The Arab-Islamic Summit in Doha that followed the attempted assassination of Hamas leaders on Qatari soil reaffirmed its participants’ principles in the wake of Israel’s assault on Qatar, which has been playing the role of an active “mediator” in order to halt the assault on Gaza.
Held one week before the “Two-State Solution Conference” set to introduce the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Summit also affirmed that there is the necessary support for implementing whatever decisions may emerge from the Conference.
Today, the world stands at a crossroads in this regard. The first is the Israeli path: Tel Aviv shows us daily, through its actions, that it recognizes no red lines in pursuing its objectives. It attacks the states playing a mediating role, as noted earlier, and it tries to assassinate the leaders of the party with which it is negotiating indirectly. This is a path that can only be described as annihilatory.
The UN Secretary-General has described what is taking place in Gaza, especially amid Israel’s open-ended escalation in both time and space, as “systematic destruction and the mass murder of civilians.”
The triad of killing, destruction, and displacement carried out by Israel- whether in Gaza or in the West Bank, where the process of Judaization is accelerating (through the encouragement of settlements, new projects and outposts, and intensifying violence against Palestinians- all reflect its objective: preemptively preventing the emergence of a Palestinian state by eliminating all the elements essential for building such a state, while at the same time advancing the “Greater Israel” project.
These aims are openly stated and repeated daily by Israeli officials. It is a preemptive effort to bring down the two-state solution strategy championed by the United Nations, following the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the “New York Declaration” on resolving the question of Palestine by peaceful means and implementing the two-state solution. That resolution, passed on September 12 of this year, received broad international support (124 votes in favor, 10 against, and 12 abstentions).
The second path is Arab and international: a comprehensive settlement for the Palestinian question through the two-state solution. However, it is no longer enough to merely reaffirm the need to respect UN Resolutions and accept them as the framework for the settlement being sought. Despite the difficulty and the growing obstacles along this path, it remains the only realistic solution. It is also the settlement that enjoys UN legitimacy, as it is anchored in the aforementioned resolutions, international principles, and the roadmap laid out by the UN decision. All of this will be on the table at the Two-State Solution Conference.
This is, of course, more than necessary. However, the conference must be accompanied and followed by effective action directed toward the international parties that oppose the solution, particularly the United States, and toward those who support it “in principle” but fail to show any genuine commitment in practice (especially some European powers). The aim must be the adoption of joint, pressing, and therefore effective policies to alter Israel’s stance.
That, in turn, requires taking the necessary measures stipulated by UN Resolutions for halting Israel’s genocidal war, thereby compelling it to stop changing things with force on the ground. Applying various forms of meaningful pressure through concrete policies is a global obligation: morally, legally, and practically. It is an indispensable requisite for forcing Israel to accept the two-state solution in practice.
This is the great challenge that must be overcome to achieve a difficult peace. Doing so is not impossible, if the international will is there.
