Middle East Press On: Netanyahu-Trump Signal to Israel's Enemies, Maduro, Israel, armed militias, West Bank, Israel's settler violence, Palestinian Sports, New Age Islam's Selection, 10 January 2026
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
10 January 2026
Netanyahu's meeting with Trump sends clear signal to Israel’s enemies
US capture exposes Palestinian Authority’s hidden support for Venezuelan dictator Maduro
Israel using armed militias to ethnically cleanse the West Bank
West Bank's mountains and molehills: Is Israel's settler violence real?
Beyond ruin – One state, liberation, and the grim work of reconciliation in Palestine
Injustice Cannot Last: Trump and Netanyahu’s ‘Glory’ is Terminal
A Look at Today’s Palestinian Sports: Developments and Prospects for the Future
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Netanyahu's meeting with Trump sends clear signal to Israel’s enemies
By DAVID BEN-BASAT
JANUARY 10, 2026
Even before the Wing of Zion plane landed in the United States, Israel’s media followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s diplomatic visit with a wave of scepticism.
Commentators and analysts questioned Netanyahu’s ability to achieve real results, especially in light of early reports of alleged tension with the American administration. Some expected drama, others searched for cracks, and some hoped to see US restraint or a change in policy. In reality, events unfolded quite differently.
One commentator claimed: “Netanyahu flew to Florida to buy time and political backing… the visit will run on a perforated schedule… and between extended meetings and long interviews, Netanyahu is mainly buying time – both politically and legally.”
Another analysis concluded that “The show at Mar-a-Lago supplied Netanyahu with perfect campaign material: personal glorification and hints about Gaza, Iran, and clemency – while in practice, there is no real progress on Gaza. A lot of images, little on-the-ground results.” Really?
Clear lines drawn, no more ambiguity
The issues on the agenda were clear: the growing Iranian threat, Tehran’s attempts to renew its nuclear program and rebuild its missile array, the future of the fighting in Gaza, and the day after Hamas. Even before Netanyahu arrived in Miami, doubts were raised about the extent of American commitment. But the meetings with President Donald Trump changed the picture entirely.
Trump reshuffled the deck. The central message that emerged from the talks was sharp and unmistakable: Israel will not allow Iran to rearm, and any such attempt will be met with military force – with full American backing. No hints, no softened language, no diplomatic ambiguity. A red line was drawn in terms that left no room for doubt.
To understand the depth of this signal, one must understand Trump’s worldview. For him, foreign policy is not an ideological arena but a cold business domain. Countries, regimes, and organizations are judged by one question: Do they serve American interests, or do they harm them?
That is how one should read the operation in Venezuela and Trump’s approach toward its de facto leader, Nicolás Maduro – opposition to a dictatorial regime, a fight against the drug cartels, and a message to the world. Those willing to make a clear deal under American rules gain legitimacy; those who refuse pay an economic, diplomatic, and sometimes military price.
This is a direct signal to Iran, Russia, and China. Not a moral speech, not a utopian vision – but business. Iran must choose between dismantling its threat mechanisms or facing isolation. Russia now understands that the gray zone of ambiguity is over. China realizes the economic game is no longer one-sided.
ALL RECEIVE the same message: the door is open to a deal, but anyone who challenges the American order will be met with force.
The direction in Gaza was also clarified. Trump stated that progress to the second phase of the American outline would only be possible after Hamas is disarmed. No gradual process, no security compromises, no shortcuts. Hamas, it was made clear, cannot continue to exist as a military force.
If the organization does not disarm, Israel will continue fighting – this time with full American backing and without reservations. The message to Gaza is the same as the message to Tehran: disarm, or pay a heavy price.
At the same time, Trump signalled his next strategic objective: transitioning from combat to reconstruction in Gaza. However, he chose to politely sidestep a highly sensitive issue – the release of hostage Ran Gvili. There was neither denial nor commitment, only a hesitant promise, suggesting an American preference to advance long-term strategic goals even at the cost of delaying painful questions.
For Israel, the visit produced significant gains. The American commitment to disarm Hamas is not merely a political declaration but tangible backing for the position Israel has held since October 7: there will be no rebuilding without demilitarization, and there is no future for Gaza while Hamas rules it armed.
The Turkish issue also surfaced, albeit incidentally. When asked about F-35 aircraft, Trump responded with a short but loaded sentence: they will not be used against Israel. Not a speech, not a public warning – but a very clear statement.
Six meetings were held between Netanyahu and Trump, an extraordinary number by any diplomatic standard. The final meeting was the warmest and most complimentary. Trump did not hide his appreciation for the prime minister and even showered praise that went far beyond customary diplomatic politeness.
Here the Israeli political arena comes into play. Without saying it explicitly, Trump effectively opened Israel’s next election campaign. The message was clear: this is the leader with whom he knows how to “do business.”
