Another Israeli ally bites the dust in the Middle East
The revolutionised people of Egypt will never accept Arab-killing Israel
Mick Napier
01.02.011
Israel, says the LA Times, 'is watching the Egyptian uprising with fear' since it looks likely to lose its last important ally in the region, leaving only the Jordanian dictatorship and the despised Palestinian Authority, both of whom may not long survive the departure of Hosni Mubarak.
The strategic alliance with Turkey is in ruins and the Tunisian ally is overthrown by popular revolution.
A democratic regime in Egypt will be forced by a revolutionary public opinion to end Israel's brutal siege of Gaza and will stand beside the Palestinian people. They may close the Suez Canal to all Israeli ships until Palestinian people, Muslims and Christians, are free to go to Jerusalem. They could refuse transit to all Israeli cargoes until Palestinians trade freely across Palestine.
Put simply, Israel cannot easily survive the fall of the dictatorships that worked with it to crush the spirits of the entire Arab nation. Palestinians can now see freedom as a real possibility, for they observe Israel's 'fear' now that 350 million Arabs are liberating themselves. Israel suspects, rightly, that free Egyptians, free Tunisians – all free Arabs - will surely not stop until Palestine is liberated as well.
When Egypt's Western-backed dictator drives to the airport to begin his exile, his brethren and their imperial masters will reflect on the defeats that await them. Apartheid Israel, the self-styled 'only democracy in the Middle East' will lament the passing of yet another of the dictatorships that Israel needs. The rest of the world will celebrate.
The events in Egypt and Tunisia will change the world for ever. The multitudes of the Egyptian people overwhelmed and dispersed the repressive apparatus of one of the worst police states. Whereas previous protests were always suffocated by huge numbers of paramilitary police, the new-found heroism and determination of the mass of Egyptian people made observers gasp in awe; they have shown the world what Tunisians revealed earlier – masses of civilians can challenge even the most brutal dictatorship, any regime that defies the express will of its population. Anywhere.
The popular fury across Egypt is partly fuelled by the humiliation felt at Mubarak's alliance with Israel to crush the aspirations of the Palestinian people. Egyptians felt deep shame when Mubarak worked to maintain the siege of Gaza while Israel used the strip as a free fire zone to test its latest weapons. While Israel dispossessed Palestinians on racist grounds, Mubarak cooperated with Israel to starve them because they were had voted in democratic elections. To further enrage Egyptians, the Mubarak regime sold cheap gas to Arab-killing Israel while shortages of gas persisted at home.
The utter rout of US/Israeli imperial policy in the region is now possible. The long night of brutal dictatorships, the torture and killing of the best sons and daughters of every nation, now looks to be coming to an end. When the revolution leaps from Tunisia to Egypt in a few weeks, can Jordan, Syria and Morocco be far behind?
Where will the US now send its political prisoners to be tortured? The US and EU role in supporting Mubarak and the other dictators has been laid bare. Arms deliveries continue. US President Obama refuses to call Mubarak a dictator, and had to be forced to use the word 'democracy'. Obama initially called for 'reforms' and 'restraint on both sides', equating dictators and citizens, just as he called for 'restraint' and 'sacrifices' from both Israel and Palestinians. US calls for 'free and fair elections' in Egypt (but not in Saudi) at some time in the distant future seem pretty sick to Arabs who know that Palestinians are being punished by the US for having 'free and fair elections'.
With a new Middle East opening up, Palestine solidarity activists in the West have two important roles to play. We need to continue to build the growing world-wide movement of BDS, boycott, divestment and sanctions, against Israel. We also need to oppose the manoeuvres of our governments, the same governments that served as gravediggers of Palestinian democracy, to end the Arab revolution as quickly as possible and groom the next generation of dictators. This would allow Israel to complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The road to Palestinian freedom can now be seen clearly. It is a road of democratic revolution and it runs through every Arab capital, including Jerusalem.