A Rare Alignment: Is the World Ready, Are the Palestinians?
The international community has rallied behind the Palestinians, supporting their quest for statehood. The question is: will the Palestinians seize this rare opportunity and adopt a new strategy crucial to realizing their national goal?
I cannot recall a time since the Six-Day War of 1967 when the international community has expressed such overwhelming support for the Palestinian cause. This global rallying and outpouring of support represents an undeniable precedent that cannot be lost, especially in conjunction with the peace plan just announced by Trump. Ironically, it is Hamas’s heinous attack in October 2023 and Israel’s devastating war in Gaza that have breathed new life into the two-state solution, bringing it back to the forefront on a global scale.
To seize this opportunity, Palestinians — and especially the extremists among them — must reassess their stance on three major psychological and/or strategic self-imposed constraints that have prevented them from realizing their national aspirations in past decades:
the failure of armed resistance, the demand for justice to restore the Nakba of 1948, and their religious right to the land.
The Strategic Failure of Armed Resistance
Although the temptation of revenge and the continuation of armed resistance against Israel, especially after the disaster in Gaza, overshadows the wisdom of choosing a new strategy that could better serve the Palestinian cause, Hamas must ask itself the question: where has the strategy of continuous armed resistance led? Palestinians are more desperate and frustrated now than ever before. Palestinians in Gaza are devastated and those in the West Bank are suffocating under the brutal Israeli occupation.
It is clear that armed resistance has failed in the past and will not succeed in the future.
Moreover, it has worked in favor of the right-wing and extremist government led by Netanyahu, which has been in power for almost 18 of the last years. He has always preferred — and often provoked — the continuation of violent hostilities with the Palestinians, forcing them to react violently. This has allowed him to justify the occupation by arguing that a Palestinian state is an existential threat, while at the same time making gradual territorial gains in the West Bank that he could not obtain at the negotiating table. It should be noted, however, that while the Palestinians have the right to defend themselves when threatened or attacked, the overall strategy of armed resistance has failed.
If the history of armed resistance has taught the Palestinians anything, it is that they cannot now or in the future prevail over Israel through violence.
Palestinian statehood will only be possible within the framework of independent Israeli and Palestinian states living in peace and mutual security. Hamas and all other radical Palestinian groups should have reached this conclusion years ago — instead, they have allowed themselves to indulge in the illusion, rooted in religious bigotry, that they can destroy Israel, when in reality they have invited self-destruction.
They have failed over the years to heed the voices of many notable moderate Palestinians, including Edward Said, who at times claimed that while the armed struggle had failed, the Palestinians should consider peaceful ways to achieve the goal of statehood. Ο Sari Nusaybeh, a renowned Palestinian philosopher, has also spoken of the need to move away from the use of violence and seek peaceful paths to statehood.
Hamas must remember that it is dealing with a country obsessed — rightly or wrongly — with national security, which will always maintain military superiority over any enemy, real or imagined. It will react with disproportionate force to quell any threat to its national security.
For the Palestinians, abandoning armed resistance is not a tradition. It is a change of strategy that could make statehood possible with the universal support of the international community — support they can never achieve alone through violence.
Redressing Old Injustices
Although the old injustices suffered by Palestinians continue to hurt, they can only be healed by pursuing a practical, peaceful, and just path, grounded in what can be achieved today, rather than trying to reverse the injustices of the past. Indeed, achieving justice means focusing on practical solutions that improve people’s lives today. For how many more years must Palestinians endure inhumanity and displacement, holding on to the illusion of “returning” to their original homes in present-day Israel?
Hannah Arendt once emphasized the importance of engaging with the present, rather than getting caught up in its historical grievances. “Our past will be to us a burden under which we can only collapse, as long as we refuse to understand the present and strive for a better future.” In other words, justice must be rooted in what we can achieve today.
Undoubtedly, justice is about establishing fundamental rights based on present conditions and finding terms of cooperation here and now, not about trying to right all the wrongs of the past. What Palestinians need today is peace, security, economic stability, and hope for a better future — not empty promises of a tomorrow that depends on the “right of return,” which can only be met through compensation and/or resettlement to their own homeland — the West Bank and Gaza.
Indeed, only dialogue and confrontation with the reality of peaceful coexistence allow us to find modern, just measures that offer the only way forward to redress the injustices suffered by the Palestinians, especially with regard to their exodus (al-Nakba) in 1948.
The Religious Connection to the Earth
Both Jews and Palestinians have a historical and religious connection to the land, and any solution to their conflicting claims must recognize that there are layers of religious significance that must be explored to find common ground. Reconciliation between the two claims is only possible by embracing the principles of common humanity, mutual respect, and coexistence of Judaism and Islam, as well as Christianity, of the faithful whose numbers are small but the presence is significant. What is needed is a public dialogue between devout Jews and Muslims, through which to explore and explain each other's ties to the land· through continuous discussion a path can be found.
Some peace-loving rabbis have argued that the biblical promise to the Jews of the land can be interpreted in a way that respects the dignity and rights of all residents living here today. The esteemed Rabbi Menachem Froman, who was actively involved in interfaith peace efforts, emphasized that a shared belief in one God meant that Jews and Muslims had a divine mandate to live together peacefully. He argued that the religious imperative was to respect each other's humanity and find a harmonious way to coexist.
Many Islamic scholars have argued that the concept of "Waqf" means that the land (in Palestine) is a trust for the entire Islamic ummah (community) and should be protected, not given away. However, a religious endowment can be interpreted in a way that allows for co-management and coexistence, rather than exclusive ownership.
Imam Shamsi Ali, prominent figure in interfaith dialogue, examines the common roots and values of Judaism and Islam in his book Sons of Abraham (co-authored with Rabbi Mark Schneier), urging that, based on shared values, heritage, and connection to the land, Muslims and Jews can find a way to honor both peoples' ties to the land. Similarly, distinguished Imam Yahia Hendi has highlighted Islam's clear message of interfaith cooperation and connection, and that all the Peoples of the Bible are destined to come together and cooperate.
Religious teachings themselves encourage both communities to live side by side as a fulfillment of God's will—Jews, Muslims, and Christians together.
Realizing the Palestinian Opportunity
Palestinians must not miss this unique opportunity to realize their pursuit of statehood, resolving all open issues with Israel through peaceful negotiations. Hamas, in particular, should accept the peace plan proposed by Trump, which grants amnesty to those who lay down their arms and safe passage to those who wish to withdraw, and under which it will hand over control of Gaza. In doing so, they will put Netanyahu and any future Israeli government that opposes a Palestinian state on the defensive, while the Palestinians will continue to enjoy strong international support.
My message to the Palestinians
The current Netanyahu government now enjoys the illusion that it has dealt you the final blow, destroying, once and for all, your prospect of statehood. They are making a tragic mistake! Netanyahu’s relentless Gaza war has brought your cause to the center of the world stage, firmly uniting much of the international community behind your national cause as never before. In that sense, you have won.
You must now persevere; your cause will outlive Netanyahu. However, you must abandon armed resistance, seek justice by focusing on improving the quality of your lives today, and respect the shared heritage of Jewish and Islamic traditions and ties to the land.
Your journey to liberation is in your hands — if you just want it.
photo by hosnysalah, https://pixabay.com
