Finally, Arabs Acknowledge That Israel Does Not Only Target Palestinians

Since the beginning of the Zionist project and prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, the Palestinians raised the slogan that they, through their resistance and engagement against the occupation, form the first line of defense for the Arab nation. They asserted that the Zionist movement does not target Palestinians alone; its project extends far beyond that. This slogan has been part of their communications with Arab governments since the Great Palestinian Revolution of 1936, and later with the emergence of the contemporary Palestinian revolution in the mid-1960s, without the Arabs understanding the deeper significance of this slogan and its long-term vision. Some Arabs even interpreted this saying as an attempt to embroil Arab states in a conflict that does not concern them or as a bid to earn their sympathy and funds. Some regimes and political movements even opposed the Palestinian revolution, and even after the establishment of a Palestinian Authority that aims to bolster the people's resilience in their land and form the nucleus of a state, albeit on a part of Palestinian territory, they imposed financial blockades on it.

Israel's expansionist objectives, which surpass its internationally recognized borders, have been clear through its annihilation of the demarcation of its borders up until now and in its aggression during the 1967 war, where it completed the occupation of all of Palestine and added the Egyptian Sinai and the Syrian Golan to its grasp. It then invaded southern Lebanon and still maintains a presence in parts of it, and finally, it has violated large areas of Syria amid Arab silence.

Now, after the clear statements made by Netanyahu and right-wing leaders about their intention to establish a Greater Israel as prophesied in the Torah, which has been addressed by news agencies and political analysts, and even in the speeches of several Arab leaders at the emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Doha, including the Egyptian president and the Emir of Kuwait, warning against Netanyahu's plan to expand and create a Greater Israel that would encompass parts of several Arab countries, we realize that the Palestinians were right.

If these concerns expressed by leaders and chiefs are genuine and not merely an escape from the central issue of Palestine and what is happening in Gaza, similar to the targeting of Hamas leaders in Doha and covering up the events in Gaza, then Arab leaders must realize— and I believe they have research centers and thinkers who understand this truth—that what will disrupt the Greater Israel project claimed by Netanyahu, who presented his map to the world, and what will protect the Arab countries covered by Netanyahu's plans and maps, whether alone or united, or their alliance with Washington, or the disjointed and weak international community, is the Palestinian people with their steadfastness and presence on their land. This resilience and existence is the first line of defense that will thwart Israel's expansionist schemes and is the highest form of resistance.

If the outcomes of the Doha summit, instead of the meager final statement issued yesterday, had focused on achieving one goal—stopping the war of genocide and ethnic cleansing and preventing the displacement of Palestinians, especially from the Gaza Strip—and taken practical steps in this direction, it would have been a serious indicator of a real transformation in Arab policy, even if it came late.