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During his (November 4) meeting with Arab foreign ministers in Jordan, the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was angry and overtly upset – his Arab hosts raised some questions instead of their normal nods of submissions.

As the death toll approached 10,000, the foreign ministers were visibly concerned with genocide and mass atrocities in Palestine.

Their fear is that the wholesale assaults on innocent civilians is inciting popular resentments and is deepening discontent among their people. They requested Blinken to have mercy on them as the popular protests eventually endanger the survivability of Washington’s Arab protectorates.  

Blinken was unmoved and asserted that Washington will not tolerate popular protest or any support for the Palestinian cause in any part in the Arab World.

And that the Arab governments have no choice but to obey and submit. The  fearful foreign ministers got the message that Washington would not accept any sympathy for Palestinians. They got the impression that he fully embraced the Israel’s plan to pacify the Palestinians with bombs, bullets, and forever occupation.  

In his instructions, Blinken left no room for guessing where he stood and why he was there. Arab hosts understood that he was there to ensure submission to Israeli will and that any dissent would be dealt with harshly and swiftly. The hosts looked at each other’s face and were asking themselves if they would face the same fate of Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, and Libya where destruction is everywhere and misery is widespread.  

More importantly, the foreign ministers knew that the self-appointed Avenger from  Tel Aviv, Bibi Netanyahu, dictated the talking points for Blinken.  And this is where Blinken was clear more than ever.  It is Bibi’s words and instructions that he conveys both to his hosts and to President Biden. So, when Blinken’s god stated, “There will be no ceasefire . . .[and it] should be completely removed from the lexicon,” elite in Washington listen. 

Left with no other options, the Arab foreign ministers who met with Blinken begged his forgiveness and asked his blessing.  They requested him to understand their dilemma — justifying the killing and genocide in the Holy Land to their constituencies while projecting themselves as the defender of the Arab people.  Some Arab states have been more successful than others in misleading the public. However, most of them have done a great job in promoting Israeli narrative in their media while pressuring their citizens not to show any public support for Palestinians.   

Jordan and Egypt have aggressively sought to avoid enraging Washington’s elite while showing sympathy to Palestinians only for public consumption. Saudi Arabia and the UAE outlaw public protests. The most damaging act to the Palestinian cause, however, is the report in the New York Times  (November 5) which indicated  that the Egyptian government quietly agreed to Israeli plan to  “transfer . . . several hundred thousand [Palestinians ] civilians from Gaza” and settle them in Egypt.  This is an important development in the search for ending the Palestinian cause.  

During the press conference with Blinken, the Arab foreign ministers could not escape the fact that he  spoke with contempt, disdain, and disregard. This has deepened their fear of what the future holds and simultaneously reinforces their feeling of inferiority. Indeed, these corrupt Arab politicians consider the mere existence of Palestinian question is troubling nightmare.  

Perhaps, Blinken was amused that his hosts have no soul or are not driven by any national Arab cause, and that, quoting the Iraqi poet Muzafer Al Nawwab, “the pigsty is cleaner than they are.” No wonder Blinken is not denouncing the call to annihilate Palestinians in Gaza by members of the government in Tel Aviv. As reported by the Times of Israel (November 5), Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu called to end Palestinian troubles by using  ‘atomic bomb on Gaza Strip.’  

There is no doubt that the Arab authoritarian regimes understand very well that Washington’s elite will seize any opportunity to humiliate Arabs. For these elite having Arabs waiting in line begging for food and mercy is an ideal situation.  This fact was captured by a former senior State Department officer, Michael Ledeen, who stated

“we will not be sated until we have had the blood of every miserable little tyrant in the Middle East, until every leader of every cell . . . is dead or locked securely away, and every last drooling anti-Semitic and anti-American. . . is . . .  singing the praises of the United States of America.”  

Likewise, as Vice President at that time, Dick Cheney argued that the best strategy to pacify the Arab people is to use force against them. He argued

“I firmly believe that strong, firm U.S. response . . .to threats to the United States would go a long way, frankly, toward calming things in that part of the world.”

This view is commonly shared by Washington’s elite and appears to be promoted by Blinken.   

Nevertheless, these regimes do not mind collaborating with Washington in making it wishes a reality.  They have mastered the art of projecting themselves as defenders of national causes. The unfolding events in the Holy Land evidence the failure of Arab regimes to take any credible stand to end genocide and save Palestinian lives.  

Without any doubt, Blinken knows that if the Arab regimes express wholehearted support for Palestinians, neither Israel nor the U.S. will engage in acts against the people in the region.  The leaders of the Arab autocratic regimes are morally defeated. Their survival is primarily guaranteed by Washington even though they are despised by their citizens. For years, Washington has been driven by the notion that the best leaders for the Arab states are those who are brutal and crooked. This belief is bigoted, dangerous, and catastrophic.   

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Abbas J. Ali is distinguished University Professor, Eberly College of Business, IUP. Indiana, PA. He is the author/co-author of ten books and about 200 journal articles. His most current books are Sectarianism in Islam: Power, Tribalism, and Commercial Interests, Nova Science Publishers,  and Business Ethics in Islam. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, USA: Edward Elgar.

Featured image: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Source: Celal Gunes – Anadolu Agency)