The decline of the regional and international status of the Palestinian cause

Written by: Dr. Salah's mind

Many factors and events have affected the Palestinian cause, which led to a decline in interest in it, and it has become a secondary issue. The outbreak of the so-called Arab revolutions led to a direct and substantial impact on the Palestinian cause, and it became a marginal issue because the Arab countries and the world were preoccupied with the wars and destruction that befell the region of the Arab world, and attention began to focus on change in the region, and every country became preoccupied and searching for salvation from its crisis. Or the catastrophe that befell it as a result of the fighting and destruction, and the biggest beneficiary of that was Israel, which took advantage of that to pounce on what was left of the Palestinian cause. Israel has monopolized the Palestinian people and waged many wars against Gaza, taking advantage of the situation in the region and the state of indifference to the Palestinian cause on the part of the Arabs, to turn the Palestinian cause from the first issue to the forgotten issue, and this is considered the first factor. ‏
The second factor is neglecting and targeting the Palestinian cause after the election of the Zionist American President Donald Trump on January 20, 2017 - January 20, 2021, who took many decisions regarding the Palestinian cause, including the announcement on December 6, 2017, that The city of Jerusalem is the capital of the occupying state, and on May 14, 2018, the US embassy was transferred to occupied Jerusalem, and on August 2, 2018, US aid to the Palestinian Authority was stopped, and on August 3, 2018, all aid to UNRWA was cut off, and on September 10 September 2018, the PLO office in Washington was closed, and on November 18, 2019, the existing settlements on the lands of the West Bank were legalized, and the US administration announced its agreement to annex and impose Israel’s sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea and to expand settlements in the West Bank, to annex 33% of the West Bank, which leads to the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, the end of the right of return, and the dream of establishing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders; This is what former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced with the slogan “Peace in exchange for peace.” This is what happened after the UAE and many Arab countries brazenly normalized relations with Israel in light of the targeting of the Palestinian cause. This step must be defined as a step to open the Arab gate. For more free normalization with Israel, without a radical solution to the Palestinian issue and repudiation of the Arab Peace Initiative that was launched at the Beirut Summit in 2002, which ends the Palestinian issue as the central Arab issue to become the issue of the besieged and divided Palestinians. ‏
The third factor is the world’s preoccupation with the epidemic, which affected all levels and levels, as countries were preoccupied with how to confront the epidemic threat and economic collapse, and then the Russian-Ukrainian war, unlimited global support for Ukraine, and double standards towards the Ukrainian issue and the Palestinian issue that has been suffering for seven years. decades of continued occupation brutality; In light of Israel's preoccupation with settlement expansion, killings, wars, arrests, and demolitions without drawing even the world's attention to Israel's policies, this culminated in the announcement of the annexation of the West Bank, and the refusal of former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, elected on June 13, 2021, to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority, and refused to sit with The Palestinian President, and this was announced by Bennett on September 14, 2021, and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, on October 3, 2021, refused President Abbas's invitation to sit with her. ‏
The Palestinian cause has been and continues to be neglected by the international community, the bias and endless support of the American and British administrations for Israel, the weakness of international bodies, organizations and institutions and their inability to implement international resolutions, until the level of weakness has reached their inability to condemn settlements in the West Bank and all This is a result of the dominance of the United States of America through its veto over these human rights institutions, and the preoccupation of the countries of the world with the deteriorating economic situation and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, in addition to the Arabs’ distancing from the Palestinian cause and the search for the interests of the Arab rulers by remaining in power by appeasing the Americans and implementing what they demand. Especially the rapprochement with Israel until the limit reached the stage of strategic alliance and security cooperation in all its details.
As for the subjective factors, they are many, varied, interrelated and interdependent with each other, such as division, administrative and financial corruption, security coordination, lack of freedoms, extreme poverty, high unemployment, lack of hope for change, political arrest, the killing of the popular activist Nizar Banat, the worsening level of crime in the shadow of the absence of a deterrent law, loss of hope and lack of confidence. Political leadership, the failure to hold general elections, the clinging of the influential political leadership to the chairs until all Palestinian institutions are led by the youngest generation of 70 years, and the lack of possession or development of programs and plans aimed at supporting the steadfastness of citizens.
