- Netanyahu announced an economic corridor sponsored by the United States against the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.
- The West has put all its capabilities since the Sykes-Picot agreement in service of the Zionist project.
- Operation "Al-Aqsa Flood" revealed the West's hypocrisy and double standards.
- Arab and Islamic identity prevent the West and the Zionist entity from fully controlling the region.
Dr. Sami Al-Arian, Director of the Center for Islamic Studies and International Affairs at Sabahuddin Zaim University in Istanbul, said that "Reforming the Middle East" means handing over the keys and future of the region to an alliance led by the United States and dominated by the Zionist entity. He said that this is one of the most dangerous issues. With the presence of the Zionist entity at the heart of the nation, it means that the nation will remain fragmented, weak, unable to create a civilizational model, scientific progress, or economic prosperity.
In an interview with "Al-Mujtama," Dr. Al-Arian explained that "Al-Aqsa Flood" came to confirm that the West, with all its power, wants to control this region and keep the Zionist project to dominate the region. Therefore, the necessary response must be resistance, meaning comprehensive and continuous resistance. Everyone has a role and responsibility, from the people and governments to parties, factions, scholars, and individuals.
What is meant by "Reforming the Middle East"?
- About two weeks before the "Aqsa Flood," on September 22, 2023, Netanyahu stood before the United Nations General Assembly holding a map and drew a line starting from India, through the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf, then to the port of Haifa, and from there across the Mediterranean to Europe. This "economic corridor" sponsored by the United States is meant to stand against the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. The goal, as Netanyahu announced, is to make "Israel” the protector of American imperial interests dominating the region, which will be overseen and dominated by the "Israeli" entity.
What is the danger of attempts to "reform the Middle East"?
- As we have explained, "Reforming the Middle East" means handing over the keys and future of the region to this alliance led by the United States and dominated by the Zionist entity, and this is one of the most dangerous issues. With the Zionist entity at the heart of the Arab nation, it means that the nation will remain fragmented, weak, deprived of will, strength, and identity. It will be unable to create a civilizational model, achieve national liberation, develop democratic experiments, achieve scientific progress or economic prosperity. The Zionist entity can only survive and expand by keeping the surrounding countries weak, subservient, and oppressive.
It is important to clarify here that what distinguishes the Palestinian cause and makes it a central issue different from other issues in the nation is the nature of the enemy. Therefore, Palestine must be the central issue, considering that it is the issue that will answer the most important question: Can there be a future for an Islamic or Arab civilizational project that offers the people of the region, even humanity, coming from this region without clashing with the Zionist project, confronting it, and eliminating its racist, aggressive structure?
The Zionist project, with its structure, philosophy, and tools, as long as it exists in the region, will not allow for any developmental project we aspire to. The Zionist project does not want any competing project, as it cannot survive and grow with another project contradicting it in ideology, vision, and philosophy.
Therefore, it considers what happened in the "Al-Aqsa Intifada" as an existential threat to it. As for the relationship with the West, does this restructuring aim for further subordination and compliance? Yes, undoubtedly, the West has put all its resources since the end of World War II, even since the Balfour Declaration and the Sykes-Picot Agreement, in the service of this project. For three decades, British mandate was overseeing Palestine, focusing on empowering the Zionist project and ensuring its growth.
The West has enabled the Zionist entity from its inception until now, with the major powers supporting it from Britain to the United States, providing political protection, economic funding, military weapons, and all types of support through the United Nations and financially since 1973 with over $400 billion. We are talking about complete Western sponsorship of this entity, so the Al-Aqsa Intifada operation revealed the West's hypocrisy and double standards. Talking about restructuring reflects that the Arab region is still resistant to the way they want it to be.
The main reason the West and the Zionist entity cannot fully control this region is due to its Arab and Islamic identity, which has a long history that is difficult to manipulate or change. We have been living between the decline of the first Islamic civilization with the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the second Islamic civilization starting with the liberation of Jerusalem after dismantling the Zionist project. Facing attempts of restructuring and dominance requires a real project that removes foreign influence, especially Western and Zionist influence, in all aspects politically, diplomatically, economically, commercially, culturally, academically, scientifically, legally, socially, in sports, arts, at all levels, in all societies and geographies.
This means that every party, movement, and active force in societies and civil society organizations must make this their project, with all other issues taking a secondary position. The essence of this matter is to confront the Zionist hegemony and Western arrogance in the region. This requires a re-reading of the scene, as no civilizational projects can succeed or progress without facing this challenge. These nations must achieve their true independence and establish their sovereignty before they can shape their future through a civilizational project.
How do you see "Aqsa Flood" in this context?
"Aqsa Flood" came to confirm this issue, which is that the West, with all its power, wants to subdue this region and keep the Zionist project dominant in the region, keeping it in a state of weakness. The only response is resistance, complete and continuous resistance, not only at the field level but at all levels.
Everyone has a role and responsibility within this framework, including peoples, governments, systems, parties, movements, scholars, and individuals. In short, this Zionist project is based on strengths and weaknesses, and we must be aware of these determinants. "Aqsa Flood" has revealed significant vulnerabilities in this enemy on political, economic, military, and narrative levels. It came to reinforce the idea that this Zionist project can be defeated, undermined, and dismantled.
We must learn from what happened last year, as despite the suffering, tragedies, massacres, and destruction, this project can be dismantled, and all of Palestine can be liberated from its grip.
Furthermore, we offer a civilizational solution that saves Judaism from the clutches of Zionism. The problem fundamentally lies in the West's racism against its Jewish populations throughout the ages. They did not want to get rid of their racism towards these communities in Europe, so they wanted to centralize the Jewish issue in the Islamic world and deal with the "Eastern issue," which has always been a source of concern for them.
They wanted to occupy this region and control it, but every time they tried, the nation rose up, defeated them, and expelled them. They wanted to distract from this by exporting the Jewish problem to the region and strengthening the Zionist project to keep the area weak, divided, fragmented, and unable to confront this aggressive Western Zionist project.
We say: we will not accept this dominance and control.
If they do not want or are unable to understand this, they should go back to where they came from or live in our countries as migrants from Tangier to Jakarta, not as aggressors. However, this should not happen at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people or their sovereignty, nor should there be an aggressive entity or control in this region. This is rejected by the peoples of the region, who will accept nothing less than independence, freedom, sovereignty, and a global civilizational project.
