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Arab states have moved from rejection of Israel’s attitude towards Palestine to acceptance — pundits

By Sawsan Tabazah - May 17,2018 - Last updated at May 17,2018

AMMAN — Seventy years after the Nakba, the Mideast conflict has transformed from Arab-Israeli to Palestinian-Israeli, experts said on Tuesday.

During a seminar organised by the World Affair Council, researchers and experts in the Middle East affairs reviewed the current situation and the history of the Palestinian cause, agreeing that Arab regimes’ stances towards the issue have witnessed a drawback over the years.

On Monday, dozens of protesters were killed and thousands injured by Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank, as they participated in marches to commemorate Nakba and express their rejection to the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Nawaf Zarrou, a researcher in conflict affairs, said that Monday was the longest and the darkest day in the Arab nation’s history.

The opening of the embassy means a confirmation of the claims by the Zionist entity that Jerusalem is the city of their ancestors, said Zarrou, who spent 11 years in Israeli prisons, claiming "what is happening is an American-Jewish abduction of the holy city”.

He called Arab leaders, whom he said are now seeking to establish good relations with Israel, to review their stances towards the Palestinian cause, according to which the political solution has proved useless and ineffective.

Zarrou pointed that these stances have become contradictory to their position at the beginning of the conflict seven decades ago. 

"However, even during the course of the military action at the start of the conflict, Arabs failed in the face of the well prepared and armed forces of the enemy for many reasons," retired Lt. Gen Fadel Sarhan said. 

"While Arab forces were untrained and unarmed, some countries were under occupation or under mandate, with ill economies," he continued, adding "now Arab regimes’ stances towards the conflict have changed from rejection to approval; all No's have become Yes'es".

Ali Mahafthah, a professor and expert in the Palestinian cause, said that documentation of the conflict is "weak" and very few sources are written with a scientific research methodology. 

Out of 9,000 books in the University of Jordan’s library, only 250 books documented the war with Israel, he pointed out. 

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