It was a slap on the face of the current, extremist Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It confirmed the collapse of the false Israeli narrative about the genocidal war it has been waging for two years, and delivered a clear message that the sweeping majority of the world’s peoples and governments will no longer buy or tolerate the lies used to justify the non-stop massacres taking place in Gaza, as well as the criminal policies of starvation and using food as a weapon of war to achieve military goals.
The world now recognises the history of suffering, bloodshed, displacement, blatant racism and denial of equal rights as human beings to which the Palestinian people have been subject since the creation of Israel in 1948.
One speaker after another recalled how the UN General Assembly issued its well-known Resolution 181 in 1947 which called for the creation of two states in the territory of what was known at the time as Mandate Palestine, which was under British occupation. Because they were supremacist occupiers who granted themselves the right to determine the fate of their “subjects”, the British colonialists carved out part of Palestine and gave it to leaders of the Zionist movement, who had been promised they would be allowed to establish a “national homeland” there in 1917.
Despite that injustice, in its last days the British Empire — backed by the emerging superpower, the United States, and Western so-called democracies — blessed the creation of Israel as a “Jewish” state, while Palestinians were denied their basic right to self-determination and left to endure a racist occupation that treated the original owners of the land of Palestine as aliens who should be forced out to make way for a Jewish state. The right wing, messianic Israeli government, supported by the Trump administration, ridiculed the growing number of countries officially recognising Palestine, saying a “piece of paper” — even if it was a resolution issued by more than 150 out of 193 UN member states — would not change realities on the ground. The irony that both Tel Aviv and Washington decided to ignore was that Israel itself was created by a piece of paper released by the same UN General Assembly.
Frustrated and isolated at the world’s annual gathering in New York, going as far as boycotting the session held on Monday under the sponsorship of France and Saudi Arabia, the Trump administration has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his team visas to prevent them from attending the conference and the GA’s 80th session, which opened on Tuesday. What is even more dangerous and should not be allowed to take place is Washington blessing an expected decision by the current Israeli government to annex parts of or even the majority of the West Bank in an alleged retaliation against the whole world for recognising Palestine.
Unfortunately, so far US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during his recent visit to Israel last week, seemed to suggest that this would be the direction the Trump administration was taking, saying they had already warned that there would be a “reaction” by the Israeli government. With blind support for Israel, Trump and his loyal secretary of state have presumably read the statements issued by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar that any reckless moves by the Israeli premier — wanted as a suspected war criminal by the International Criminal Court — whether to forcibly evict Palestinians from Gaza or to annex the West Bank would be the official end of the peace process in effect in the Middle East since 1993, or even the landmark Camp David Agreement between Egypt and Israel signed in 1978.
That was the message delivered by Arab and Muslim leaders during their recent summit in Doha, convened following Israel’s 9 September aggression against Qatar, the country that, along with Egypt, had been mediating peace and an end to the war between Israel and Hamas, and by the rest of the world at the Two-State Conference held in New York. When some of Israel’s closest historical allies, including Britain and France, who both hold permanent seats at the UN Security Council, along with Canada, Australia decide to recognise the state of Palestine, the message is that the international community will not give in to Israel’s expansionist policies and will not allow the liquidation of the Palestinian cause or the denial of the Palestinians’ human rights.
In his speech, delivered on behalf of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi at the Two-State Conference in New York on Monday, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly said there can be no stability in the Middle East without a solution that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for an independent state. Madbouly asserted that the two-state solution “is not merely a political choice or a moral duty, but a security necessity” for the Middle East. He emphasised that the only way to ensure a secure and stable region is by granting the Palestinian people’s rights to freedom, dignity, and independence. The Egyptian premier added that Israel’s security will not be achieved through military force or by attempting to impose a “fait accompli.” Madbouly also warned that ignoring Palestinian rights will lead to further escalation and instability, creating an environment ripe for violence and extremism. He restated Egypt’s condemnation of Israel’s ongoing military actions in the Palestinian territories and across the region, acting as a bully that wants to dominate the region.
The Two-State Conference in New York and the rising tide of support for Palestinian rights worldwide are not symbolic or meaningless. But, to be more effective, this near unanimous recognition of Palestine, and the effort seeking to right a historic wrong, must be immediately followed by tangible action. Israel must not be allowed to threaten the future of the region should it insist on carrying out its colonialist, racist policies against the Palestinian people, jeopardising interests far and wide. Hopefully, and sooner than later, the United States too will see the light and seek justice and equal rights for the Palestinian people.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 September, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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