Opinion piece by: Palestinian Ambassador to Denmark, Professor Manuel Hassassian
Disclaimer: Opinion articles express the views of their authors and not necessarily the views of the website.
We remember that, aside from the Cold War, in the 1960s and 1970s, we felt safer and the world was more stable when there was multipolarity rather than unipolarity, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1988, we saw the rise of unipolar powers, the repercussions of which we see today with regional wars, instability and what I call neo-imperialism.
Now, we've heard a lot about regional conflicts and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I can start by saying that this conflict didn't begin on October 7th, and I don't want to go into explaining why October 7th happened, but it was a natural reaction for a people under siege for 13-14 years to act the way they did.
The question is, on October 8th, Palestinians everywhere, and their leadership, were attacked as terrorists, as if they weren't human beings suffering under occupation for 75 years. But as the war progressed and the aggression against our people in Gaza intensified, the international conscience began to awaken to see whether this disproportionate response to what happened on October 7th, and to the past 75 years, was justified. This was the challenge posed to the international community. And we began to witness, day by day, greater sympathy for the Palestinian people, because social media and media coverage, for the first time in history, revealed the ugly face of occupation and what it can do to a people for 75 years.
Ironically, and I consider this a contradiction, the State of Israel, which claims to be Jewish and which suffered the Holocaust, creates a victim and makes the Palestinians pay the price for what Western Europe did to the Jews when they lived in their societies. So, the Palestinians must pay the price. They have been uprooted from their land, killed, and maimed, and what we are witnessing today is genocide. Ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, and genocide best exemplify what we now call an apartheid state. No one can deny the fact that Israel today is called an apartheid state because it has earned that title.
This is a conflict, or rather a war, that has been ongoing for 75 years between two societies. One is trying to save its land, and the other is trying to seize it. Therefore, what we call Israel today is a settler-colonial movement, because it began seizing Palestinian land and building settlements in the 1920s and 1930s, under the auspices of the United Kingdom during the British Mandate for Palestine. We witnessed widespread uprisings against the British in Palestine in 1920, 1929, and 1936, up until the 1948 war, when it became clear that the United Kingdom was systematically encouraging Jewish immigration to Palestine. In other words, with the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which promised a national home for the Jewish people, this process took approximately 30 years to implement. When the war broke out in 1948, Israel was accepted as an independent state and was immediately recognized by the United Nations.
The challenge today is that the Palestinians embarked on a difficult path with the Oslo Accords, I would say, toward reconciliation with Israel. We accepted the Oslo Accords, and in 1988 we recognized Israel, not just de facto but de jure, even attempting to preempt any kind of final status negotiations. In return, we saw that the Oslo Accords were used by Israeli politicians to double the settler population in the occupied West Bank, both demographically and geographically. And we saw Netanyahu, who came to power, whose ultimate goal was to destroy the Oslo Accords. Since the implementation of the Oslo Accords, we are now caught between what is historically inevitable and what is politically impossible. It is simply not possible, with an extreme right-wing government in Israel, to launch any kind of negotiations to achieve stability and security in the future.
Therefore, during the seven months of aggression, Israel systematically bombed civilians. Between yesterday and today, more than 75 people were killed in Rafah. We have more than 36,000 people killed, 501,000 of whom were children; we have at least 10,000 people under the rubble, more than 147 doctors killed, and 52 hospitals completely destroyed; there is no fuel to operate the remaining hospitals. Now, with the Rafah border crossing under Israeli control, no fuel is entering Gaza, and 701,000 tons of Gaza's infrastructure have been completely destroyed.
So, how can we classify this war? Is it a defensive war? Is Israel defending itself, or is it a war of extermination against a people whose only crime is their pursuit of independence and freedom?
