The exploitation of the Palestinian cause must end

27/07/2025

Ahmed Al Jarallah

27/07/2025

Ahmed Al Jarallah

The exploitation of the Palestinian cause must end

THE horrific scenes of starvation, mass killing, and systematic destruction in Gaza are unbearable. Any rational person should have considered the consequences of the so-called ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ on October 7, 2023 before it was launched. It is difficult to comprehend how anyone who has experienced Israeli brutality could carry out such an action. Since 1948, the Palestinian cause has been the main source of losses because Arab approaches were illogical and based on ill-considered reactions. Therefore, after the United Nations issued the resolution to partition Palestine, neither the Arabs nor the Palestinians realized that the world after World War II was no longer the same as before.

There were new considerations that needed to be addressed consciously, especially since Europe was trying to wash away the shame of Nazism by fulfilling the Balfour Declaration, while the Arabs lived in a different reality. However, the Arabs fought three wars that ended in defeat, while the fourth - the October 1973 War - was, as the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (may God have mercy on him) said, “a war to stir stagnant waters to bring all parties to the negotiating table.”

Thus began the Egyptian-Israeli peace process, which was based on Palestinian autonomy as a prelude to an independent state. But what was the outcome? The Arabs were divided between those who accused Sadat of treason and those who supported his efforts. Nevertheless, the loudest voices prevailed, leading to the relocation of the Arab League from Cairo to Tunisia.

Most Arab countries, along with several Palestinian organizations, boycotted Egypt. These organizations raised the slogan of liberation, though their true goals were different. Some Palestinian groups attempted to pressure the Arab states, while the suffering of refugees worsened and those remaining in Palestine endured oppression, killings, and displacement. At the same time, the Iranian revolution added salt to the wound by adopting the slogan “Liberating Jerusalem,” which Tehran used as a Trojan horse to expand its influence in Arab countries through groups it established, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, and Palestinian factions like Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

None of these groups served the Palestinian cause or the Palestinian people. As a result, we have witnessed many battles, particularly in the Gaza Strip, all of which were launched by organizations whose leaders live in luxury hotels abroad, seemingly profiting from the blood of the Gazan people. If these groups, which control Gaza’s decisions, had agreed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), contributed to unifying the Palestinian vision, accepted the 2007 elections, and joined the Palestinian Authority, they would have spared much suffering, not only for the people of Gaza but for all Palestinians. Backed by the international community, Israel is now attempting to annex the West Bank, having destroyed the Gaza Strip and killed more than 53,000 civilians, most of them children.

A word of truth must be spoken - the advocates of the Palestinian cause have cloaked themselves in the guise of docile lambs, but in reality, they are foxes working to satisfy their own interests. The world does not care about the ongoing killing and starvation of the people of Gaza because it will not accept groups labeled as terrorists leading a de facto authority in Gaza or in all of Palestine.

That is why Hamas and Islamic Jihad must accept the Palestinian Authority if they want to end the tragedy and stop the hunger and killing. The best evidence of this is the statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “The world agrees that what Hamas is doing is disgusting, and we must treat them like monsters.” Finally, both Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which have seized power through deception and brainwashing since 2007, must be held accountable. They must be sued for destroying the Palestinian cause while their leaders hoard funds under the pretext of “liberating Palestine.”