Washington and the Open Hostility Towards Palestine

Author: جمال زقوت

The American decision to prevent the Palestinian president from entering New York to participate in the General Assembly meetings was not merely a procedural measure. It is a clear political announcement that Washington cannot be relied upon; it no longer recognizes even the minimum legitimacy of the Palestinian existence and representation, including before the United Nations.

This blatant behavior cannot be separated from the nature of Trump's administration, which decided from the very first moment to fully align with Israel, not only as a strategic ally but as the only party authorized to determine the region's future.

A Gross Violation of International Agreements

Legally, what Washington has done represents a gross violation of the UN Headquarters Agreement signed in 1947, which obligates the host country to grant visas to all representatives of member states and observers, regardless of political disputes.

Ignoring these obligations does not only harm Palestine but also undermines the independence of the UN itself, making it hostage to the will of the host country. If the organization is unable to ensure that the head of a state observer can reach its general assembly, despite public reliance on Washington, how can it protect this people's right to self-determination and empower them to attain their freedom and independence and return their refugees?

Washington: From Alleged Mediator to Involved Party

Washington's decision unequivocally illustrates that it is not a mediator but an active party involved in the liquidation of the Palestinian cause. Will this reality compel other international powers to reconsider the necessity of breaking American monopoly and to assume their responsibilities, and encourage Palestinians to restore their political unity in the face of plans targeting the erasure of Palestine, if these countries are genuinely sincere in their recognition of the state of Palestine, empowering its people to determine their fate and embody their sovereignty, to affirm the credibility of their recent positions that they are not merely seeking to absolve themselves before public opinion in their countries?

Between Gaza and New York: The Goal is Liquidation

The Israeli-American pretext in Gaza is "rooting out Hamas", while the reality on the ground is genocide targeting both people and property. In New York, the "procedural excuse" seems to function primarily to exclude Palestine, including the exclusion of the chronic leadership reliant on Washington from the UN platform. This confirms that Palestine is the targeted entity, in all its components, whether it is the authority whose only option is to appease Washington and Tel Aviv, or resistance against their plans.

The Failure of the Policy of Desperation and the Option of Appeasement

It is high time for the dominant leadership that controls the national decision and path to recognize that it has taken a path that has brought only national disasters, and that chasing the mirage of Washington and Tel Aviv's settlement has led to further fragmentation. Relying on Washington was not just a losing bet; it was destructive, as it has never been a mediator, but a principal party in the liquidation project.

An Opportunity for Unity and Comprehensive National Revival

This collapse of the illusion of relying on the American role could be a pivotal moment that opens the door for revitalizing the Palestinian condition; if Palestinian leaderships read it well and draw lessons from it through: First: immediately working to implement the Beijing Agreement to restore the role and status of the Palestine Liberation Organization and rebuild it as a national front uniting all Palestinians.

Second: crafting a national program based on liberation and rights, not on managing crises or waiting for "American benevolences or grants".

Third: activating tools of popular strength and diplomacy in alliance with international forces and peoples that reject genocide as they reject turning the United Nations into an annex of the White House.

The entire Palestinian community faces urgent imperatives to close the chapter of division and confront the imminent dangers to the national fate as a whole. This necessitates the immediate formation of a national unity government authorized to address all consequences of genocide, and what has afflicted the political system in its known ailments, to confront the major risks, including serious preparation for comprehensive general elections within a timeframe agreed upon to restore the trust of the people, which can only be entrusted to them.

Are We Serious in Drawing Lessons?

It is no longer possible to continue the Israeli narrative that the problem lies with "Hamas" or with "the authority". The American-Israeli targeting encompasses the entire Palestinian community. This reality should be the starting point for overcoming division and re-establishing the dignity of the great struggle for freedom and liberation from occupation.

Transforming the American Scandal into a National Opportunity

The decision from the White House may seem like another diplomatic defeat for the policy of the dominant leadership, but it is in fact a revealing mirror of how exposed the reliance on Washington is. This scandalous decision can turn into an opportunity if this leadership possesses the courage to return to its people and close the chapter of illusion, on the premise that Palestine will not be regained from the White House, but ultimately through the will of its people, their steadfastness, and their ability to endure, necessitating the formulation of an international coalition that places justice above deals and extortion.

The essence of legitimacy is national legitimacy, and the extent of popular mobilization around its leadership towards freedom and liberation from occupation.

What Diplomatic Plan Do We Want?

It is clear that the strategy of dependence on external support at the expense of internal revivification has no currency in reality, and that any diplomatic plan that does not stem from the elements of internal strength, especially in the stage of national liberation against the Zionist project and its backer, the White House, must be an integral part of a working strategy based on the strengths of the Palestinian people and providing all elements of its resilience. It should focus its international alliances on progressive and humanitarian forces that have covered its movements across world capitals and have even forced the vast majority of these capitals to change their positions, as the crime is too great to withstand by humanity. This lesson and others signal that the world, which lives on a thin thread of justice, respects only the strong who dedicate their lives to preserving the dignity of their peoples.

Had it not been for the strength of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the overwhelming support it enjoys from its people at home and in exile, the General Assembly would not have rushed to move to its European headquarters in Geneva when President Arafat was prevented from addressing the world from its platform in New York in 1988. We must ask: How has the organization's status regressed despite the global intifada that stands with Palestine and its people? We must draw lessons from that comparison. The recent American position unequivocally shows that Washington, engaged in engineering the Palestinian case according to Israeli plans, has not only been content with supporting the occupation, but has become a principal and overt party in the conspiracy to erase Palestine from geography and history, not just from international platforms. Therefore, the Palestinian response must be unified and also rely on reviving all elements of self-strength, preserving unity in representation to restore the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization and enhance its role as an inclusive home for all Palestinians, and as a broad national front for leading national liberation. There should also be a wide network of alliances that invest international law and global coalitions, transforming Washington's aggressive scandal into an opportunity to restore the dignity of Palestinian unity, the United Nations as an inclusive platform, and the Palestinian cause as a cause of liberation and rights that cannot be erased.