Sometimes, it seems paradoxical when I address European or American officials, as I have done many times throughout my diplomatic career, that they keep repeating their two-state solution rhetoric. I begin to smile at the mere mention of the phrase “two-state solution.” The destruction of Palestine seems almost a reality, yet they persist in speaking of a “two-state solution.” If you truly believe in a two-state solution, why do you veto the UN resolution when nearly 147 countries recognize the State of Palestine? You continue to veto, while all of Europe follows the American lead. Where is the balance when you speak of a “two-state solution”?
What are the Palestinians asking for today? They are asking for the same fundamental human right to self-determination. Why is it that the entire world has the right to self-determination, as enshrined in Article 16 of Woodrow Wilson's principles, but when it comes to Palestine, it becomes irrelevant? Are we children of a lesser god, that we are not accepted by the international community as an independent nation-state?
When the Zionist project began in Palestine, we were advanced regionally, culturally, and developmentally. We had a port, an airport, a functioning economy, and agriculture. It wasn't as Golda Meir claimed, that the desert flourished when the Zionists came to Palestine. That's a historical error. It's not true, and we have all the historical documents that prove otherwise.
So, this conflict, which has persisted for many years, has failed to stir the conscience of the entire international community. It is treated as a regional conflict, as a conflict between two peoples, as if they were fighting over the same land. The Palestinians are not fighting over land: this is our land! The Zionists are the intruders. They came to seize our land. Therefore, this is not disputed land. It is not a conflict between two peoples over land that belongs to both of them. Israel is an occupying power that has encroached upon our land. The Zionist project has been supported by the international community, and therefore the international community must bear responsibility for its decisions and policies toward Palestine.
I could speak at length about the brutal practices of this occupation. But what I want to emphasize is this fundamental question: How do we end this conflict? And who are the key players in trying to impose a solution? It is deeply disheartening that the United States, which has claimed to be the driving force behind the peace process for the past thirty years, has proven its utter failure, because it has not engaged in conflict resolution but rather crisis management. Today, the Americans have proven their utter failure as a third party and as an impartial mediator for peace, for the simple reason that they have unjustly and blatantly supported the stronger party, Israel, at the expense of the weaker party, Palestine!
So, we have no confidence in the Americans. We pity the American people for having such weak leadership, with a short-sighted vision of how to achieve global security and peace. President Biden talks about allowing humanitarian access, yet he's the same one who sends thousands of bombs to kill innocent children and Palestinians in Gaza! This is President Joe Biden.
How can we accept weak comments from a president who doesn't know what he's talking about? And the alternative isn't any better.
We can no longer be used as pawns in global conflict. Yes, such conflict could lead to regional war, and it could lead to world war; but ultimately, isn't hunger and abject poverty the true cause of war? Don't national interests come before everything else? Above all considerations of narrow partisan interests.
So, what does the international community lose by recognizing a Palestinian state? We made a historic concession in 1988 when we accepted only 221 TP3T of historical Palestine as an independent state, encompassing the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem; and we legitimized the birth of the Zionist project on over 781 TP3T of historical Palestine. Yet, the Zionist hunger for land persists, with the aim of controlling the West Bank. Israel is not interested in Gaza. Israel is only interested in Gaza from a security perspective, to control it and exploit its natural gas, and that's all.
But when we talk about the West Bank, we're talking about "Judea and Samaria," as the Zionists call it. This is what the Israelis are pushing for in order to expand their settlements, essentially to control and annex the West Bank to Israel completely. Because this is the biblical prophecy: for the Jews, this is the Promised Land. As if God were a real estate agent. He said, "You are the chosen ones, and Palestine is yours." This is the God who promises the land and considers the Jews to be God's chosen people—I don't want to believe in this God. This God means nothing to me but a real estate broker.
Today, there is significant controversy between the Catholic Church and Israel, particularly among Jews, regarding the biblical prophecy and the Promised Land. Voices are now rising to challenge the narrative that "this land is ours because God gave it to us." The more than 1.5 billion Catholics today stand in stark contrast to the Zionist ideology that claims "this land belongs to its Jewish inhabitants, the Promised Land given to us by God.".
