Israel will never lead us

“Egypt led the Arabs for 40 years and brought them to the abyss; you will see the region’s economic situation improve when Israel takes the rein of leadership in the Middle East.”

This is what Shimon Peres said to Arab businessmen on the sidelines of the Casablanca Summit in 1994, according to Secret Channels: The Inside Story of Arab-Israeli Peace Negotiations by Mohamed Hassanein Heikal.

At the time, some said that Peres was foolish, and wondered how something like that could cross his mind. How dare he imagine that the Arabs, no matter how bad they were, could hand over leadership to their archenemy and the number one violator and attacker of their homelands and people for over a century?

What we are witnessing today, though, suggests that Peres was not foolish, but rather was aware of what would happen sooner or later, after the Arabs signed three agreements with Israel: Camp David Accords 1978-1979, Oslo Accords 1993 and Wadi Araba Treaty 1994.

I say this because, apart from the many official Arab statements regarding the rights of the Palestinian people and their independent state, it has become clear to everyone that many Arab regimes have been trying to hide for many years that most of them adhere to the principles, conditions and rules determined for the region by the Americans and the Israelis. Indeed, most Arab officials pledge allegiance to and bless America’s sole control over the world, including the Middle East. They ally with it, follow it, seek protection and refuge from it, and follow its path, or at least seek to do so.

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Moreover, they have adopted the Zionist position regarding the land of Palestine. The premise of this position is that the land is the historical and national homeland of the Jews, except for the West Bank and Gaza. They have recognised the alleged legitimacy of Israel or are in the process of doing so.

All of the Arab states appear to have bowed down under the pretext of Israel’s military superiority, and decided not to fight it, no matter what. The October 1973 War, therefore, was the last. Part of this process has been to accept, either explicitly or implicitly, that Israel’s security is sacred and cannot be touched or affected in any way, so much so that they all coordinating security with Israel to some extent or another.

These Arab states have all participated for nearly half a century in the siege of Palestine and the thwarting of legitimate armed resistance against Israel. This started with Black September in 1970 and Tel Al-Zaatar in 1975, as well as the expulsion and exile of Palestinian forces from Lebanon. Since then, they have been working to demonise the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine, criminalise it and impose a siege on the resistance factions.

Pressure has been put on the official Palestinian leadership to concede 78 per cent of historic Palestine, lay down their arms, stop the resistance, and negotiate with the enemy over the remaining 22 per cent — the West Bank and Gaza Strip — and now not even that. Today, they are all lining up, it seems, to liquidate the Palestinian cause with Israel seizing what remains of the occupied land.

Almost without exception, Arab rulers accept the US and Israeli labelling of legitimate resistance to the occupation as “terrorism”, and are scared to support resistance groups in case the Americans and Israelis accuse them of collusion with “terrorists”. In this vein, some have called for the factions to disarm.

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Showing little regard for the sovereignty of their own countries, many of these rulers accept that the region is going to end up as a series of US protectorates, at the heart of which will lie the main protectorate and America’s strategic military base known as Israel.

Hence, normalisation is now in full swing, both overtly and covertly, with neither shame nor embarrassment. It began with Egypt and the Camp David Accords, passed through Jordan and Wadi Araba, and has now reached the UAE and Bahrain. There is more to come.

In conclusion, our (dis)honourable Arab governments and officials have handed over general command to the Americans and regional command to Israel. They said a prayer, died and have been buried as forces that once supported our national causes.

As for the ordinary people, they have never stopped resisting and have never surrendered despite everything that has gone on around us in support of Zionism. The major international forces and regimes plotted against our people and supported the Zionist movement; they have planned, established, protected, armed and funded Israel for over a century.

During this time, we witnessed two world wars, old and new superpowers, nuclear weapons, human rights violations and apparently never-ending US, European, and Zionist wars and massacres. We have seen the rise and fall of regimes and leaders, and great horrors, while facing tremendous challenges in the balance of power.

Despite all of this, we are still here. We have not perished, dispersed, recognised the Zionist state or surrendered. Four successive generations of resistance are facing a threat to their security and existence. They live in fortified villages. What good will the normalisation deals do for them, or the signing of this agreement or that with corrupt leaders?

Israel will never lead us. Success cannot be built upon falsehood, and Israel is the ultimate in falsehood.

This article first appeared in Arabic in The New Khalij on 23 September 2020

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.