On the Fundamentals of Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict."

There are intense efforts by Israeli, American, and primarily Western actors to impose a partial definition of the current round of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, which erupted on October 7. The aim is to superficially confine the issue to five main points: Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the so-called "terrorist Hamas," along with Iran and its affiliated terrorist groups, Israel's alleged right to self-defense and response to terrorist attacks, and the Israeli concession of allowing humanitarian and medical aid into the Gaza Strip. This narrative deliberately ignores the roots, dimensions, and complexities of the conflict, including its heavy burdens of grievances, suffering, and victims, as well as the series of precedents that have created the bloody warfare and an ideal environment for even more bloody future events.

To counter this truncated, inaccurate, dishonest, and unjust narrative, it is essential to work on informed approaches that address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict comprehensively. This includes all its stages, references, documents, and experiences, starting from the Balfour Declaration, the Mandate, the Nakba, the Declaration of the State of Israel in 1948, through to international resolutions, most notably UN Security Council Resolution 242, passed by a vote of all 15 members on November 22, 1967. It should also cover all references to the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, the Wye Plantation Agreement, the Oslo Accords signed on September 13, 1993, the Basel negotiations, Camp David, the Roadmap announced on April 30, 2003, aimed at achieving a final and comprehensive settlement by 2005, and the accumulation of failed peace process efforts to achieve even minimal gains regarding the Palestinians' legitimate rights, despite the significant concessions repeatedly made by the moderate leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization, who are difficult to label as terrorists under any circumstances. The review should also include the Arab Peace Initiative and the most recent wave of normalization under the so-called "Deal of the Century," along with its infamous outcomes and results.

The yield of Palestinian and Arab diplomatic and political struggle under the Palestine Liberation Organization's umbrella, in the context of negotiations and agreements, should be examined in parallel with the flood of Arab normalization with Israel. This normalization is accompanied by initiatives to reassure Israel, including engaging in structural adjustments to institutions, structures, societies, and states, as well as curricula, discourse, and arts, to be suitable for a phase of peace and good neighborliness with Israel. However, Israel has not reciprocated with any reassurance to its neighbors; instead, it has continued its aggressive actions as an occupying entity, undermining Palestinian rights, expanding settlements, complicating the conflict, and exacerbating issues such as refugees, displaced persons, prisoners, the right of return, and continued provocations in Jerusalem. Israel has cut off water and services, targeted Palestinians of 1948, and accumulated a record of violations, injustices, and acts of humiliation, contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Charter, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and all international instruments and agreements.

This toxic environment is ideal for creating radical groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah, which rely on widespread and increasing community and popular support, viewing these groups as effective national liberation movements. This situation follows the accumulation of failures by peace and moderation streams, which have become labeled as betraying their communities and peoples. This contrasts entirely with the situation twenty years ago, when the promise of establishing a Palestinian state through the peace process by 2005 was raised with a scheduled roadmap under the auspices and guarantees of the Quartet.

The unilateral, arrogant, and rogue American policy has obliterated, through its practices rather than its claims, all the creative, constructive, and shining elements of civilization, democracy, peace, coexistence, human rights, justice, international law, the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international resolutions. It has unprecedentedly reinforced what it failed to promote: all radical groups embodying a culture of violence, hatred, and extremism.

Although the overused scarecrow of terrorism has become almost a hollow bubble, for various reasons, including Hamas's guilt regarding terrorism, the most prominent of which are the repeated and politicized American misuse of the terrorism scarecrow, American double standards, and blatant American bias towards Israel, its aggression, terrorism, and violations, Israel, along with America and the West, has focused in recent days on branding Hamas and other Palestinian factions as terrorists. This portrayal suggests that violence is inherent in their nature, essence, and biological composition, ignoring the complex context that has generated this violent element, interacting with other violent elements, making Hamas, as a formation and as individuals, a case with its own perspective and narrative, which cannot be ignored despite our disagreements and rejection.

In a broader context, American policy has again destroyed, through its practices rather than its claims, all the creative, constructive, and shining aspects of civilization, democracy, peace, coexistence, human rights, justice, international law, the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international resolutions. It has strengthened, more than ever, the radical groups promoting a culture of violence, hatred, and extremism.

Indeed, these policies, combined with the accumulated experience of our societies with terrorist groups and their states, have redefined many concepts, such as terrorism, which has become more comprehensive than it was before 2000. It now includes not only the leaders of radical groups with their beards, turbans, and tattered robes but also heads of states and governments wearing elegant suits, neckties, presenting refined faces, traveling the world in private jets, and being received with grand ceremonies. Similarly, the concept of civilization for our societies now means the supremacy of international law, human rights values, and principles of justice and fairness, rather than just empty slogans, speeches, or modern techniques and mechanisms.

Therefore, the call to eradicate "terrorist" Hamas and Iran-affiliated groups is no longer believable or even worthy of consideration. On the contrary, the majority of people in the Middle East have become convinced that crushing Hamas and similar groups will not end violence, stop cycles of grievances, halt the bloodshed, ensure rights, achieve peace, or bring prosperity, growth, stability, civilization, and democracy. Instead, a successful eradication of Hamas would, unfortunately, pave the way for the emergence of a new generation of even fiercer, stronger, and more popular violent groups.

Thus, instead of these ill-considered, zero-sum ventures, it is necessary to return to the fundamentals of conflict resolution. This involves studying and tracking the roots, dimensions, causes, frameworks, and legal and moral justifications of conflicts to conceptualize solutions based on justice rather than the whims of power and arrogance or illusions of subjugation and humiliation. The key to this solution is the establishment of a fully sovereign State of Palestine and ensuring the rights of its citizens—nothing more, nothing less.