by Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.

How We, the People got to Disdained Present?

The new, educated and proactive generations of Pakistanis wonder why the country and its systems of governance are dysfunctional, corrupt and self-destructive. Why over 75 years we have been fighting

The contemporary trajectory of politics spells out the unthinkable wave of chaos and mismanagement by few generals and corrupt judiciary, shaping a dark future for the present and future-making. Pakistan is fast becoming a dead-ended entity of moral, political and intellectual landscape. Truth telling is maligned and persecuted by the ruling elite. The British changed the sub-continent in 90 years, but Pakistan after 75 years has no viable system of political governance. Its home-grown enemies and traitors like ZA Bhutto, Ms. Bhutto, General Yahya Khan, Zardari, Sharifs and General Musharraf were more harmful than foreign enemies. These impostors are seen as scum floating on a torrent. Pakistan lives in limbo with a legitimate system of political governance and accountability and system of law and justice.

Nations cease to exist when educated people of new generations who could have replaced the old and redundant guards leave the country and never return to build the nation. Young educated generations embark on migrating to Europe or America and never come back. It is an irresistible necessity of time and truth that those in power must be warned and listen to voices of reason and political necessity for change and truth for restraint and civilized behavior.

When would we learn about our wrong thinking, wrong priorities and wrong actions? This current state of Pakistani affairs reflects a complete societal breakdown and march towards self-annihilation. Despite hollow claims of the generals, no moral and ethical behavior is seen in the sudden and inexplicable plunge to human wickedness highlighting the affairs of the besieged nation.

People Won the National Freedom and the Generals Destroyed it

Most dreadful tragedies have infallibly resulted in victimizing the masses. Today, the nation is crippled with catastrophic events of insecurity, mismanagement and socioeconomic and political exploitation. The Pakistani ruling elite and the Generals are not open to reason and accountability. They are engaged in systematic subversion of national freedom, security and future-making.They cannot realize the imperatives of hopes and expectations of a new generation of educated and morally and intellectually competent people. Future belongs to the new generation of educated people, not to the naive and obsolete Generals. They view “power” and “Pakistan” as their own property. The authoritarian leaders played with its destiny and future without being questioned. They are the wrong people, with wrong thinking and doing the wrong things. If there was any fair system of accountability, some of the Generals and accomplice politicians could well have faced firing squads for their crimes against the nation. Are the Generals waiting for another mishap of formative history? Please see “British Colonialism and How India and Pakistan Lost Freedom.” Global Research and Uncommon Thought Journal: 1/01/22. In “Pakistan Leaders or Criminals”, you will discover how Bhuttos, Zardari, Sharifs and General Musharaf – these thugs stole billions and billions to own properties in the UK, France and Spain. The Thinking People of the New Generation view them as the most corrupt, crime riddled monsters who will never come to terms with reason and honesty to reflect on their own wrongdoings. They never imagined–how the present and future generations will remember them? Please see by this author:“Pakistan Imperatives of Political Change for a Progressive Nation”2019; “Pakistan where Politics and Corruption are the Same” 2014; “Pakistan in Search of Freedom and Security”, Uncommon Thought Journal and Global Research: 10/20/22, and “Pakistan, Planned Political Chaos: Imran Khan a Victim of Hope for the Future”, Global Research: 11/06/2022; “Pakistan in Search of Its Soul.” Uncommon Thought Journal: 8/06/23

Was Imran Khan a Victim of Political Vengeance?

The Generals and Sharif family wanted to dehumanize Khan and his PTI organization and for the last two years, they bent on destroying his political integrity under false charges of corruption. Pakistan’s failure to hold any credibility of the law and justice system is widely observed by all concerned. Although Imran Khan spoke of moral and intellectual values and nation-building, but he did very little to support that agenda. He did not kill anybody nor robbed any banks and was keen to have legal accountability for the stolen wealth and killings by Sharif brothers, Bhuttos, and Zardari and others. But political governance was infested with corrupt figures of the past. Tyranny is always powerless and transitory. Often when sadistic politicians cannot solve one set of problems, they come up with other naïve ideas to create more critical problems to distract the masses. Khan has been imprisoned under false pretext of political vengeance and to pave the way for another opening for the crime riddled Sharif family. What is the solution to the morally and intellectually sickening political culture of Pakistani politics? It is hard to imagine that General Assam Munir and his few sadistic partners including the Sahrfi family would create an environment of free and fair elections. The law and justice system has already collapsed and Pakistan could fall into another conspiracy for its disintegration. They would hold fake elections and do their best to see the return of the Sharif family corresponding to the geopolitical agenda of the inept generals. If the Generals and Sharif have any sense of history, reasoning, and accountability, they should not be part of any conspiracy against the people of Pakistan.They could well face the same fate as all conspiratorial and traitors should do – court martial and firing squads to clean the floating scum.

History will judge the imposters by their actions, not by their claims to serve the nation.

Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Germany, 12/2019.

Current Politics

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

March 27, 2025

Arab Failures: The Unspoken Complicity in Israel’s Genocide

Ramzy Baroud

Image by Mohamed Nohassi.