Ultimately, Netanyahu’s visit to the United States was not merely a diplomatic event – it was a global strategic signal. Those who looked for ambiguity were disappointed. Those seeking a clear line received one.
In a Middle East saturated with threats, clarity itself can sometimes be power.
It appears the conduct of the president of the United States is not a passing episode but a clear declaration marking America’s return to the language of deterrence. Trump is signalling that the era of ambiguity is over: those who threaten will pay a price; those willing to dismantle threats and respect rules will receive an opportunity.
The message is directed at America’s enemies – but also at its allies. Trump does not intend to manage endless conflicts; he intends to impose order. For Israel, the meaning is clear: confirmation of the president’s commitment that Gaza will be demilitarized – whether through agreement or by force.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-882455
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US capture exposes Palestinian Authority’s hidden support for Venezuelan dictator Maduro
By ITAMAR MARCUS
JANUARY 9, 2026
The Palestinian Authority has had a special and warm relationship with Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, and before him with Hugo Chavez, as one of soulmates.
The PA has actively and openly placed itself firmly in the camp of the notorious human rights-abusing Venezuelan dictators. Following the US raid and arrest of President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on charges including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking – with an audacious military operation in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas – the PA has remained silent for now, fearing a US reaction to its support for Maduro.
However, the PA camaraderie with Maduro has been fundamental to PA policy.
Evidence
• A few months ago, when US President Donald Trump started to threaten Venezuela, the PA held an anti-American demonstration at the Venezuelan embassy in Ramallah in support of Maduro. Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam participated and posted her anti-American messages and pictures on her Facebook page:
“As a sign of rejecting the American threats against friendly Venezuela, I participated in the solidarity vigil that was organized by the national forces in front of the Venezuelan Embassy building of Caracas in the State of Palestine in order to affirm our people’s support for the people and government of Venezuela.”
[Ramallah and Al-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam, Facebook page, Sept. 18, 2025]
• Mahmoud Abbas’s appointee Ahmad Assaf, who is the director of official PA TV, has a small statue of the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez prominently displayed in his office to show all visitors where the PA’s ideology and values stand.
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 10, 2025]
• The PA has prominently supported the Latin American dictators for years. In 2024, Venezuela held an election, and according to opposition sources, 70% voted against Maduro. Many Western democracies declined to recognize Maduro’s election. The PA, however, welcomed Maduro’s rule, and Abbas sent his special envoy to the inauguration.
“President Abbas’ Advisor on International Affairs and Special Envoy Minister Riyad al-Maliki participated in the inauguration ceremony of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro as the representative of President Mahmoud Abbas…
“Al-Maliki conveyed President Mahmoud Abbas’ congratulations to President-elect Maduro and wishes for success in serving his country and his people… He also emphasized that the State of Palestine is showing interest in strengthening the relations with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in all areas of common interest.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 12, 2025]
• In 2024, the PA sent Fatah leader Abbas Zaki to an event in Venezuela under the auspices of President Maduro. The PA leader praised the communist dictators of Latin America and compared Maduro to Fidel Castro and Che Guevara:
“Thank Allah who created in Latin America – which is geographically far but closest to the Palestinians’ hearts – great leaders who are restoring the memory of [former Cuban President] Fidel Castro and [former Communist leader Che] Guevara, like President Maduro.”
Maduro, in turn, expressed the dictator’s support for the PA. “Maduro described what is happening in Palestine as the Israeli occupation committing a genocide against the Palestinian people for 75 years,” i.e., since Israel’s creation.
[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, June 18, 2024]
Ramallah-Caracas: Warm ties that stretch back
In 2023, Mahmoud Abbas sent the Chairman of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, to Venezuela to deliver a personal message from Abbas to Maduro:
“Fattouh also laid a wreath of flowers on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas on the monument of historic leader Hugo Chavez.”
[WAFA, official PA news agency, July 27, 2023]
The picture shows Fattouh and the wreath with the words “President of the State of Palestine Mr. Mahmoud Abbas” written in Spanish.
[Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh, Facebook page, July 28, 2023]
In 2018, Western democracies also rejected Maduro’s election victory and announced that they would recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate leader. Russia, China, Mexico, Syria, Iran, and Turkey supported Maduro, while the US, EU, Canada, Israel, and some countries in Latin America backed Guaidó. Aligning with the anti-democratic regimes, the PA rallied behind Maduro.