Sometimes, I sit and reflect. Over the past twenty years, there has been a lack of legitimate leadership, a lack of charismatic leadership in the world, and the world is experiencing cultural decline and decay. It is even on the verge of complete collapse, plagued by conflict, hunger, and injustice. I wonder why there is no leadership capable of taking responsibility for guiding this world?
I studied in the United States for a short time to obtain my PhD and Master's degrees, and I conducted a great deal of research with American institutions, including Harvard University. All these intellectual institutions, all these resources that the United States possesses, and yet it produces only two presidential candidates, Biden and Trump, is shameful. This shows that these political parties lead the people, not the other way around. That's why I oppose this kind of democracy, because it's a democracy for the few; it's a democracy for the rich. We rarely see someone from a poor neighborhood become president of the United States, based on merit, intellect, and so on.
And I can tell you, there will never be a change under any American president; there will never be a change in American policy in the Middle East. Because from Truman until today, American policy has been based on four pillars: First, containing communism; and when the Soviet Union collapsed, they created something called “Islamic fundamentalism” to justify their hegemony and their new empire. Second, controlling the oil resources of the Arab world, whether through military control or by manipulating prices. Third, supporting a proxy regime that unjustly does the dirty work in the Middle East, namely Israel. And fourth, trying to suppress any kind of liberation movement emerging from the region. Whether Democrats or Republicans are in power, these four pillars have never changed as the fundamental policy of the United States in the Middle East.
How can we trust the United States as a third party to bridge the gap and the imbalance between two unequal sides? When we sat down and negotiated peace with the Israelis, we were not on equal footing. The Americans dictated the terms, and solutions were imposed on the Palestinians by force! Therefore, there were never any serious negotiations! Negotiations are based on parity between two opposing powers, on equal footing, trying to resolve an issue. This was not the case in our negotiations; it was always a dictatorship of power politics. And the Palestinians, as the weaker party, always had to pay the price and make concessions.
Don't be fooled by what's happening in Israel today regarding the demonstrations. The Israeli people fully support their leadership in any war it wages.
There has been a significant shift in Israeli public opinion since the First Intifada; today, most people are right-wing extremists. Progressive left-wing elements in Israel have little influence and have been completely marginalized.
If Israel weren't so far-right, who would have put Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and Netanyahu in power? Right? We could have expected a more liberal government, one that could truly advance the peace process. But unfortunately, what we witnessed was a shift in Israeli public opinion toward the extreme right, which led to the rise of figures like Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, and Netanyahu to power. And I want to mention here as well that the Labor Party's platform was settlement-based. It was the Labor Party that initiated the settlement project.
The saying goes, “Charity begins at home.” We cannot expect any kind of stability in the region if the United States continues this policy, which I consider hypocritical. On the one hand, it tries to achieve peace with the governments of neighboring countries, while on the other, Israel deals seriously only with Hamas. But we can see the repercussions: it could incite Egypt, it could incite Lebanon, to a regional war. So far, it has been contained. But the fuse of war in northern Palestine is ready at any moment.
But I think the Americans lost their credibility when they failed to achieve a ceasefire. We have witnessed so far contradictory policies from the United States that do not work to stabilize the situation but rather increase its instability through blatant support for the Israeli occupation. Likewise, we have not seen the international community clearly and explicitly condemn Israel for what it is doing in Rafah, which they consider a limited attack on the last Hamas strongholds, as if they know where Hamas fighters are located.
Therefore, these are justifications for pressuring a million Palestinians to begin moving to Egypt. They want to create chaos and fear so that people will leave their homes and begin migrating towards the Sinai desert. This will create a major problem for Egypt, because its position is not to allow Palestinians to leave Gaza. By doing so, they are giving Israel the green light to continue destroying the Palestinians and eliminating them “demographically” from Gaza.
