BEIRUT — The Nakba in Palestine in 1948 marked a turning point in West Asia. It was no less dangerous than what happened at the end of World War I, particularly for the Islamic Ummah, as the Zionist entity was established to serve global imperialism.

After overthrowing the army of Muhammad Ali Pasha (ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848), British Foreign Secretary Henry Palmerston (1784-1865) recommended the establishment of a human barrier separating the Maghreb from the Levant.

Accordingly, the decision was made to establish a Jewish entity and strengthen it militarily (in addition to providing a way for Europeans to resolve their Jewish problems) to ensure Western hegemony over all of West Asia and dismantle its cultural, religious, and social fabric.

There are a number of myths that must be refuted, such as the claim that the Palestinians sold their land, even though, according to British documents, the percentage of Jewish ownership in Palestine in 1947 was only 6%.

The other claim is that the Palestinians made a mistake by refusing to establish a Palestinian state, as stipulated in Partition Resolution 181 of 1947, which legitimized the establishment of the Zionist colonial regime.

It should be noted that the resolution was a blatant injustice against 1.5 million Palestinians who owned 94% of the land and were given only 46% of their historical land, while the Zionist colonial settlers numbered only 600,000 and were armed (the Palestinian people alone were unarmed).

In his book, the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Ilan Pappe, the renowned Zionist historian, explains that the ethnic cleansing began in Palestine in early December 1947 with a series of systematic Jewish attacks called "Plan Dalet" which aimed to seize control of as much Palestinian land as possible and replace the Palestinian people with Zionist colonial settlers.

To achieve this, the Zionists resorted to genocidal ethnic cleansing against Palestinians, both individually and collectively, such as the Deir Yassin and Tantura genocides.

Palestinian historian Aref al-Aref, in his book, The Nakba of Quds and Paradise Lost 1947–1949, describes the state of Palestine after the issuance of the ill-fated Partition Plan.

Al-Aref says: “The Partition Plan had the worst impact on the Arabs and the best impact on the Jews. At that time, there were only a few armed Arab youths in Quds, who could be counted on one hand. That was the situation: a defenseless, unarmed people, slapped by one of the largest international bodies with the darkest and harshest decision in history.”

For his part, Palestinian author Bahjat Abu Gharbiyeh says in his memoirs: “We regret to say that the Arab governments, which were subject to British influence and unable to contravene its plans, were not sincere in their rejection of the Partition Plan.”
The Arab reality did not change much after the Nakba. Rather, it worsened due to the normalization agreements with the Israeli occupation regime. 

Hence, the Palestinian people relied on themselves through uprisings and wars, including the current war, sacrificing thousands of lives and achieving historic heroism.

Today, the Palestinian people have become convinced that the option of resistance is the most effective approach in Gaza, the West Bank, and al-Quds. 

The Palestinian people are in one place, and the Palestinian Authority is in another, completely different place, just like the Arab regimes that not only abandoned Palestine but conspired against it.

The question that should be directed to the people and rulers of the Islamic Ummah, not the Palestinians, is: How long will we continue to commemorate the Nakba without serious action to reclaim Palestine and the rights of its people?

This is, of course, not a question of inquiry, but rather one of condemnation, intended to direct blame and severe rebuke at these people for their inaction and weak response to the Palestinian cause except the pro-resistance peoples in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran who continue to struggle against the U.S.-led Israeli expansionist schemes.

What has happened over the past two years is not ordinary; one should draw on historical comparisons to understand political shocks and military setbacks and to draw lessons and morals. 

Amid the suspension of U.S. funding for UNRWA, a key pillar in providing services to Palestinians, U.S. President Donald Trump has made no secret of his vision for the Palestinian issue since entering the White House. 

Trump’s vision is based on direct U.S. control that will bring about widespread demographic change, according to an alleged strategy to transform Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

The Palestinians are aware of these traps, and they will not fall victim to this psychological warfare and expansionist deceptions.

Meanwhile, the Axis of Resistance has sacrificed its most prominent leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (ra). The U.S. and Israel had never taken a leader as seriously as martyr Sayyed Nasrallah, because he was the most influential figure. 

Netanyahu explicitly stated that Nasrallah was not only the leader of Hezbollah, but the leader of the entire Axis of Resistance, and that he was not influenced by Iran as much as he influenced Iranian policies.

His Eminence says: “I believe that the overwhelming majority of the Palestinians are with the option of resistance. If the Israeli occupation of Lebanon had been destined to continue and Hezbollah had not existed, what would Lebanon’s situation have been? What catastrophe would the Lebanese people have experienced?”

Martyr Sayyed Nasrallah adds, “Just as the Palestinian people and the Arab peoples have waited from 1948 until today, the Lebanese people were required to wait for a unified Arab strategy to liberate Lebanon from the Zionist occupation.”

“No one should be deluded that the Arab world is capable of protecting Lebanon. It was unable to protect Palestine when it was united and cohesive, and it has not been able to protect Palestine until now [...] What liberates and protects is our people, our will, our resistance,” the martyr Hezbollah chief affirmed during the Nakba anniversary in May 2022.

Today, the U.S. and Israel are wary of an entire generation of his followers, awaiting the opportunity to take revenge for the American-Israeli crimes.

Today, the conviction has grown that only irregular forces dare to confront the Israeli occupation army, while the Persian Gulf Arab regimes are engaged in a project to impose American-Israeli hegemony over the entire Arab region.

The greatest challenge lies in learning from the previous phase, breaking with all the mistakes and harmful phenomena that marred it, and strengthening the elements of strength and steadfastness in confronting Zionism.

Undoubtedly, despite the relentless media and political campaigns against the resistance movement that adopts the American-Israeli discourse, the resistance and its popular base in Lebanon and Palestine will not allow the future of the region to be jeopardized by adopting options that mimic the priorities and demands of the U.S. and Israel, whose ambitions and plans are not hidden.