Most Arabs are perplexed by why their governments and the Arab League have been so docile in the face of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, which is approaching its third year and has spilled into the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, Syria and Lebanon. Two critical actors that could redress this situation – Western and other global powers on the one hand, and Arab governments on the other – have mainly issued statements of concern, sent symbolic aid packages and called for United Nations meetings that only reaffirm their collective inaction. The Arab League especially, which claims to represent shared Arab interests, has been the poster child of Arab docility and empty words. Three intertwined dynamics might explain this.The first is the post-colonial nature of statehood and power in Arab lands, which never fully shed colonial influence, since most Arab states formed after World War I were configured to suit foreign interests as much as, if not more than, their own people’s identities, rights and aspirations. So Arab countries, unlike Iran or Turkiye, for example, have never been able to harness their natural, human and geographic resources to become powerful, confident states that are not constantly manipulated by stronger powers, or that can occasionally resist forei …