PA Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki participated in Maduro’s inauguration ceremony and brought Maduro personal congratulations from Mahmoud Abbas:
“Al-Maliki congratulated President Maduro on receiving the presidency, wished him success in his service of the Venezuelan people, and conveyed to him the congratulations and wishes of [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership that always stands by Venezuela and its people, as Palestine does not forget its friends.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 12, 2019]
The PA Foreign Ministry “condemned several states” for their “interference” against him:
“The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its concern given the events taking place in Venezuela and condemned several states’ interference in the state’s internal affairs and direct [interference] through support for the coup attempt against legally elected President Maduro.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 25, 2019]
PLO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE member Ahmed Majdalani, meanwhile, attacked the US and also accused it of “interference” in Venezuela’s affairs while condemning the “coup attempt” against Maduro:
“The blatant American interference in states’ affairs, as is happening in Venezuela, is a direct continuation of the policy of [US President Donald] Trump’s administration, whose goal is to usurp the will of the peoples... and [condemned] the coup attempts against the legitimacy of elected President Maduro.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 25, 2018]
The PA official daily reported on demonstrations supporting Maduro:
“The Palestinian and Venezuelan peoples face the same enemy - which is the US.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 25, 2019]
An op-ed in the official PA daily ripped into US President Trump’s speech at the UN about Venezuela:
“The new cowboy (i.e., US President Donald Trump) blatantly threatened a sovereign state – Venezuela – and its president. He announced that his administration would attack [Venezuelan] President Nicolás Maduro and unequivocally incited the army to carry out a coup against a president who was legally elected. He also attacked socialism as if his capitalist system is in better shape...”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 27, 2018]
Subsequently, protesters held posters with Venezuelan and Palestinian flags at a solidarity rally in Ramallah, where PA leaders also participated. One poster showed pictures of Donald Trump with an “X” across his face and the words
“American Imperialism, Enemy of the Nations.”
The rally participants chanted: “America is the head of the snake, blessings from Ramallah to proud Caracas.”
[Official Fatah Facebook page, May 21, 2019]
As a sign of this friendship, the Palestinian Embassy in Venezuela erected a statue of “President Martyr Yasser Arafat in Liberator Simon Bolivar Monument Square.” PA Ambassador Linda Sobeh “again emphasized Palestine’s support for Venezuela in light of the situation that it is going through (i.e., violent clashes between the regime and opposition forces following Maduro’s fraudulent election).”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 17, 2019]
As a further sign of camaraderie, the PA named a hospital after the dictator, which was called “the Palestinian-Venezuelan Hugo Chavez Eye Disease Hospital… according to the instructions of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, and constitutes a source of Palestinian national pride.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 1, 2018]
The PA’s next move
With the Palestinian Authority desperate for US aid and support as it seeks a position of power in some future Gaza entity, Mahmoud Abbas is attempting to conceal his longstanding embrace of Venezuela’s anti-American regime. Abbas seems petrified that President Trump might realize the PA’s place squarely within the anti-American ideological axis.
Abbas has thus ensured that the PA’s official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, remained silent on the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, even as the story featured prominently in other Palestinian newspapers. The fear was so acute that Abbas’s paper did not publish a single news item about Venezuela on Jan. 5, let alone an opinion piece.
By contrast, independent Palestinian newspapers filled their pages with coverage of events in Venezuela, including columns sharply attacking the US. Al-Quds, the largest Palestinian daily, published 15 articles on the issue, seven of them openly critical of the US, and devoted an entire page to short commentary responses – all critical.
Al-Ayyam, the second-largest daily, ran 18 articles on Venezuela, at least two of them critical, and dedicated a full page to photographs highlighting pro-Maduro protests around the world.
The blackout in Al-Hayat is revealing precisely because it is unnatural. The paper’s refusal to criticize the US over Venezuela exposes how tightly the PA’s official media is controlled. The PA keenly fears the consequences of letting Washington know where it stands in the conflict between the US and the anti-American axis.
This sudden discipline does not signal an ideological change. The PA remains aligned with anti-American regimes and worldviews. The difference is tactical: What has changed is only the PA’s need to hide its essential ideologies from Donald Trump.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-882651
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Israel using armed militias to ethnically cleanse the West Bank
By YAIR DVIR
JANUARY 9, 2026
Monday, 17 November 2025, the village of al-Jaba’ near Bethlehem. A group of settlers with covered faces attacked a car with stones and clubs. Inside were a one-year-old girl, her four-year-old sister, their mother, and their uncle. The attackers also torched two cars parked nearby, burned three others, and stoned five homes in the village.
Friday, 10 October 2025, Beita, near Nablus. Dozens of settlers and soldiers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives, using clubs, stones, tear gas, and live fire. About 80 farmers and journalists were injured, including one person who was shot. During the attack, settlers beat to death a dog that was tied to a fence, torched 12 vehicles, and vandalized six more.
