The New Saudi Initiative, Iran and the Gaza War

An Arab-Islamic summit is being held in Riyadh to implement the two-state solution based on a Saudi initiative put forward by the Kingdom to form an international coalition in this regard. This initiative comes after the failure of all efforts and initiatives to stop the war in Gaza and Lebanon, and also after the failure of the Palestinians to unite their ranks and achieve national reconciliation, even at the level of forming a committee to alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza, who are living in a tragic situation unprecedented in history.

So, we are faced with two paths: the first is a Palestinian one that is faltering politically and on the resistance front after the failure of betting on Iran and the resistance axis, and the second is an Arab one that is trying to regain the Arab presence and role after the Iranian role eclipsed it. Is it possible to reach a common denominator between the two paths? Before talking about the Arab path and the Saudi initiative, we must briefly touch on the current Palestinian situation.

In the Palestinian arena, there are two approaches: one says that armed resistance is possible, and that with the support of Iran and its Shiite axis, victory can be achieved over the enemy, without seeing or clarifying the concept of victory and its limits. Sometimes they say that victory comes from God, and they wait for God to grant them victory, while God, Lord of the Worlds, does not grant victory to a specific group simply because it describes itself as Islamic.

Another approach relies on the “weak strategy,” which means recognizing the inability to defeat the enemy and end the occupation through armed resistance. It is better to bet on the sympathy and support of the world’s countries to do justice to the Palestinian people and protect them. This approach was embodied in President Abu Mazen’s speech at the United Nations when he addressed the world, saying and begging, “Protect us.” These people are also waiting for the international community to present them with a Palestinian state on a golden platter.

The first approach did not view the issue as a conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis or as a Palestinian national issue, but rather bet on an Islamic nation of 3 billion Muslims who would march to liberate Jerusalem. Hamas found in Iran and its axis what confirms its vision, and the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip, paid the price for this wrong bet.

As for the proponents of the second approach, and we mean the PLO, especially President Abu Mazen, they were more realistic, as they tried to bet on the Arabs and Muslims and bet on armed struggle as the only path to liberation for decades without success, so they abandoned or froze the approach of armed struggle, and bet on international legitimacy.

Now that the two approaches have reached a dead end, neither armed resistance, even if it is legitimate, has been able to eliminate or end the existence of Israel, a member state of the United Nations and recognized by the majority of the world’s countries, including Arab and Islamic countries, nor have the proponents of the approach of peace and courtship of the international community achieved the goal of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

So, the solution is to conduct a strategic review of the two approaches to reach a common denominator, which we previously wrote about in a lengthy study entitled (Towards a Multi-Track National Strategy).

Someone might say, “The sword has already preceded the reproach.” How can what you are demanding be, when all factions have failed in all reconciliation dialogues to reach this common denominator?!

The lives of peoples are not mortgaged or their fate determined by the lives of parties and the political class, nor even by the balance of power at a given time, but by the will of the people, the justice of their cause, and their steadfastness on their land. Despite the catastrophes that have befallen the Palestinian people and the apparent manifestations of the enemy’s overwhelming power, there is something that can be built upon to preserve the presence of the cause and the steadfastness of the people, because today Israel has lost many of its strategic strength cards and international standing, and Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians of Gaza, the blood and remains of children and women, and the suffering of all the people have left an impact on public opinion and the global conscience that is not easy to ignore.

The Saudi initiative to form an international coalition to implement the two-state solution may be an opportunity to restore balance and restore respect, even if only relatively, to the Palestinian and Arab regimes. All Palestinians must unite their ranks to have a unified position to deal with this initiative.

One might also ask, will we return again to betting on the Arab regimes? Can Riyadh and all the Arab regimes in their current reality force Washington, Tel Aviv and the world to recognize the Palestinian people’s right to a state? Why have the Arabs remained silent for more than a year about the war of extermination and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people and left Iran the space to transform the Palestinian issue from a national and Arab issue to an issue controlled by Iran and become a reference for any solution to it and to the Lebanon war? The most important question is: Is the new Saudi initiative an alternative to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which is also a Saudi initiative that links peace and recognition of Israel by the Arabs to Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state?

All of these are legitimate questions, but politics knows no vacuum. Even if the initiative came late, or was an attempt to block the path of Iran and its axis, or as a prelude to normalization with Israel, or was coordinated with the deep state in Washington, etc., it is the only initiative proposed by Arabs and internationally, and it cannot be ignored. When it comes to the fate of the people and the cause, no initiative should be ignored, even if it is surrounded by ambiguity and uncertainty, as long as the Palestinian leadership and all the parties do not have an alternative choice. In any case, it is not an alternative to the national path to achieve national unity. Rather, progress on this path is necessary to enhance Arab and international efforts to stop the aggression, and to revive the two-state solution, even as a risky bet with uncertain results under the current right-wing Israeli government.