Kathmandu— When an industrial-scale invasion devastated Gaza, reducing neighborhoods to ash and children to statistics, the Arab world’s reaction was a deafening silence. Despite immense wealth, strategic geography, and institutional power, the response from Arab regimes ranged from paralysis to complicity, exposing profound moral bankruptcy and self-preservation over pan-Arab solidarity.

Regime Calculations

Across the Middle East, autocrats, absolute monarchs, and security states prioritize their grip on power over public sentiment. These regimes fear that allowing mass demonstrations or economic boycotts against Israel could set a dangerous precedent for domestic political reform. Consequently, they weaponize state power not against external aggressors but against their own people, stifling protests, jailing activists, and muzzling independent media.

Normalization Rush

In recent years, several Arab states have bypassed the Palestinian cause in favor of bilateral trade, security, and intelligence agreements with Israel. This normalization trend has been driven by strategic alignment against regional rivals like Iran, rather than historical obligations to Palestine. Even during the Gaza conflict, elite diplomacy produced sterile communiqués and empty resolutions, while genuine humanitarian aid was scarce.

Street Paralysis

The Arab street’s failure to rise in collective action is rooted in decades of systemic oppression, economic collapse, sectarian division, and civil wars. Societies fractured along ethnic and religious lines struggle to muster collective energy for external causes when daily survival consumes all available resources. The post-Arab Spring hangover has also instilled a deep-seated dread of state collapse leading to anarchy, migration, and foreign intervention.

Rhetoric vs Reality

For generations, Arab leaders have weaponized the Palestinian cause as a rhetorical diversion from domestic tyranny. When tested by real events, this rhetoric has proven hollow, lacking economic leverage and political will to impose real costs on Israel. The moral stain suffered by choosing comfort over action remains an indictment of a civilization that turned away.

(With inputs from CounterPunch)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.