The Games Must Go On

Old fogies like me will remember the words "the games must go on", spoken by an emotional president of the International Olympics Committee after the Palestinian slaughter of Israeli athletes in the 1971 Olympics in Munich, Germany. Of course, he was referring to the necessity of not bowing down to terror, an act of terror ordered by Yaser Arafat and Fatah, his faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The games did go on, much subdued albeit.

There is another game that it seems must go on. And on, and on, and on. That is the game played by heads of state in the Arab and Muslim world. They are still pretending that by their steadfast resolve, Palestine will be liberated. Thing is, they don't fight wars against Israel any more, with legitimate uniformed armies and the like, as they did so many times in the past. Now they just get together and talk and issue noisy statements that make them the laughing stalk of the world, laughing stalk that is, to everyone but the rent a riot and leftist crowd, and sad to say, Western leaders who don't want to be involved, and of course the media. Meanwhile, the team members order assassinations of their own people as well as others in the name of protecting Arab and Muslim honour.

British journalist Melanie Phillips sums up the game quite accurately here. But luckily, there are some voices in the Arab and Muslim world that are beginning to actually call it a game, including Farid Ghadry, President of the Reform Party of Syria, and as Phillips' article points out:

"The moral dividing line in this battle is very clear. Those who stand with Israel are on the side of morality, justice, and civilisation. Those in the media and public life who denounce Israel for having the temerity to defend its people are the fellow-travellers of barbarism. Having done so much to embolden and strengthen Hamas and Iran, who are playing them for suckers, they are continuing to stoke the fires of irrational hatred and genocidal hysteria. As Israeli soldiers die, along with the Palestinian victims of Hamas whether as ‘collaborators’ or human shields, their blood will be on these hypocritical western hands."

Meanwhile, Martin Kramer describes Israel's objectives in this latest squabble, and inserts (my bold) the name of the game played by Hamas:

"When Israel and Hamas reached an agreement for "calm" last June, Hamas hoped the sanctions would be lifted as well, and Israel did increase the flow through the crossing points, by about 50 percent. Fuel supplies were restored to previous levels. But Hamas was fully aware that sanctions were slowly eroding its base and contradicting its narrative that “resistance” pays. This is why it refused to renew the "calm" agreement after its six-month expiration, and renewed rocket fire.

Were Israel to lift the economic sanctions, it would transform Hamas control of Gaza into a permanent fact, solidify the division of the West Bank and Gaza, and undermine both Israel and Abbas by showing that violent "resistance" to Israel produces better results than peaceful compromise and cooperation. Rewarding "resistance" just produces more of it."

and the Arab response:

"The Israeli operation is meant to impress on Hamas that there is something far worse than the sanctions—that Israel is capable of hunting Hamas on air, sea, and land, at tremendous cost to Hamas and minimal cost to Israel, while much of the world stands by, and parts of it (including some Arabs) quietly applaud. Israel's aim is not to bring down Hamas at this stage, but to compel it to accept a cease-fire on Israel's terms—terms that leave the sanctions in place.

Many Western and Arab governments see the logic of this. They would like to see Abbas and the Palestinian Authority back in authority over Gaza, thus restoring credibility to the "peace process." Because they wish to see Hamas contained if not diminished, they have moved slowly or not at all to respond to calls for action to stop the fighting."

Ironic, isn't it? Fatah, which was once considered a terrorist organization is now the favoured group. Arabs are now rooting for Israel, at the risk of their own regimes. We now see headlines like these:

US-Led Gaza Siege Leads Arab Leaders to Drown Rice in Jewelry

Arab Leaders Conflict With Street About Israel's Gaza Assault

Gaza Protests Now Target Arab Leaders

Palestinian Affairs: Touted as Traitors

"The IDF's Cast Lead offensive in the Gaza Strip may have severely harmed Hamas's military capabilities and weakened its tight grip on the area, but it has also further undermined the credibility of the "moderate," pro-Western Arab regimes.

Many of the "moderate" Arab leaders, including the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas, were not afraid to alienate the Arab street by blaming Hamas for the latest cycle of violence. Some of them are even reported to have gone as far as quietly urging Israel to pursue its military operation until Hamas is removed from power."

Indeed, the game has taken a sudden new twist. Arab and Muslim governments have created a monster in their own houses. After fomenting hatred for so many years, they now cannot contain the beast. They are hoping Israel can do it for them, but at what price? In reality, the game has never really been about Israel, at least not for several decades. It's been about preserving their own power, but this war seems to have all the hallmarks of being a pivotal point in history. Iran is going ape-shit. Calls to assassinate Hosni Mubarak have been issued. Turkey's customary gyrations have suddenly accelerated in the direction of the beast as closing ranks with Islamists seems the order of the day. Muslim countries are scrambling to find a safe route out of this mess.

But, thank goodness, Israel still has good friends. They include an astonishing array - "Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, United States, The European Union, NATO, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America." Interesting that the list of not-so-friendly states includes Norway, the architect of the Oslo Accord, which we might as well pronounce as dead. Or maybe not. We'll have to see where the pivot stops.

My opinion? The fence sitters in the West know that the tide is shifting away from Arab Nationalism and many Arab leaders are looking to the West to help them deal with the Mad Mullah's in Iran, and I think it just might be working. If I'm right, we may just see more reform in the Arab world and the fall of that odious regime. I think Winston might agree. Hallelujah!!