Introduction
Introduction Statistics Contact Development Disclaimer Help
.-') _ .-') _
( OO ) ) ( OO ) )
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,'
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | )
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--'
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Arab leaders deliver tough talk but not much action on Israel during
Qatar summit
Analysis by Ben Wedeman, CNN
Updated:
6:20 AM EDT, Wed September 17, 2025
Source: CNN
They gathered in Doha – the leaders of the Arab League and the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – to show support for Qatar in
the wake of on a meeting of Hamas leaders in the city.
When the summit ended, they issued a wordy communique condemning Israel
and reaffirming solidarity with Qatar. Missing in the communique,
however, was any concrete action.
It was an exercise in futility, underscoring how great wealth has not
translated into real power. That despite the huge strides made by
countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,
they are either unable (or unwilling) to do anything to pressure
Israel, and its principle backer, the United States, to end the war in
Gaza.
How much has changed.
Fifty-two years ago, in October 1973, the oil ministers from the
countries that made up the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OAPEC) met in Kuwait while war raged between Israel, Syria
and Egypt and the world teetered on the brink of a nuclear showdown
between the United States and the Soviet Union.
In Kuwait, OAPEC ministers, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to cut oil
production and impose export restrictions to the United States and
others supporting Israel and its war effort. This was the beginning of
the Arab oil embargo that helped push Western economies into recession.
The war, which began October 6, 1973 with a coordinated attack by Egypt
and Syria on Israeli troops occupying the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula and
the Syrian Golan Heights, ended after 19 days. OAPEC’s oil weapon
played a part in accelerating moves toward a ceasefire.
Yet today, as Israel intensifies its push into Gaza City, as the death
toll in Gaza reaches almost 65,000 ( with the majority of casualties
being women and children), as a UN commission determines Israel is
committing genocide in Gaza, many of the same countries that in 1973
exacted a high price for US support for Israel, have remained largely
passive.
“Arab governments in the past century have not achieved full
sovereignty,” explains Rami Khouri, a veteran analyst at the American
University of Beirut. “They depend on foreign states for their
wellbeing, protection, or survival.”
And ironically, even that dependence hasn’t spared them. In 2022, the
US designated Qatar as a Major Non-NATO Ally, and Qatar hosts the
largest US air base in the Middle East.
At best, the rulers who met in Doha on Monday act as supplicants,
relying on the whims of a unpredictable US president to intercede with
Israel’s leader. “We… expect our strategic partners in the United
States to use their influence on Israel for it to stop this
behavior,” Dubai’s state-run Al Bayan newspaper cited Gulf
Cooperation Council Secretary General Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi as
saying. The US “has leverage and influence on Israel, and it’s
about time this leverage and influence be used.”
Yet such hopes seem to be grounded more in unrealistic expectations
than reality. In early August, President Trump quipped “it’s up to
Israel” what it does in Gaza.
And so, early Tuesday Israeli forces said they began ground operations
in Gaza City. The Doha summit communique didn’t stop them.
<- back to index
You are viewing proxied material from codevoid.de. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.