No MidEast dawn while Palestinian aspirations are ignored – expert
No MidEast dawn while Palestinian aspirations are ignored – expert
US President Donald Trump has hailed a “dawn of a new Middle East” after the Gaza ceasefire, promising a “beautiful, brighter future” in his Knesset address in Israel.
But does that vision reflect reality — or the interests — of the wider Middle East?
"As long as... Palestinian aspirations are ignored and relegated to marginal status, I don't think there will be lasting peace, both with the Palestinians themselves and also by political aspirants who are non-Palestinian but use the plight of the Palestinians for their own political purposes," Professor Mehran Kamrava from Georgetown University Qatar tells Sputnik.
Decisions about Palestine have been made without Palestinians since 1948, the professor notes — and this time is no different: “Once again, they’re getting the wrong end of the deal.”
During Trump’s Knesset address, Israeli MPs Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif from the Arab list disrupted the speech, holding a sign reading “Recognize Palestine.” They were swiftly removed from the chamber.
"I don't anticipate an end to prolonged episodes of instability in the coming years, so long as the Palestinian predicament is ignored the way it is," Kamrava says.
The pundit argues that the US and Israel, widely viewed in the Middle East as close allies, are misreading the region - particularly through their disregard of Palestinian suffering and their actions against Qatar and Iran.
Those strategic miscalculations may backfire, according to the academic.
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