The Arab world may be standing at a juncture like the aftermath of the Naksa, or setback, in 1967 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced when their territory was captured by Israel.
It was not just the revolutionaries who had tough choices to make; everyone from the right to the left, and from the elites to the masses, were in the same boat.
This was reflected in the spirit and resolutions of the Arab summit in Khartoum at the end of August that year which approved annual financial support for the front-line countries Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. The Khartoum Conference’s famous “Three Nos”— no peace with Israel, no recognition of that state and no negotiations with it — were not a wild venting of anger after a shameful defeat. They were an expression of a collective resolve to turn the Naksa around.
This resolve was manifested in the War of Attrition which culminated in the October 1973 War in which Arab oil joined forces with Arab arms. In like manner, the war to liberate Kuwait generated a momentum that was used to extend the fruits of the October victory to Palestine. The result was the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference which led to the Oslo Accords and the first ever Palestinian National Authority on Palestinian land.
We currently stand at another difficult and excruciating juncture. It began on 7 October 2023 and is still ongoing, stirring vivid images of the 1948 Nakba — the catastrophe — the first mass expulsion of the Palestinian people. This time, however, Washington has apparently decided to lend Israel a hand, promoting their mass transfer if not to Egypt and Jordan, then to Albania, Indonesia or even internationally unrecognised Somaliland.
Ironically, this has occurred despite the expanding sphere of peace around Israel. There were also plenty of opportunities for the peace to expand further through the implementation of the two-state solution at a time, moreover, when most Arab countries had close relations with the US and a significant number of them have embarked on comprehensive socio-economic reform processes complimented by their aspirations to achieve regional stability.
Israel fell into the trap of the 7 October crime, turning into a savage machine of death wreaking its slaughter and devastation across the entire Gaza Strip, as well as in the West Bank, where Jewish settlers carried out pogroms in collusion with the far-right factions in the Israeli government. During those 15 months the war escalated to a regional conflict extending from the Gulf to the Mediterranean and Red Sea and the territories in between.
Amazingly, amid all the death and destruction and the din of bombs, rockets and drones, the search for peace, or at least a truce and a ceasefire, never ceased. The peace conference in Cairo in October 2023 was the start; the resolution by its nine Arab attendees showed that there was a path out of war and towards settlement.
Unfortunately, as the temporary ceasefire brings the first hostage exchanges, fuel has been poured on the fire from two directions. The first came from Hamas who stood in military attire to proclaim that their survival marked a victory that only began with 7 October while the Qatari-based Aljazeera turned tears and tragedy into joy and victory cheers. The second came from the US where Donald Trump, contrary to the hopes raised by his contribution to a ceasefire that would sustain the march to peace, signalled a return to the 1948 Nakba approach.
This brings the region to the brink of another Naksa. Not only do the Palestinians risk losing more land and lives, but in inviting a repeat of the Nakba, Trump is inviting the destruction of decades-old peace initiatives and generating the climate for forever wars.
Clearly some wisdom is in order at this precarious stage. Despite the universal outcry against the plan for a mass transfer of the Palestinian population, that will not be enough to stop the Trumpian earthquake. What is needed is a collective stance from a group of level-headed countries that want to sustain the progress and development they have achieved during the past decade, progress that is now being jeopardised by protracted conflict in a region still suffering from the fallout of the dusty and dismal Arab Spring.
Obviously, this collective stance must reaffirm the Arab rejection of ethnic cleansing. However, it must also present an Arab peace project to the US and the international community. The initiative should not only be addressed to the Israeli leadership but also, and more importantly, to the Israeli people and progressive Jews throughout the world.
Meanwhile, this is also the time for Palestinian political elites to assume their responsibility towards the Palestinian people. Given that the inter-Palestinian rift is so entrenched, a Palestinian elite returned home from an exile that has lasted too long could serve as a transitional leadership during the stage of disengagement from the Israeli occupation and preparations for free and fair elections that will determine the Palestinian political future.
Let’s recall that, at various times, figures such as Hanan Ashrawi, Saeb Erekat, Rashid Khalidi, Salam Fayyad, Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, and Edward Said played crucial roles in advancing the welfare, status and cause of the Palestinian people.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 13 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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