Lets Blame Moderate Arab States

Mr Islam,

I struggle to understand the levels of impact and interaction between Arab States and the Israeli / Palestinian issue.

I keep asking myself, why has there been so little progress in reaching some form of peace? For the answer, I look not just to the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships, but to all other governments in the region which have been neither receptive nor helpful to reaching a lasting peace.

While the roles of the Middle East's arguably two most radical regimes, Syria and Iran (the latter having recently promised $50m in aid to the Palestinian government(although yet to pay)) are usually at the centre of the problem. Both these regimes consistently weigh in with inflammatory remarks and little action. How do these (and other) dictatorships benefit from an unstable region? Why would they not act proactively to end the problem one way or the other? If they want peace they could force the Palestinians to the table and if they want war, well they could attack!

Why also is little attention given to the policies of the other "moderate" regional governments." Such as Jordan and Egypt, Turkey and UAE? Are they merely afraid? Do they have too much to lose from confrontation?
"Ensuring peace requires more than tactical steps or occasional moderation by Arab governments that fail to bring freedom and peace to a region that is in dire need of both. The lack of reform in the Arab world has only fuelled the fire of the Islamists. At the present moment, even Hamas's defeat in government will not be the magic solution that brings peace.

Peace requires that a new culture of openness be nurtured and supported by moderate liberal orientations throughout the region.

It requires moving further for constructive change and not settling for the false stability of the status quo. While it is easy to blame democracy for bringing Hamas to power and halting the so-called "road map to peace", it is hard to ignore the fact that the policy of "stability" over reform has failed to achieve any progress towards peace."

Perhaps we need, or perhaps the Arab nations should / want an open and honest policy of 'instability' in order to move towards peace…

Shalom
Mr Jewish