Palestine Left to Itself, Hypocritical Policy of Muslim Countries

By Haris Ljevo

The recent decision by US President Donald Trump to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel has caused fierce reactions around the world, especially in Muslim countries.

A few days after Trump's decision, a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation was held in Istanbul, where Muslim countries declared East Jerusalem the capital of the future state of Palestine.

At the summit, leaders of Muslim countries practically competed to see who would send a stronger condemnation of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and who would express more love and solidarity towards the Palestinians who have been enduring the ordeal of Israeli occupation for almost a full century.

The Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan led the way, stating that Jerusalem is a red line for all Muslims worldwide, while messages from Malaysia and Indonesia indicated readiness for war with Israel.

This is the right opportunity to reflect on the attitude of Muslim countries towards Palestine and the Palestinian people from the beginning of the occupation in 1948 to the present day.

The largest number of Palestinian refugees today live in Jordan, as many as 2.7 million, making up about 30 percent of the total population of this country, where they enjoy the highest degree of human rights, have the right to personal documents and the use of all rights that Jordanians also use.

After Jordan, the Arab country with the largest number of Palestinian refugees is Syria, which has so far received about 560,000 people. Palestinians in Syria do not have the right to acquire Syrian citizenship, but they have all other rights like Syrian citizens, such as attending the same schools and universities, using health services, the right to work...

In Lebanon, 458,369 Palestinian refugees have found refuge, but unlike in Jordan and Syria, in Lebanon they do not have rights like Lebanese citizens; they live exclusively in refugee camps, within which there are UN schools for refugees because Palestinian children cannot be educated together with Lebanese children.

A large number of Palestinians today live in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. Saudi Arabia is home to about 400,000 Palestinians, Qatar to 290,000, the UAE to 90,000, and Kuwait to 80,000. Regarding these four countries, it should be emphasized that a very small number of Palestinians went to them directly from Palestine; rather, in search of paid jobs, a large number of Palestinians arrived in these countries from refugee camps in other countries. Palestinians in these countries also have no civil rights.

Regarding other countries in the Arab and Muslim world, a large number of Palestinian refugees should be noted in Egypt (70,000), Libya (59,000), Iraq (57,000), Yemen (30,000), Pakistan (10,000), Algeria (4,000). As for the countries that boast the most about their support for Palestinians, such as Turkey, Malaysia, and Indonesia, there is not much data in international institutions to prove their support for Palestinians. It is more likely that these are exclusively populist statements by the leaders of these countries rather than actual assistance.

Until the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Palestine did not have good relations with this country, but with the fall of the old regime and the coming to power of the ayatollahs, Iran and Palestine became great allies, and today Iran represents the main support for Palestinian military formations in defending the country from Israeli occupation.

Regarding countries outside the Islamic world, the largest number of Palestinians have found refuge in South America, primarily Chile, where as many as 500,000 Palestinians live today, enjoying the highest civil rights in this country. Chile even has a football club, Deportivo Palestino, which has been the champion of this country three times in its history, and three years ago they attracted the attention of the world public when they appeared in jerseys depicting the map of Palestine before the establishment of the state of Israel.

Besides Chile, the largest number of Palestinians today live in Honduras and El Salvador, as well as Mexico, Cuba, and Venezuela. Honduras and El Salvador even had presidents of Palestinian origin, Carlos Roberto Flores and Antonio Saca, while one of the most famous revolutionaries and guerrillas of Latin America, Schafik Jorge Handal from El Salvador, is also of Palestinian origin. The former Prime Minister of Belize, Said Musa, was also a Palestinian.

Therefore, refugees from Palestine have received far greater civil rights in many countries of Latin America and Europe than in Muslim countries.

What is particularly interesting is that countries that publicly boast the most about supporting Palestine, such as Turkey or Saudi Arabia, have excellent and unbreakable economic ties with Israel. Politicians from countries like Malaysia or Indonesia, i.e., countries thousands of kilometers away from Israel and with no possibility of going to war with that country even if they really wanted to, threaten war and destruction of Israel. At the same time, the coast guards of these countries do not allow refugees from Myanmar, the Rohingya Muslims, who are currently undergoing ethnic cleansing, to enter.

It should also not be forgotten that Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and other wealthy Muslim countries have played a significant role in destabilizing countries that were the safest havens for Palestinians, such as Syria or Lebanon. Also, various self-proclaimed Islamic scholars daily spread hatred on social networks towards the left and European civic values, while Palestine has received the greatest support since the beginning of the Palestinian suffering (Nakba) precisely from leftists around the world, and it was precisely such countries that in the past severed all diplomatic relations with Israel, including former Yugoslavia.

Why Muslim countries? Have the Arab countries from the Gulf region never genuinely and sufficiently helped Palestine and the Palestinians?

Perhaps the best answer was given via social media by a Saudi volunteer who participated in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza a few years ago.

- My country has invested money in Palestine for years solely through religious literature, trying to turn Palestinians into followers of the Saudi version of Islam. Through all the suffering they have endured for years, many expected this to happen, that they would turn to radicalism. However, when I first came to Palestine, I saw walls covered with pictures and slogans of Che Guevara. Then I realized that Palestinians are not like us, that they are a different kind of Muslim, much more similar to European than Arab Muslims – wrote this Saudi.

His text best illustrates why Palestine has always been closer and dearer to Che Guevara, Castro, Allende, or Tito than to the leaders of Arab countries.

Palestinians will continue to fight for their freedom and the ultimate dream of creating a state of Palestine, while the leaders of Muslim countries, with few exceptions, will continue to talk in vain solely for their daily political points.