The Muslim world has been strong on rhetoric, short on action over Gaza and Afghanistan

When it comes to dealing with two of the biggest current crises in the Muslim world — the devastation of Gaza and the Taliban's draconian rule in Afghanistan — Arab and Muslim states have been staggeringly ineffective.

- BY AMIN SAIKAL Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National Uni- versity; and Vice Chancellor's Strategic Fellow, Victoria University

Their chief body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in particular, has been strong on rhetoric but very short on serious, tangible action.

The OIC, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, is composed of 57 predominantly Muslim states. It is supposed to act as a representative and consultative body and make decisions and recommendations on the major issues that affect Muslims globally. It calls itself the “collective voice of the Muslim world”.

Yet the body has proved to be toothless in the face of Israel's relentless assault on Gaza, triggered in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7 2023.

The OIC has equally failed to act against the Taliban’s reign of terror in the name of Islam in ethnically diverse Afghanistan.

Many strong statements

Despite its projection of a united umma (the global Islamic community, as defined in my coauthored book Islam Beyond Borders), the OIC has ignominiously been divided on Gaza and Afghanistan.

True, it has condemned Israel’s Gaza operations. It’s also called for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the starving population of the strip.

It has also rejected any Israeli move to depopulate and annex the enclave, as well as the West Bank. These moves would render the two-state solution to the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict essentially defunct.