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Why the U.S. Peace Plan Is Causing Barely a Ripple in Arab World
(Christian Science Monitor) Taylor Luck - The Palestinian cause once united peoples from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and was a factor in three regional wars. Yet as the U.S. is set to unveil its peace plan, something has happened to Arab support for Palestinian nationalism. A change in calculations and priorities by Arab leaders, coupled with the wariness with which young Arabs view their own governments, has muddled the message on Palestinian statehood. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been silent. So, too, Egypt. Gulf leaders are putting aside a Palestinian cause they have deemed as low-reward. Another factor is their rivalry with Iran, strategically aligning them with Israel and making them ever more dependent on the U.S. "Gulf countries just want to smile and nod for Mr. Trump and walk away, hoping that the administration forgets about the whole peace deal in a couple of days," says one Gulf insider.