In addition to the weakness of the position and the inability of the Palestinian leadership, which still does not believe in anything other than negotiations to end the occupation and fights the resistance and bets on the American position and sponsor of the stalled Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, and what remains of them and the Oslo agreement is only sacred security coordination, which increased the marginalization and absence of the Palestinian cause internationally and in the Arab world. In addition to the American, Israeli, and British targeting of the Palestinian cause, perhaps the recent British decision to consider Hamas a terrorist organization and an outlaw serves to punish the Palestinian people and shamelessly support the occupation and Arab normalization. And most importantly, the Palestinian policies that could not get out of the negotiation circle, and not to inspect and put forward plans that force the world to pay attention to the Palestinian cause, as martyr President Yasser Arafat did when he returned from Camp David in 2000 to announce the outbreak of a second intifada that was able to restore political life. And others for the Palestinian cause, and to turn the tables on everyone, and from here he was able to restore respect for the Palestinian cause and restore the Palestinian file to occupy the position and the Arab and international public opinion, and everyone is looking for solutions in order to put an end to the burning intifada.
As for the level of Palestinian internal politics within the framework of national relations; The Palestinian organizations' position does not rise to the size of the plan to liquidate the issue. The internal Palestinian politics go from one setback to the next, and the internal political disputes are exacerbated, which in turn affects the level of Arab and international sympathy and solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Division, siege, wars, and Gazan life are devastated at all levels. In the West Bank, the state of chaos, security chaos, unemployment, poverty, and corruption strikes with all the might of the people. ‏
The Palestinian case is unique, as the Palestinian elections took place in 1996 and then did not take place until after the martyrdom of President Yasser Arafat, as President Mahmoud Abbas was elected in 2005, and presidential elections can only be held after the death of President Abbas, may God extend his life, and then The radical change is taking place in the Palestinian case. But that does not mean stillness, as the Palestinian cause is governed by a rule that states that "the momentary variable is the only constant." ‏
The current official Palestinian leadership bears all responsibility for what the Palestinian cause has reached. Therefore, it and the factions and the national whole are required to take the following steps:
1. Implementing the decisions of the National and Central Councils regarding defining the relationship with Israel, withdrawing its recognition, and ending security coordination from the Palestinian dictionary. ,
2. Starting from the agreement that took place between the Palestinian organizations in Cairo in February 2021, with Egyptian mediation, which provided for the holding of the third general elections, as Presidential Decree No. 3 was issued on January 15, 2021, to hold presidential and legislative elections. And the National Council, which is to hold legislative elections on May 22, 2021, and according to the decree, presidential elections will be held at the end of July 2021, given that the results of the Legislative Council elections are the first stage in the formation of the Palestinian National Council, provided that the election of members of the Council is completed The National Assembly at the end of August 2021, in accordance with the basic system of the Liberation Organization and national understandings, so that the elections for the National Council will be held wherever possible, and the general elections will be reconsidered on the basis of this agreement, from the stopping point that began when the legislative elections were postponed on April 30, 2021.
3. Formation of a national unity government whose main task is to prepare for the legislative and presidential elections to renew the legitimacy of all the bodies of the Palestinian people, including the National Council, the Central Council, and the Executive Committee.
4. Immediately lifting the blockade imposed on the Strip, announcing the end of all decisions taken by the President regarding the Strip and Hamas, and treating Gaza employees as employees of the West Bank.
5. Rehabilitation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the consideration of the Palestinian Authority and its government as one of the bodies of the Liberation Organization, leading to the termination of the Authority in its current form, so that the Liberation Organization is the one with sovereignty over power, and not the other way around.
6. Reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization, by taking an urgent step represented by the joining of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements to the organization, leading to the reconfiguration of the organization’s committees based on the elections.
7. Dealing positively with the vision paper that Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas, presented to the Egyptian leadership at the end of November 2021, and the document of leader Nasser Al-Qudwa, which he presented at the end of July 2022, to get out of the Palestinian crisis, which is a programmatic paper. A mission that can be built on, and open a serious dialogue towards implementing its provisions. ‏
8. Opening the way for the masses to take the initiative, and for the security services not to interfere with the popular action. Rather, the security services must be a supportive factor supporting the movements and protecting the people from the danger of occupation. ,
9. Releasing political prisoners in both parts of the country, stopping media harassment, and preparing the atmosphere for initiatives of unity and cohesion in confronting the occupation.
10. Moving away from the policy of leadership succession by stirring up rumors, feeling the pulse and preparing the ground for succession from the gate of history and revolutionary legitimacy and other names that are outside the democratic understanding and the foundations of assuming power. The process of circumventing the general elections will not succeed due to popular rejection. In addition to the sharp division within the political elites, specifically within Fatah centralism, and most importantly, the increase in the number of elites who are bossy in the Palestinian case, and most of them find electoral and even revolutionary eligibility for themselves. ‏
11. Fighting rampant corruption in the Palestinian Authority, giving freedom of expression, placing the right man in the right place, and reviewing all the promotions and appointments approved for the children of officials at the expense of the citizen.
* Palestinian writer and researcher specializing in ideological movements. ‏