現在的需要是，美國應該支持地區自身促動安全的努力。 「一個致力於達成安全共識的地區，而不是透過美國及其盟友的強大軍事力量來建立秩序，或許更符合美國的全球利益。」他說。 本文經《BBC News 中文》授權轉載，原文發表於此 延伸閱讀 【加入關鍵評論網會員】每天精彩好文直送你的信箱，每週獨享編輯精選、時事精選、藝文週報等特製電子報。還可留言與作者、記者、編輯討論文章內容。立刻點擊免費加入會員！ 責任編輯：朱家儀 核稿編輯：翁世航

Trump is a big question mark in Iran-Israel conflict, expert says
Trump is a big question mark in Iran-Israel conflict, expert says

Yahoo

time18-06-2025

  • Business
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Trump is a big question mark in Iran-Israel conflict, expert says

What will President Trump do in the Iran-Israel conflict? London School of Economics and Political Science professor of international relations Fawaz Gerges says that is the big question for a lot of the world right now. Hear more from Gerges and his take on Trump's role in the video above. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. Sign in to access your portfolio

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