If Israel succeeds in its genocidal attacks in eliminating Hamas, it will fail to eliminate its ideology; other fighters will emerge. You know, when we talk about 36,000 martyrs, how many of the children who survived will remember? Right? No one will forget.
Israel must understand that it cannot, and will not, eliminate the Palestinian people. Israel must publicly acknowledge that its legitimate place in the Middle East is granted by the Palestinians, not the United States. Israel must understand that without Palestinian independence, it will remain a military stronghold in the Middle East. This psychological predicament—being a militaristic state—will create numerous future problems for a nation that had the opportunity to make peace and willingly let it slip away.
Things will not remain static. The Palestinians will continue their struggle. There is no military solution to this conflict: everyone knows that, even Israel, with all its technological and military might, has been unable to make the Palestinians surrender.
And if you look at the spirit of these people in Gaza, it's unbelievable! They always say, "The Nakba of 1948 will not be repeated. We will never emigrate. We will never leave our land. We will die here rather than leave." This resilience, this determination, this commitment of a people should awaken the conscience of the international community to say that these people deserve to have their own state, they deserve to have an independent country.
Israel is playing with fire. I believe that Israel's destruction from within and without has already begun. What we are witnessing in the United States, from student strikes to similar events, exemplifies the Biden administration's bankruptcy in dealing with the conflict in Gaza; it demonstrates its incompetence in handling the war in Ukraine; and it is inept at attempting to project its hegemony as a unipolar world power. If we compare what is happening now on American campuses to what happened during the Vietnam War in the 1960s, this is the beginning of the end of such an era.
Then we will begin to see dramatic changes in the Middle East. We need new governments. We need governments that promote global security and stability through economic development, through the Oasis Plan, which is promoted by the Schiller Institute for Economic Research and Development.
We need a new government in Israel! At least one that is less Zionist in its approach to resolving conflicts rather than managing them.
We also need unified leadership among all Palestinian factions, because ”united we stand, divided we fall.” If these three conditions are not met, this conflict will lead to further repercussions that could, God forbid, escalate into a regional and possibly international war.
Today, it is not ideology that drives people to war. It is national interest. It is economic interest. But the religious commitment of the people is frightening, and God forbid that our conflict should one day turn into a conflict between Muslims and Jews. Because that is not the goal. We believe that this is a national struggle, with a secular ideology, to build a democratic state in Palestine. This is what our leadership believes. But we cannot do it alone. We must do it together, and together means presidential elections, legislative elections, and a complete overhaul of our political structure. I say this as a form of self-criticism, because I must be honest as an academic about what we must do to achieve a lasting and just peace.
Peace is not the signing of a document. There is peace between Jordan and Israel. There is peace between Egypt and Israel. These are cold peaces. Ask any Egyptian today, and they will tell you: “Israel is not our friend. As long as they occupy Palestine, we will not have normal relations with the Israelis. Yes, between governments, yes.” The same is true in Jordan. True peace will be achieved when the Palestinians obtain their right to self-determination. Then the Arab world will be ready to cooperate and accept Israel as a legitimate state in the Middle East. But right now, Israel is an outcast. Israel is a Zionist occupier, not legitimate, and is now considered a rogue state.
It is easy to sign a peace agreement, but very difficult to build peace. This peacebuilding process requires efforts to achieve synergy between civil societies on both sides and for people to interact with each other. This is where the process of ending conflict and developing democracies comes in, because we believe that democracies do not fight each other. This is what we have learned from the experience of conflicts around the world.
Economic development, as espoused by the Schiller Institute for Peace and Development in Europe and the LaRouche Foundation's concept of economic development, can play a pivotal role in the process of creating global security through regional security and economic growth, by ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If this were to happen, it would mark the beginning of a new era in which countries around the world, both in the North and the South, would begin to realize that war is not the solution, but rather building economic ties is, as this would be a win-win situation for all parties and the beginning of global security and economic stability.
