Zohaib Tariq
The Palestine-Israel conflict is almost seven decades old; it all started with the Nakba event and the the initiation of an Eurocentric-colonial project in the heart of Middle East, back in 1948. Today, almost seven million Palestinian refugees, victims of colonial settlement by the project-Israel, live across the Middle East in inhumane conditions with less or no citizenry rights. These families, alongside their children were expelled from the their home just like Moses was forced to leave the same place. It is quite astonishing that the role of Pharaoh, who use to kill infants, is now been taken up by the project-Israel, which mercilessly targets innocent women, children and elderly to create fear in the hearts of Muslim. In a recent statement, the Prime Minister of project-Israel said that a “cultural change” is needed in Gaza, similar to the change that occurred in Japan and Germany after the World War Two. It is to be mentioned that the warrior class of Japan and Germany was tamed and their prongs were removed through cultural indoctrination of their history, literature and values. This is near impossible with the case of Palestinian Muslims who possess their own unique identity, religion and culture and around two billion other Muslims resonate with them, which neither Japan nor Germany had such civilisational identities or cultural associations.
Coming towards the subject of discussion, this war has regional implications and the Chinese and Pakistanis are the biggest beneficiaries of this conflict. Firstly, during the UNGA session is September, the Israeli prime minister talked about the IMEC (India Middle-East Corridor). This project’s aim was to open new trade routes across the Middle East, connecting India with Europe through land and sea routes between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Ships from India were to dock at Dubai and from there goods were to be transported to Saudi Arabia-Jordon and finally Israel through trucks and again from Israel to Europe via shipping routes. This project was being championed by US as a counterweight of the Chinese BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) or commonly known as the CPEC, as US perceives India as a counter player to China in its Indo-Pacific Strategy. However, after the Hamas’ attack on Israel, the normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia were put off the plate due to public pressure from the Muslim world in general and also from within the Saudi Arabia, which did not wanted to look as betrayer of Muslims, especially when its the custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. If there is no normalisation between the Israelis and Saudis, the IMEC will remain a distant dream for India: No ties, no trade route; thereby, benefiting the interests of Pakistanis and Chinese in the region Moreover, there is another benefit for Pakistan in the context, that if Riyadh does not establishes diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv, pressure on Pakistan to recognise Israel will also remain off the table. Some scholars of International Relations are even of such an opinion that its the Chinese who are the real perpetrators of assisting Hamas to carry out such attacks to serve their regional interests. . Moreover, this war, though fifteen thousand people lost their lives but still it has damaged the interest of Washington and Tel Aviv in the region. Similarly, growing domestic pressure on Joe Biden for his indecisiveness to resolve the conflict will also cost him the election. He was unpopular for his old age before, and now he is further uncherished for his indecisiveness. This conflict has put the last nail in his political coffin. However, having discussed the bright side of the picture, there is still some grey area which needed a just attention. Saudis are in a mood of desperation, as their oil reserves are depleting and they want to diversify their economy, that is why they are investing heavily in other sectors. It is true that they earn a lot through religious tourism; however, that money alone cannot bear the luxury lifestyles of Al-Saud family; therefore, they will be pushing for materialisation of IMEC and establishing ties with Israel to secure much needed financial investments in the fileds of technology, defence and urban development and tourism. And also to use the Jewish Lobby in US to pressure the Congress to serve financial and strategic objectives in Yemen, Syria and Iraq to counter Iranian influence in the region.
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