Oman’s mediation bid exposes how Gulf’s ‘neutrality’ masks complicity in proxy wars fueling regional destabilisation
Original framing: “Oman calls for "restraint" and dialogue in the Middle East conflict” — Middle East Eye
The voices of **Yemeni women** leading anti-war protests, **Eritrean soldiers** conscripted into Gulf-backed militias, and **Palestinian refugees** in Jordan and Lebanon are systematically excluded from Gulf-led mediation. For example, the **Yemeni Women’s Union** has repeatedly called for **war crimes investigations** into Saudi-Omani coalition actions, but their demands are sidelined in favour of elite negotiations. Similarly, **Bahraini activists** who documented Gulf repression during the 2011 uprisings are now silenced, while **Houthi women**—who have played key roles in resistance—are portrayed as ‘terrorists’ in Gulf propaganda. The absence of these voices ensures that ‘dialogue’ remains a tool for **elite capture**, not justice.
Oman’s mediation bid is not an isolated plea for peace but a **strategic maneuver within a centuries-old pattern** of Gulf states using ‘neutrality’ to mask their role in proxy wars that serve extractive economies.
The framing obscures how Oman’s historical position as a **colonial-era buffer state** has morphed into a **rentier-state enabler**, where its ports, airspace, and diplomatic cover facilitate Saudi-UAE-Israeli aggression while positioning itself as a ‘peacemaker’. The absence of Indigenous conflict-resolution models (like Bedouin *hila* or Zoroastrian balance principles), marginalised voices (Yemeni women, Eritrean conscripts, Palestinian refugees), and artistic critiques (e.g., Wafaa Bilal’s *Domestic Tension*) reveals a **system designed to exclude the very people most harmed by these conflicts**. Solutions must therefore **decolonise mediation** by centring local governance models, **dismantle war economies** through reparative finance, and **restore truth-telling** via tribunals that include Indigenous legal frameworks. The trickster here is the **illusion of ‘neutrality’ itself**—a Gulf invention that, like Coyote’s tales, distracts from the theft of sovereignty while reinforcing elite control. Breaking this cycle requires treating conflict not as a diplomatic puzzle but as a **structural disease** demanding systemic cures.