Israeli strike echoes in Pakistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
ISLAMABAD - Over the past few years the Palestinian issue, which has seen the
rise of the fundamentalist Hamas in Gaza, has in many respects been downgraded
from an international conflict into a complex local issue.
Israel’s deadly attack on Monday on an unarmed Turkish aid ship trying to break
the Israeli blockade of Gaza has overnight changed this, sparking protest
rallies across the Muslim world. Even the biggest facilitator of the Gaza
siege, Israel's ally Egypt, reacting to the protests, opened the Rafah border
crossing into Gaza.
The incident has also turned the spotlight on the United States, which
ultimately might be the major loser, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Hundreds of members of a pro-Iran Islamist group, the Imamia
Students' Organization, marched through the streets of Pakistan's southern port
city of Karachi on Tuesday in protest against the Israeli attack on the Mavi
Marmara. The protest was just one of several hundred staged in other
parts of the country.
The rally was supposed to take place in front of the Karachi Press Club. As the
protesters made their way to the club a group of men suddenly started shouting
inflammatory slogans. These included "La Sharqia La Gharbia Islamiya, Islamiya"
(We neither believe in East nor in the West, we only believe in Islam), "Death
to America, death to Israel" and "Allies of the Americans and Israel are
traitors."
At this point the marchers veered off towards the United States consulate and
the protest turned violent as police tried to block the march. At least two
dozen student activists were arrested and the remainder dispersed by water
cannons.
In Pakistani terms this was a relatively small incident with no deaths, but it
is a sign of a fresh anti-American campaign in the country that could easily be
replicated in other nations.
The heightened temperature on the streets in Pakistan could not have come at a
worse time.
The government is under intense pressure from Washington to launch a massive
military offensive in the North Waziristan tribal area, which the US recognizes
as the crucial base for the Afghan resistance and the global headquarters of
al-Qaeda. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops in Afghanistan are
also poised for a big offensive against Taliban strongholds in Kandahar
province - a move that is highly unpopular with the local population.
Even though Pakistan is termed a most important non-NATO ally in the war in
Afghanistan, Islamabad does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Three
Pakistani citizens were on the Mavi Marmara and the incident, including
Turkey's unequivocal condemnation of the attack, received widespread media
coverage.
International Islamic movements immediately showed up on the streets and
formulated plans for demonstrations, including the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan,
which after a high-level meeting in Lahore outlined a prolonged protest
campaign.
Former Afghan interim prime minister Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai told Asia Times Online
from Kabul that sustained protests could also break out in Afghanistan.
The Kandahar offensive, which was supposed to have been launched before April,
is further delayed pending the fate of the operation in North Waziristan, first
promised by the Pakistan army last year.
Meanwhile, the Taliban's Operation Fateh (Operation Victory) is on schedule,
having begun last month with the attack on a NATO convey in Kabul in which
several senior officials were killed, followed by an attack on the massive
Bagram air base outside Kabul and one on Kandahar air field.
There have also been pitched battles at Logar air base and deadly assaults in
Helmand, Farah and Kuduz. The Taliban captured the only pro-government district
of Barge Matal in Nuristan province, including all government buildings. On
Tuesday, NATO forces recaptured the district headquarters, but the Taliban
still control the mountains and the nearby villages.
The level of the insurgency is expected to increase during the summer months.
In short, it is vital for NATO to dismember the Taliban's central command
structures - the branch that controls the southeastern Afghan insurgency that
is based in North Waziristan, and the southwestern branch based in Kandahar
province.
Now, with anti-Israeli and anti-US sentiment at a five-year high, mustering
political support behind a pro-American operation in North Waziristan and a
Kandahar offensive, already heavily opposed by local tribes, seems impossible.
Any delay benefits the Taliban's Operation Fateh - which already has key
strategic border towns in Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Kunar and Nangarhar in its
sights.
If the offensives do get off the ground, they will certainly stir already
inflamed passions and further radicalize youth in Pakistan and Afghanistan -
and there is no guarantee of their success.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can
be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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