UN official on the Gaza conflict: "The extremists will benefit"

Lakhdar Brahimi, a senior UN politician/troubleshooter and a former Algerian foreign minister, gave an interesting interview in The Nation.

Why did this conflict happen now? Who will win, who will loose, in the end? What is the potential role of the US, Europe and Middle Eastern powers? Why has Obama not reacted?

What will happen in the West Bank as the result of the assault on Gaza?

If the past is anything to go by, these kind of total attacks that do so much harm to civilians generally reinforce the so-called extremists, not the moderates. I think it was said in Ha'aretz that no military action has reinforced the moderates in the history of Israel. One has to suppose that in this particular case Hamas will come out politically reinforced, no matter how much they will lose militarily. That is true not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank.

I'm afraid it will be true also in the rest of the Arab world. The Islamist political movements in the Arab world live really on the lack of success of the so-called moderates, the people who are cooperating with the West. They thrive on their failures, an in particular on their total impotence to help the people of Palestine. I'm sure that from Morocco to Indonesia really, the Islamists will gain capital out of this. (Full)

See also the UN situation report on Gaza
Join the discussion threat about the Gaza conflict on The Road's forum.


Articles discovered via AidNews. Picture courtesy BBC