THE ongoing Israeli massacre in Gaza has sparked an outrage across the Arab and Muslim world. Numerous demonstrations took to the streets condemning Israel's massacre on Palestinian children and women in the Gaza Strip. Beside that noble cause, many of these demonstrations have celebrated the courageous steps taken by leaders of some non-Arab countries to address the predicament of people in the Gaza Strip. But the question that should rightly be put is whether these pro-Arab positions are genuinely motivated by an unshakeable belief that Palestinians' cause is just and is worth siding with. Or is it just a twisted political position that would change once the geopolitics in the region changes as well. Venezuelan expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Caracas has been enthusiastically championed by many Arabs who praised Chavez's rare heroism. In many demonstrations organized to denounce Israel's hostilities in the Gaza Strip, portraits of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, were raised by demonstrators who found in Chavez a mythical hero who could stand in the face of America and Israel. Chavez's popularity shot up into the Lebanese capital, Beirut, when a street there was named after him. Articles and commentaries all are praising Chavez's courage to cut ties with Israel despite the fact that even some Arab countries which have diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv could not follow suit. However, what most Chavez enthusiasts do not know is that the Venezuelan president did not do what he has done out of a deep and genuine commitment to the Palestinian cause, nor has he done so to put further pressure on Israel to end its aggression against the Palestinians. He has done so simply because he wants to infuriate United States, Israel's strongest ally, and Venezuela's staunchest enemy. Another fresh voice of alliance with Arabs came from Latin America, too. Bolivian president, Evo Morales, announced days ago that Bolivia, due to Israel's grave attacks against the Palestinians in Gaza, decided to “stop having diplomatic relations with Israel.” A close ally of Hugo Chavez and an ardent critic of United States, Morales, a leftist, is also gaining popularity on the Arab street and in the Arab media as well. On a televised interview with an Arab TV station, an advisor to the Syrian president lamented Morales' absence from a summit meeting of Arab and Muslim leaders in Doha four days ago. She described Morales as a brave free leader who has proven that he is a friend to Arabs and to their just struggle against Israel. A third voice is that of Ahmedinejad's, the Iranian president, who, despite his remarks about the Holocaust being a myth, had recently appeared less critical of both Israel and United States. He asked the Arab League and some key Arab states to take action toward solving this conflict adding that Palestine is primarily an Arab issue. He tacitly rejected proposals for cutting off oil supplies hinting that the oil embargo is just “a good idea.” In the realm of politics, ideology and geopolitics, interests are what make political alliances. Geographically speaking, Venezuela and Bolivia are thousands of miles away from the Middle East and, thus, there is no strong geographical bond that keeps both Arab countries and these two countries together. Ideologically, there is no ideological basis for cooperation between Arabs and Venezuelan people, keeping in mind that the cultural, historical and social differences are not a unifying factor. Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales and Ahmedinejad expressed their unwavering support to the Palestinians in Gaza not out of pro-Arab leanings, as set forth in the media, but out of deep anti-American sentiments. Hugo Chavez has once likened the American president to the devil who “does not reside in Hell but in Washington.” Morales, a leftist, expelled the United States ambassador from Bolivia late last month accusing him of having a secret meeting with the Bolivian opposition groups. Ahmedinejad, on the other hand, is United States' enemy in the region due to his government's position over the disputed Iranian nuclear program. Although his country has no diplomatic relations with either Israel or United States, his decades-long enmity with United States drove him to ally with any anti-American movement not only in the region but also in the world. Why have the sufferings of the Palestinian people been so viciously exploited by international powers? Is it to get some political gains? Is the blood of the Palestinians so cheap to be used as a bargaining tool in the international conflicts?
