For Disappointed Palestinians, Arab Inaction Trumps Arab Words

Jan. 8, 2009 — -- More than a week of acute humanitarian crisis in Gaza has bolstered a persisting Palestinian suspicion: While Arab states talk much of their support for the cause, they have taken little action.

So far, as Palestinians see it, both Arab states and non-state actors like Hezbollah have failed to respond concretely in their time of crisis.

"No regimes have risen to rescue us, nor have the loud protests of political parties been of any use," wrote Hafez Barghouti in the Palestinian al-Hayat al-Jadidah newspaper. "At the end of the day, the Palestinians remain alone."

"Arab countries have not mobilized," said Hanan Ashrawi, a legislator and longtime Palestinian spokeswoman. "They have not used their political, much less their economic clout to help Palestinians. Economically, they have been helping, but not in a big way.

"Palestinians feel a sense of let down, even a betrayal," she said.

Months before the operation, Arab states had notably failed to match their money with their rhetoric. In July 2008, a time of booming regional prosperity from high oil prices, the Washington Post found that, of 22 Arab nations that pledged funds to the Palestinian Authority, only three -- Algeria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- had followed through with contributions.

"There is still a big gap between what has been pledged and what has been delivered," said Mustapha Bargouti, a Palestinian analyst and political activist in the West Bank.

For Gaza's Palestinians, who have lived through a year-long blockade allowing little access to outside goods or travel, the cost of what is seen as Arab inaction has been particularly high. Since the Hamas election victory in 2006, most international aid to the Gaza Strip has been cut off, restricted to the relative trickle of U.N. efforts.

Arab analysts point out warily that the flow of aid in Gaza would likely be handed out through the local government -- Hamas -- strengthening their popular support through grassroots patronage. Over the course of their reluctance, food, medicine, and other critical supplies to Gaza have grown scarce.

"They were dying quietly and people preferred to forget their plight," said Dina Shehata of Cairo's Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.