While Gaza is burning, Arab officials are busy working the phones in an attempt to arrange an Arab emergency meeting. The earliest date possible, we are being told, is Friday.
By then though, there will be fewer Gazans in Gaza. And also by then Israel will be winding down its bloody campaign. This obviously suits Arab officials well. There will be less pressure - from Arab public opinion - on them to take tough decisions. They can then blame Hamas for the carnage. Some of them have done it with the first wave of Israeli bombing which killed dozens of children who were leaving their school in central Gaza.
Reports suggest that some Arab officials were informed of the Israeli plans. Some were instrumental in making sure the Gaza border stayed firmly closed for the past year. It was an attempt to topple the Hamas government by strangling the economy and starving the population, hoping that Gazans would rise up against their Islamist rulers. There is no evidence to suggest that some Arabs are complicit in the Israeli crime. In fact, the mere suggestion that some Arab officials have given their nod to the worst one-day massacre in Gaza's history defies common sense.
But there certainly was official Arab indifference to the plight of the Gazans. The strip had been under siege for long. The Arab governments failed to even meet and condemn the Israeli blockade. Hamas must certainly shoulder a responsibility as it rules the ravaged strip. But the sole perpetrator of Saturday's genocide is Israel and those hypocrites - the US and Australian governments - who called on Hamas to "stop its aggression against Israel" while Gaza's women and children were being slaughtered by Israel's 'smart' bombs in broad daylight.
The Gulf Cooperation Council summit, which starts today, and the Arab League meeting, which is expected later this week, must come up with more than words to protect the Palestinian people. It is time Arab governments exercise their political will and take stances in line with Arab popular sentiment shown by the mass demonstrations across the region.
