Arab Leaders Silent, Viewing Hamas as Worse Than Israel

[Fozzledick]

CAIRO — Battling Palestinian militants in Gaza two years ago, Israel found itself pressed from all sides by unfriendly Arab neighbors to end the fighting.

Not this time.

After the military ouster of the Islamist government in Cairo last year, Egypt has led a new coalition of Arab states — including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan — that has effectively lined up with Israel in its fight against Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip. That, in turn, may have contributed to the failure of the antagonists to reach a negotiated cease-fire even after more than three weeks of bloodshed.

“The Arab states’ loathing and fear of political Islam is so strong that it outweighs their allergy to Benjamin Netanyahu,” the prime minister of Israel, said Aaron David Miller, a scholar at the Wilson Center in Washington and a former Middle East negotiator under several presidents. “I have never seen a situation like it, where you have so many Arab states acquiescing in the death and destruction in Gaza and the pummeling of Hamas. The silence is deafening.”

Although Egypt is traditionally the key go-between in any talks with Hamas — deemed a terrorist group by the United States and Israel — the government in Cairo this time surprised Hamas by publicly proposing a cease-fire agreement that met most of Israel’s demands and none by the Palestinian group. Hamas was tarred as intransigent when it immediately rejected it, and Cairo has continued to insist that its proposal remains the starting point for any further discussions.

But as commentators sympathetic to the Palestinians slammed the proposal as a ruse to embarrass Hamas, Egypt’s Arab allies praised it. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt the next day to commend it, Mr. Sisi’s office said, in a statement that cast no blame on Israel but referred only to “the bloodshed of innocent civilians who are paying the price for a military confrontation for which they are not responsible.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/world/middleeast/fighting-political-islam-arab-states-find-themselves-allied-with-israel.html

[Larkspur]

1. Should read "Arab Despots/Dictators Silent, Viewing Hamas as Worse Than Israel"

Don't worry, Karma will curse them along with Israel. While the leaders remain silent, their people sympathize with the Palestinians and this silence will one day lead to the Arab leaders downfall.

[Tetris_Iguana]

10. Downfall followed by unimaginable death and destruction from the ensuing power vacuum.

Kind of like what's going on today but more mass casualties.

Sorry but populist democracy was tried by a certain chimp-in-chief who created the situation we have today.

[azurnoir]

2. interesting because here we're told Hamas is the "darling" of the Arab world

In addition, we must remember that this war has made Hamas a darling of the Arab world. It has also united the disparate agendas within the organization’s leadership, finally establishing a rare moment of unity for Mashaal in Qatar, Haniyeh in Gaza, and Deif in his bunker. A ceasefire now would likely relegate Hamas again to the margins of the international agenda, along with its superhero, the mighty religious warrior Muhammad Deif.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/deif-the-islamic-holy-warrior-unites-hamas/

well I guess opinions are like....well everybody has one

[Dick Dastardly]

3. The OP article is talking about the Arab leadership/governments and

your article is talking about the public sector.

[azurnoir]

4. ah ha sure I was wondering what excuse would be made

are you forgetting Qatar BTW

[hack89]

5. The Emir of Qatar has very close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood

His father was a strong supporter of Hamas and other terrorist groups. He is the sole reason Qatar supports Hamas.

[azurnoir]

6. and is he an Arab? n/t

[hack89]

7. Just one

I don't think anyone has said every single Arab in the world dislikes Hamas. Just their immediate neighbors and those without strong ties to Islamic terror groups.

[azurnoir]

8. Arab League urges international protection for Palestinian people from “genocide”

Arab League urges international protection for Palestinian people from “genocide”

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2014/July/middleeast_July278.xml&section=middleeast

[hack89]

9. It's the ME kabuki dance

Trot out the pro-forma protest for domestic consumption while ensuring nothing really happens to stop Israel.