Human beings under rubble and self-centred rulers in ruins

Time for answers

There should be a thorough examination of the legitimacy of these notions – and their claims to represent a population – not least when so many lives can be transformed so swiftly into casualty figures, so many people under so much rubble.

Where do these political parties, factions, and organisations get the legitimacy to fight wars, negotiate truces or exchange prisoners? From where do they derive the prominence and the authority to represent entire nations, all while purporting to act in the best interests of a largely uninformed populace whose rights are discarded?

For answers, let's move beyond the long-standing and unproductive debate over the absence of a Palestinian state and the reluctance of the traditional leaders who governed the Arab Levant at the outset of the last century to fulfil their historical duties.

Sufficient scrutiny has already been directed at these leaders, revealing their outdated approaches and incapability to adapt to the challenges brought about by the waning authority inherited from the Ottoman Sultanate and its failure to comprehend the implications of Western colonialism and the agendas it created.

Blame today's factions, not yesterday's leaders

The real issue lies in the emergence of factions. They have assumed for themselves the right represent their communities. Ironically, the structure of governance has regressed into a form of tyranny-through-coercion, encroaching on the individual's right to shape their own destiny. This is the most rudimentary way the factions consolidate power and implement their will.

Let's also move away from the narrative that focuses solely on portraying the enemy as brutal, cruel and without mercy, one capable of harming children, destroying schools and hospitals, resorting to outright lies, exploiting the West's sense of guilt over the Nazi Holocaust, and even mistreating journalists and those who oppose the Israeli massacre.

Instead, it is time to recognise that our response to Western policies – riddled as they are with double standards and racial arrogance – has been primarily driven by emotions and a belief that depicting our suffering and our outcry will sway the way the world sees us.

We should note how the way we portray ourselves, and the way we articulate our issues, often inadvertently helps those on the other side of these critical issues. Arab and Western researchers and experts have long recognised this.

It is clear that the absence of legitimate representation and political authority prevents the prominent players in the current landscape from admitting defeat or assuming responsibility for the calamities they impose on the people they claim to represent.

For decades, every disaster – even when caused by warring Arab parties – has been labelled as victory, ever since the 1956 war.

The only instance where Arabs conceded their outright defeat was in 1948. But even then, the armies soon placed the burden of the Nakba's consequences on the regimes who came before, as they vowed to eliminate its effects.

In 1967 there was a partial acknowledgement of defeat, with the term Naksa (Arabic for setback) being used to disguise a comprehensive loss. This exposed how the the revolutionary leaders in power at that time were disconnected from reality, and the hollowness of their slogans.

And now, as claims of victory ring out over the rubble of Gaza, it becomes almost inevitable to ask if the Palestinian cause can ever chart a course to reclaiming the long-denied rights of its people.

Is there any Palestinian leader who genuinely empathises with the pain suffered by their fellow citizens – who have lost their loved ones, their dreams, and their future due to the unilateral decisions of one faction dictating matters of war and peace –while the other factional leaders in Ramallah enjoys their privileges?

It is disheartening that Arab political discourse remains mired in Western and Israeli critiques, failing to address the deteriorating conditions endured by people under regimes reliant on armed internal control.

We have yet to fully grasp the horrors that unfolded in the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, the apparent disregard for the sanctity of human life – as voiced by representatives of the "unified arenas", – does not augur well for the foreseeable future.