Recent Arab politics can appear to an outside observer not familiar with the inner workings of the Arab governments to be inconsistent, if not confusing and contradictory, at best. This can clearly be seen in the reactions to the dangerous conflict between Israel and the Gaza Strip under the leadership of the Islamist government of Hamas or Islamic zeal.
After Hamas won a large majority in the Palestinian parliament in the January 2006 election in the Palestinian territories and declared its opposition to the peace process in accordance to the Oslo Accords, it was eventually denied recognition by the West Bank government as well as several Arab and western countries, including the United States. Hamas responded by wrestling control of Gaza from the Fath faction, which in turn assumed total control of the West Bank and continued the peace negotiations with Israel. The breakup between the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank eventually led to dividing the loyalties of the Palestinian people themselves and creating fissures among the Arab countries.
The division between the Palestinians concerning the peace negotiation with Israel not only hampered the peace process but divided the Arab countries along the same lines between those that overtly or covertly support the Palestinian authority under President Mahmoud Abbas and those who support Hamas under the leadership of Ismail Haniya. While Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are among the countries that openly supported the Fath government in the West Bank, Syria and many opposition groups in several Arab countries, along with the Shia Hizb Allah in Lebanon, openly supported Hamas.
Another factor that complicated matters even further was Iran’s appearance on the scene. Iran not only declared itself to be a sworn enemy of the state of Israel, but also threw its support behind Syria. Syria is technically in a state of war with the Jewish state but most importantly is behind Hamas and the Shi’s Hizb Allah in Lebanon. Thus, the Shia crescent was established. This development, along with Iran’s persistence in exporting the tenants of the 1980 Shi’s revolution to Shi’a minorities in the Arab world, further complicated the situation since the majority of Arabs are Sunna Muslims who increasingly became uneasy about Iran’s interference. The suspicion on the part of some Sunna Muslims and Arab Sunna governments regarding Iran and its Shi’a theology and ideology was translated into a suspicion of Hamas because of its close ties with the Iranian regime.
Although there are other reasons that are equally responsible for the confusion of Arab politics, like the authoritarian nature of most Arab regimes and the growing divide between the Arab governments and their people, the uncertainty of the Palestinian situation and the growing influence of Iran in the region remain high on the list of factors contributing to what appear to any observer in or outside the Arab world to be utterly aimless, if not pointless, Arab politics.

‘- Fathi El-Shihibi is an
associate academic specialist
in the World Languages
Center.