Arab world lets Israel commit crimes in Palestine as it fears USA

A war of over 100 years: What is the nature of Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

The Tawasol Palestinian International Media Forum under the slogan "Palestinian Narrative: A New Era" took place in Istanbul. Our special correspondent Daria Aslamova met with the Secretary General of the Forum, Mr. Ahmed Al Sheikh.

Hello Mr. Ahmed Al Sheikh. You are the secretary general of the international Palestinian Forum "Palestinian Narrative, a New Era." What do you mean by these words 'a new era'?

When we were discussing this while we were preparing to hold this meeting, there was a suggestion we should come with a come up with a slogan. It was suggested by our colleagues that we should focus this year on the aftermath of the Gaza war of 7 October. We feel that the Palestine should take it to consideration several new facts that actually arose from the latest development of the crisis. We cannot continue talking to the world as we did before.

Is this because of a very large number of victims?

Actually, it seems to me that the world has forgotten that the catastrophe of Palestine didn't start on 7 October as some Western media outlets try to tell the world. The war on the Palestinian people continues for more than 100 years. It started before the first world war. It was declared in the 1970 declaration. The first question that the Western world is asking is — do you condemn the events that happened on 7 October? This is a very bad question as they want to jump over history to deny what had happened before. They want to deny the fact that the Palestinian people have been suffering for over 100 years, including for 77 years since the establishment of the state of Israel. We feel that we have to renew the Palestinian narrative. We have to remind the world that events that happened on 7 October were just the results of the continuous war on the Palestinian people. It was another battle of resistance and another form of resistance of the Palestinian people. Many Arab states such as Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, UAE and many others have been normalizing their relations with Israel and building stronger relations with Israel. At the same time, they have been trying to ignore all the things that have been happening to Palestine. We have to remind the Arab nations that Palestine still remains a very important part of the Arab world. We're still Arabs and what happens to Palestine today might happen to them in the future. Look what they did in Syria. They toppled the president and forced him to leave the country. They went into the Golan Heights and occupied the territory. This is a colonial project that threatens the future of the whole Arab world. This is what we want to talk about in the new Palestinian narrative of the new era. We also have to renew our Palestinian narrative as far as the Palestinian people are concerned. We feel that the Oslo agreements that brought the authority for the people of Palestine did us more damage than good. Oslo agreements were a disaster, they achieved nothing. They failed to achieve any positive results for all of the Palestinian people. We lost our land. We have almost 1,000,000 settlers in the West Bank. In general, there is no future and no possibility of establishing the Palestinian state in the West Bank. Gaza has been totally destroyed by the Israelis. These are the facts that oblige us to talk about the new era in the Palestinian narrative.

Israel also talks about its new narrative, the Israeli government talks about the idea of the greater Israel. Israel has been advancing at this point a lot lately. The Israelis invade Lebanon, they have crushed Hezbollah and have their eye on Syria. Israel has a very big ambition now. Israeli narrative has changed a lot lately not that long ago. They would say that they were just a small country, but now they talk about the idea of the greater Israel on a high level. What do you think about this?

When I say that we want to renew our Palestinian narrative, I mean that we need to face the narrative of Israel and try to deny them any roots of truth. We have to tell the world that Israel as a western-backed entity is expansionist in its nature. They published a new map of Israel that includes all of Palestine, Parts of Jordan, parts of Lebanon, parts of Syria and even parts of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the Palestinian narrative has to renew itself in this regard and make it face the Arab nations in the first place because they are being threatened by the Israeli narrative. Israel is not shying away from declaring this to the whole world. They feel that would ever they do will win them support of the United States, for example. You probably remember that Donald Trump, during his previous term in the office, recognized that the Golan Heights were part of Israel. I think in his next step he will recognizing that all of the West Bank is part of Israel and Israel in this case will annex it. This is coming for sure.

What do you think is going to change for Palestine during Trump"s new presidency?

I think Trump will encourage even more support for Israel to expand its territory further. I'm afraid the first step in this direction will be the annexation of the West Bank. Of course, I'm not sure whether this is going to happen in reality, but this is my prediction, I think that this is very possible. Israel will do it. They moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem. What makes it easier for the United States and Israel is the fact that the Arab world has failed to rise up to this challenge around Palestine. The Arab states around Palestine have recognition Israel, and they do everything that the United States tells me to do. They cannot disobey. Washington dictates its rules to this region, and the Arab states cannot do anything just because they're weak and incapable of resistance. This helps Israel a lot.

I always wondered why Hamas got help from Shiah resistance — from Iran, from Hezbollah, but Sunni countries were acting like traitors. Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan — they are sunny countries that do not support Hamas. So why don't Sunni countries support Palestine?

They are afraid of the United States of America. Many of our rulers take their orders from the USA. I'm sorry to say that they want protection. Washington tells them that their main threat comes from Iran and they believe that. This is why the Palestinians have this corporative relationship with Iran. Iran gave support to Palestine because it serves its interests. This is totally acceptable because this is how statehood works. When we talk to Arab leaders, I always tell them give us the support that Iran gives us. Hezbollah was helping us, but Israel destroyed it. What else can we do?

Why can't the Arab world be united? Why can't all the Arab countries stand together?

Because the United States of America doesn't want them to be united and because their rulers don't want to unite either.

But why? Such a pity!

We are not free. Our people are not free. We have to free ourselves first of all. Do we have free parliament or any free representation? No, we're not free. The people are not free, they cannot gather and unite and achieve anything. One needs to have an individual who thinks that he is free that he can criticize his ruler for failing to do so and so. We have to regain our freedom first of all.

Israel has always positioned itself as a victim state. Do you think Israel has lost this status after the genocide in Gaza?

Why should Palestinians pay the price for the holocaust? Was Auschwitz in Palestine? Were there a concentration camps in Palestine? The crimes of holocaust were perpetrated in Europe. It was the Europeans, who did all the atrocities to the Jews. On the contrary, Jews lived in peace in our region. Even when Muslims and Jews were driven from Andalusia, from Spain, about a thousand years ago, they all settled in Morocco and in Turkey - in Muslim countries. They lived peacefully there. We have no problems with Jews we have living peacefully together for thousands of years before and after Islam. We never persecuted Jews, the way they were in Europe. Everything was exposed in October and the whole world knows who is the real victim. We are the real victim of the Israeli genocide, of the failure of the Arab world to react to challenges. The Western world is fighting against Muslims under the pretext of Islamophobia, and we are victims to that as well. Many Arabs and Muslims around the world feel that this is part of the war on their religion. Israel lost, but how can we keep the momentum? This is why we say the Palestine narrative a new era to keep the momentum that has emerged in the world after the October events and in view of the genocide campaign against Palestine.

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Author`s name Daria Aslamova
Editor Dmitry Sudakov
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