The Hegemonic Politics in the Middle East: Time for America to Act, by Abiodun Fatai

by Abiodun Fatai

If the “war of attrition” currently going on in Palestine-Gaza strip is anything to go come by, it is a war in which humans temperament is not of antagonistic culture as postulated by Samuel Huntington, but of dangerous hatred and injustice, orchestrated by the US and its allies against the Muslim world. No doubt the Muslim world has always been a thorn in the flesh of the United State of America and has always prevented its tendency towards infiltrating its culture. In the same vein, Israel has emerged as America allies and a regional geo-strategic enemy to the solidarity of the Muslim collectives in the
Middle East. Ever since then Israel and Palestinian has been in a cut-throat relations. They both have dumped good neighborliness; yet, it is Israel that has prided itself as an arrogant lot partly because
of the biblical question of superiority and the support it enjoys from America. In many instances Israel has chosen to impress America out of it idiosyncratic believed that she must dominate the Palestinian,
albeit the middle Ease. This factor lends credence to the root of the Israeli-Palestine land dispute and identity crisis. While this long drawn conflict has defied all odds, Israel in any of the arbitration
process has always raised the bar so high that the Palestine is always at its mercy. Yet, not even America, as the global hegemon, has been able to call Israel to order for the sake of peace and stability in the Middle East.

This is the basis upon which we can situate the American complicity in the madness going on in the Palestinian -Gaza strip, in which millions of innocent Palestinian are dying from the clutches of Israeli
wickedness and injustice. Has the Hamas really erred, to have justified Israel never-ending violence against the Palestinians? I don’t believe so because the prevailing condition of the Palestinian is a function of their belligerent posture, especially in a realist world where they suffering increasing persecution and hatred. If this issue is put into further perspective in the realist paradigm, both
Israeli and Palestinians are right in the use of force as rationalization for the promotion of their national interest. On the other hand they are both culpable for committing “war crime” by killing and maiming innocent citizens. Even at that, Israel is more culpable than the Palestinian especially against the backdrop of a changing world where peace and stability is the grand norm, with
Israel being a fraction of the dominant World order. This new order has in it inherent human values, freedom and dignity as core characteristics. In the context that the protagonist of that order
chooses to violate those principles as consequence of their self-driven interest, the implication is that the stability of the global regime is threatened. My position therefore is that, in the context that Israel seeks to violate the global order of peace and stability, by assuming a mindless war against the Palestinian is a clear threat to the world order. However, America is yet to see
reasons why it should call Israel to order. This is not a new attitude, I know of so many UNSC resolutions which Israel has refused to honour in the past, without any reprimand from America. This has
thus created a situation of instability and raises question on the legitimacy of the global system. Where lies the logic and sanity in America-Britain obsessive invasion of Iraq, mindless of the interest of the “common Iraqis”, despite the obvious that, Iraq is not in possession of WMD. America has always been quick to fix what is terroristic, yet all of its ardent have been slow in conceptualizing how America terror activities and complicity has amounted to such, albeit the bombing of Hiroshima-Nagasaki in which America not only killed millions but also dehumanize the Japanese population in the final stage of the second world war is still fresh in our mind.

Consequent upon this, I make bold to theorize that America is guilty of double-speak and that the current global contour resulting in renewed insecurity and terror should be laid at the doorstep of
America’s mindless politics, which seeks to exterminate the Muslim world to foist Israel’s dominance in the Middle East, with the consequence of consolidating America’s hegemony. Maybe America’s
justification is rooted in their fear of the Nostradamus theory of 3WW, which it claims would start in the Middle East and the unsavory fear, that it would unseat America hegemony. Even though that theory
is yet to come to fruition, America may well be sowing the seed of this prophesy as the double standard and complicity of America in serious global peace and security issues would consequently come back
against America. As much as America has invented fantastic human values and dignity, which make it to be renowned and respected as global hegemon, it has also stood against those principles. For
example, recently, a young American stood by identifying with the Palestinian course; you won’t believe what happens to him, he was humiliated and harassed by the America “security mad-dogs” just
because he expressed his freedom of speech about the Israeli madness in Gaza. Where lays justice and human dignity? What principle do
America represents? Is America putting every issue on the chessboard of foreign policy and or national interest, even as a global hegemon? That is not the question for this discuss. Yet again, Israeli madness
is in American obsession to curtail the Arab world, it would therefore not see a wrong in Israeli brutalization of Palestinian. The only response from America in almost two week of brutalization in
Palestine-Gaza strip was Obama sympathy for the wounded Israeli young girls. This called to question the “thinking and disposition of America to terror” especially in the context that Palestine is being
ruined and many young innocent Palestinians boys and girls are now in their grave beyond. The US should be careful as some recent studies are leveraging on the China-Russia relations to upstage the US
hegemony. American critics have argued that the recent take of Crimea by Russian, is a sign that American hegemony is been challenged. Thus America can only put its act right by doing the expected, as its disposition and reaction to global security and injustices are the precursor to world order and stability.

It is therefore not because one is quick to defend the Palestinian position as some would argues; the question is if America’s claims to global hegemons is anything to come by, it should be more sensitive
and takes responsibility in ensuring global order, peace and stability without necessarily being value-laden. It must take the global interest beyond the interest of any state, at least for the collective security and stability of the world. Israel cannot continue this madness, the bloodshed is becoming so much that even global Christendom’s are becoming “weary and worry” on the state of killing and destruction in Palestine. Enough of this bloodshed, we have seen enough in Palestine-Gaza strip, Nigeria, Pakistan, Libya Syria all of which are Muslim enclave, otherwise a time would come that “the blood they are shedding” in Nigeria’s first lady language [That is the common slang in Nigeria today, she is also referred to as “Madam Wayek”] would definitely come to hunt America. Certainly, for America as the global hegemons to speak to the Palestinian question, once for all with a view to engendering peace and security in the middle East as well as other part of the world where war of persecution and injustice is undermining global collective global peace and stability.

Abiodun Fatai is a doctoral candidate at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He is currently working on Elections and Democratic Consolidation in West Africa and has also written substantially on global politics and security.