NATO Restoring American Leadership heritage.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from heritage.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In 1973, members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) led an oil embargo against countries that supported Israel during the October War. Following the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, this history has also been invoked several times on Gulf Twitter (now X). On October 31, a commentator from Kuwait wrote, “10 Arab countries have oil, ten countries that have not yet agreed on a single word in favor of Gaza.”[1] On November 14, a resident of Qatar asked in a since deleted post, “Why are the Gulf countries not using oil and gas as a tool to stop the genocide in Palestine?” The uncomfortable laughter of the Saudi Oil Minister, Khalid al Falih, in response to a question on the use of oil as an economic tool was met on the website with declarations of shame and outrage.