Explaining Arab political failure to challenge Israel through traditional analysis—such as disunity, general weakness, and a failure to prioritize Palestine—does not capture the full picture.

The idea that Israel is brutalizing Palestinians simply because the Arabs are too weak to challenge the Benjamin Netanyahu government—or any government—implies that, in theory, Arab regimes could unite around Palestine. However, this view oversimplifies the matter.

Many well-meaning pro-Palestine commentators have long urged Arab nations to unite, pressure Washington to reassess its unwavering support for Israel, and take decisive actions to lift the siege on Gaza, among other crucial steps.

While these steps may hold some value, the reality is far more complex, and such wishful thinking is unlikely to change the behavior of Arab governments. These regimes are more concerned with sustaining or returning to some form of status quo—one in which Palestine’s liberation remains a secondary priority.

Since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the Arab position on Israel has been weak at best, and treasonous at worst.

Some Arab governments even went so far as to condemn Palestinian resistance in United Nations debates. While countries like China and Russia at least attempted to contextualize the October 7 Hamas assault on Israeli occupation forces imposing a brutal siege on Gaza, countries like Bahrain placed the blame squarely on the Palestinians.

With a few exceptions, it took Arab governments weeks—or even months—to develop a relatively strong stance that condemned the Israeli offensive in any meaningful terms.

Though the rhetoric began to shift slowly, the actions did not follow. While the Ansarallah movement in Yemen, alongside other Arab non-state actors, attempted to impose some form of pressure on Israel through a blockade, Arab countries instead worked to ensure Israel could withstand the potential consequences of its isolation.

In his book War, Bob Woodward disclosed that some Arab governments told then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they had no objections to Israel’s efforts to crush Palestinian resistance. However, some were concerned about the media images of mutilated Palestinian civilians, which could stir public unrest in their own countries.

That public unrest never materialized, and with time, the genocide, famine, and cries for help in Gaza were normalized as yet another tragic event, not unlike the war in Sudan or the strife in Syria.

For 15 months of relentless Israeli genocide that resulted in the killing and wounding of over 162,000 Palestinians in Gaza, official Arab political institutions remained largely irrelevant in ending the war. The US Biden administration was emboldened by such Arab inaction, continuing to push for greater normalization between Arab countries and Israel—even in the face of over 15,000 children killed in Gaza in the most brutal ways imaginable.

While the moral failures of the West, the shortcomings of international law, and the criminal actions of Biden and his administration have been widely criticized, for serving as a shield for Israel’s war crimes, the complicity of Arab governments in enabling these atrocities is often ignored.

The Arabs have, in fact, played a more significant role in the Israeli atrocities in Gaza than we often recognize. Some through their silence, and others through direct collaboration with Israel.

Throughout the war, reports surfaced indicating that some Arab countries actively lobbied in Washington on behalf of Israel, advocating against an Egyptian-Arab League proposal aimed at reconstructing Gaza without ethnically cleansing its population—an idea promoted by the Trump Administration and Israel.

The Egyptian proposal, which was unanimously accepted by Arab countries at their summit on March 4, represented the strongest and most unified stance taken by the Arab world during the war.

The proposal, which was rejected by Israel and dismissed by the US, helped shift discourse in the US around the subject of ethnic cleansing. It ultimately led to comments made on March 12 by Trump during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin where he stated that “No one’s expelling anyone from Gaza.”

For some Arab states o actively oppose the only relatively strong Arab position signals that the issue of Arab failures in Palestine goes beyond mere disunity or incompetence—it reflects a much darker and more cynical reality. Some Arabs align their interests with Israel, where a free Palestine isn’t just a non-issue, but a threat.

The same applies to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, which continues to work hand in hand with Israel to suppress any form of resistance in the West Bank. Its concern in Gaza is not about ending the genocide, but ensuring the marginalization of its Palestinian rivals, particularly Hamas.

Thus, blaming the PA for mere ‘weakness,’ for ‘not doing enough,’ or for failing to unify the Palestinian ranks is a misreading of the situation. The priorities of Mahmoud Abbas and his PA allies are far different: securing relative power over Palestinians, a power that can only be sustained through Israeli military dominance.

These are difficult, yet critical truths, as they allow us to reframe the conversation, moving away from the false assumption that Arab unity will resolve everything.

The flaw in the unity theory is that it naively assumes Arab regimes inherently reject Israeli occupation and support Palestine.

While some Arab governments are genuinely outraged by Israel’s criminal behavior and growingly frustrated by the US’ irrational policies in the region, others are driven by self-interest: their animosity toward Iran and fear of rising Arab non-state actors. They are equally concerned about instability in the region, which threatens their hold on power amid a rapidly shifting world order.

As solidarity with Palestine has increasingly expanded from the global South to the global majority, Arabs remain largely ineffective, fearing that significant political change in the region could directly challenge their own position. What they fail to understand is that their silence, or their active support for Israel, may very well lead to their own downfall.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net

Reference: https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/03/27/arab-failures-the-unspoken-complicity-in-israels-genocide/

Courtesy: https://www.janes.com/