The proxy war (what some are calling a “new cold war”) between (non-Arab) Iran and its Arab allies on the one hand (Syria, Hizbullah, and HAMAS) and on the other hand the U.S. and its main Arab allies (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Siniora government in Lebanon) is heating up. A rhetorical clash between the two sets of interests at the meeting of the Arab League in Damascus at the end of this month is likely. Differences have deepened over Israel’s recent incursion into and bombardment of Gaza in response to Katyusha and Qassam rocket attacks launched by HAMAS against neighboring Israeli towns. HAMAS’ inclusion in the Iranian axis is paradoxical (and probably only skin deep) since HAMAS is a strict Sunni movement that evolved out of the Muslim Brotherhood. Arab allies of the U.S., while they want the Americans to continue serving as a counterweight to growing Iranian influence in their region, are feeling anxious since the mood on the Arab street has always sided with HAMAS and with the Palestinians generally over against Israel (one recent poll - see article below - put the number of Arabs supporting continuing rocket attacks against Israel at 87%).
See The Economist, “Arab Diplomacy: The Pro-Westerners Feel Stumped, Too,” March 8, 2008
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[...] More on the “proxy war” being fought inside the Arab world Posted by Ted Thornton on Sunday, March 30, 2008, at 7:29 am. Filed under Arab World, Current Events, Trends. Follow any responses to this post with its comments RSS feed. You can post a comment or trackback from your blog. [...]
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