by A.J. Caschetta
A newly-politicized Kuwait is on a dual mission to bolster its international image in the Muslim world and appease its growing domestic Islamist movements. Palestinian advocacy serves both ends.
When Kuwait sent a draft resolution to the Security Council in early June calling for
an “international protection” force at the Gaza border and demanding
that Israel stop using “excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate
force,” it was all symbolism. Knowing that the U.S. would veto the
resolution, Kuwait still considered it important enough to risk
offending its most important ally.
Ever
since Hamas’ “March of Return” operation, Kuwait has emerged as the
Palestinians’ most important ally, convening emergency meetings at the
UN to condemn Israel and provide diplomatic cover for Hamas. This activity marks a major shift from decades of antagonism towards Palestinians – whom it has been accused of ethnically cleansing
from the emirate. A newly-politicized Kuwait is on a dual mission to
bolster its international image in the Muslim world and appease its
growing domestic Islamist movements. Palestinian advocacy serves both
ends.
Before
the first Gulf War, Kuwait was among the Palestinians’ most important
ally. The 400-450,000 Palestinians living among 2 million Kuwaitis were
professionals, skilled and unskilled workers. Fatah was in fact founded
in Kuwait. But when Saddam Hussein invaded, the Palestinian leaders
faced a dilemma, benefitting from both Iraqi and Kuwaiti patronage.
Compelled to choose between the two, Yasser Arafat foolishly chose
Saddam.
After
the U.S.-led coalition forced the Iraqi pillagers out, half of the
Palestinian population fled Kuwait. The restored emir, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,
vented his anger by cutting ties with the PLO and expelling nearly all
remaining Palestinians. Rumors persist of summary executions,
imprisonment and torture of Palestinians suspected of collaborating with
Saddam. Arafat later complained that “What Kuwait did to the Palestinian people is worse than what has been done by Israel to Palestinians.”
In
1991 Kuwait ended almost all diplomatic contacts with the Palestinians,
but Saddam Hussein remained their loyal patron until he was toppled by
another U.S.-led coalition. With Saddam gone, the two sides almost reconciled
in August 2003, but it was another 10 years before Kuwait reopened a
PLO embassy. But the reconciliation seemed lukewarm at best, and many
Palestinians claim they still face widespread prejudice in the emirate.
In 2014, the Arab League’s Summit, held in Kuwait, issued
the Kuwait Declaration which stated “We express our absolute and
decisive rejection to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.” In 2015,
the 25th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion, Al-Jazeera reported that “the ice has started to melt" between Kuwait and the Palestinian leadership. And now three years later, Palestinians seem to have regained their former patron. Or have they?
After the Trump administration announced that the U.S. would to move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, Kuwait announced
that it was considering opening an embassy in “Palestine,” hinting that
it would be located in East Jerusalem. Knowing full well that Israel
would never allow such a move, Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled, Kuwait’s deputy
prime minister and foreign minister, nevertheless signaled a willingness
to lend at least the appearance of legitimacy to a “Palestine” should
Abbas or his successor unilaterally declare statehood, adding that
"Kuwait is one of the most committed countries to Arab and international
resolutions, rejecting the Israeli occupation of the occupied Arab
territories."
Kuwait’s
lobbying on behalf of the Palestinians should not be mistaken for
concern about them. Even prior to the Gulf War, few were ever granted
permanent resident status, let alone citizenship. If the current emir, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah,
really loves the Palestinians so much, he would welcome them as
Kuwaitis. Rather, he is interested in what he can get out of them.
The
Palestinian cause may still be a diplomatic priority in parts of
Europe, but its allure has faded in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia now
prefers an alliance with Israel, and Egypt has actually flooded
Hamas tunnels at Israel’s request. Kuwait is positioning itself as the
preeminent supporter of the Palestinians among Arab nations.
Kuwait
sees itself as an ascendant power among the shifting alliances in the
Middle East and the Palestinians are stepping-stones to this goal. When
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain boycotted
last year’s Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit because Qatar
attended, Kuwait made its debut as a regional peace broker between the
sides. Perhaps it was an audition for a larger role in
Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations. After all, Mahmoud Abbas says
he will no longer accept the U.S. as mediator.
Even more valuable than establishing diplomatic bona fides, Palestinian advocacy is a way to assuage Islamists. Unlike most of the Arab world, in Kuwait the Muslim Brotherhood is legal and active. It has spawned other Salafist groups as well, and they have been successful lately, for instance pushing through
a law in 2016 that “bar[s] from running or voting in elections all
those convicted for ‘insulting’ God, the prophets, or the emir.”
Kuwait’s Islamist political forces were on full display last December when the government allowed them to hold protests
outside the Palestinian embassy in Kuwait City. Against a backdrop of
“Terrorism is an American business” chants, Ossama al-Shahin, a Kuwaiti
MP with the Islamic Constitutional Movement, demanded the government
"take measures against US interests.” Shia MP Khalil Abdullah urged
Kuwait to use its upcoming Security Council seat to oppose the U.S.
embassy move. December’s atmosphere explains May’s nose-thumbing at
those who rescued Kuwait from remaining the 19th province of Saddam’s Iraq.
Kuwait’s
cynical politicking on behalf of the Palestinians is at once an attempt
to earn the requisite credentials for the prominence it desires and a
hedge against its Islamist opposition. The emir of Kuwait is just
another opportunistic dictator in what Efraim Karsh calls
the long “history of Arab leaders manipulating the Palestinian cause
for their own ends while ignoring the fate of the Palestinians.”
A.J. Caschetta is a Ginsburg-Ingerman fellow at the Middle East Forum and a principal lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Source: https://www.meforum.org/articles/2018/kuwait-seizes-the-palestinian-cause
Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment