ABSTRACT
The relationship between the Arab regimes and the Palestine question has, since the First World War, been a continuous theme in Arab politics. Most of the literature on the subject addresses itself to that aspect of the relationship which deals with the impact of the Arab political order on the Palestine issue. However, very little serious attention has been devoted to examining the effects of the Palestine problem on the evolution and development of the Arab regimes. Perhaps the most important reason for such an uneven interest is the obvious and direct way in which the Arab governments exert their influence on the fate and future of the Palestinians, while the reverse is not so clear except in certain instances. It is the objective of this chapter to examine that latter aspect of the relationship, and study the extent to which the Palestine cause as an issue, and more recently as a political movement, has affected the structure of some Arab political systems and influenced the internal unity of Arab societies, and pro-Arab solidarity. In this respect, a word of warning is in place. The importance of the subject should not be exaggerated. Barry Rubin once claimed (1981: 22) that, 'From 1918 to 1948, and from 1948 to the present, the Palestine conflict decisively shaped the political and intellectual structures of all the Arab countries.' A sweeping generalisation such as this is misleading. A more accurate understanding of the situation would reveal that more often the policies of the Arab regimes and Israel towards one another have shaped the nature of the conflict and the fate of the Palestinian people (Kazziha, 1979).