These two attacks are a tiny example of the organized pogroms being carried out in the West Bank on a daily basis. B’Tselem has documented such attacks for years. Yet the past two years have seen a sharp spike in the degree of violence and the frequency of the attacks, now amounting to thousands of incidents.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented more than 1,770 attacks involving harm to people or property in 2025 alone. This included violent raids, sometimes carried out by dozens of settlers, many of them armed; burning fields and uprooting trees; stealing livestock; torching homes and property; throwing stones; and even the shooting and killing of Palestinians in broad daylight, at times on camera. Yet Israeli politicians continue to claim, year in and year out, that there is no such thing as “settler violence.”
In a sense, they are right. Anyone who follows these incidents closely and sees the dynamics on the ground understands that labelling “settler violence” is an understatement for these organized pogroms. In fact, the term is used to deflect responsibility for what is really happening.
The dozens of outposts from which the attackers emerge are established with the knowledge and encouragement of state authorities and in many cases with explicit, institutionalized support.
Typically, the authorities provide the outposts with electricity and water infrastructure, pave access roads for them, and allocate government budgets. The ATVs and drones used by settlers in attacks were distributed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Missions Minister Orit Strock. The weapons used to attack and threaten Palestinian residents are supplied by the military.
Attacks carried out by members of settler "security squads"
Many attacks are carried out by members of settlement “security squads” and by settler-soldiers enlisted in the regional defence units – military units composed of settlers from the area. Just last week, a settler-soldier entered the village of Deir Jarir on an ATV, fired his military-issued gun in the air, and then deliberately ran over a young Palestinian man praying by the roadside.
Members of organized militias, often with military weapons and in army uniforms, operate routinely throughout the West Bank. They set up checkpoints, drive farmers off their land, and attack Palestinians. The complete immunity they are granted by all state systems enables them to continue terrorizing Palestinians, who know they have no way to protect themselves or their property without risking death.
This model, of unchecked state-armed militias operating in coordination with the military and backed by all branches of government, has succeeded, according to B’Tselem’s monitoring, in driving 45 Palestinian communities out of their homes over the past two years.
It has ethnically cleansed hundreds of thousands of dunams (1 dunam = 0.1 hectares) throughout the West Bank of Palestinians, where any Palestinian entering them risks arrest or attack. New outposts are springing up in mass in these areas, taking over Palestinian land and, over time, receiving formal recognition as settlements.
In this way, the shared overarching goal of the settlers, the military, and all state systems is fulfilled: ethnically cleansing more and more areas of Palestinians and enabling Jewish takeover of the land. All this is carried out in broad daylight, with no attempt at concealment.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-882734
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West Bank's mountains and molehills: Is Israel's settler violence real?
By NAOMI LINDER KAHN
JANUARY 9, 2026
Our news feed runneth over with horrific accounts of bloodthirsty, rampaging hordes of kippah-clad Jews attacking innocent Arab villagers. Foreign governments have gone far beyond condemnations and applied direct sanctions of the sort usually reserved for internationally designated terrorists or drug cartel kingpins.
Experts in sociology, criminology, political science, and religion continue to provide learned analyses of the causes and objectives of the reported surge in settler violence, and anti-Israel forces have justified the mass murder or ethnic cleansing of Jews on this hyper-inspected “phenomenon.”
Perhaps we ought to take a moment to figure out if settler violence is really “a thing.”
Media reports and foreign sanctions are based on a damning dataset, provided by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) through the “Data on Casualties” dashboard, which claims to include only incidents verified by two independent, impartial sources.
Predictably, and unfortunately, OCHA does not share the data outside of its own circle of “humanitarian agencies.” In order to inspect and analyse this data, researchers at Regavim, an Israeli research group dedicated to Zionist land policy, obtained it through the intervention of a French criminologist.
OCHA, a reason for hiding
Apparently, OCHA has a very good reason for hiding the actual data and instead presenting its own version of reality: Regavim analysed over 8,300 “incident reports” on settler violence spanning a six-year period, which included the months following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War in October 2023.
The first finding of note, before analysing the incident reports themselves, concerns the sources: The overwhelming majority of incident reports were supplied by only one source: the Palestinian Ministry for Resistance to the Settlements, or extreme anti-Israel organizations.
Regavim also found that more than 95% of the reported incidents were either gross inversions of reality (i.e., Arab violence against Israelis), misrepresentations of incidents that either didn’t involve violence, didn’t involve settlers, or didn’t occur in Judea and Samaria (confrontations with IDF forces, non-Muslim visits to the Temple Mount described as “storming al-Aqsa,” road improvement projects classified as ”invasion or confiscation of Palestinian property,” elementary school visits by Israeli children to historic or religious sites that were classified as “trespass” – even dog bites and car accidents.
The bottom line in Judea and Samaria
There have been incidents of violence perpetrated by Israelis against Arabs in Judea and Samaria – but they are few and far between.
In fact, when compared to other segments of Israeli society – Jewish or Arab, on either side of the Green Line – the Israeli communities of Judea and Samaria are the least violent, most law-abiding in the country.
They also enjoy levels of violence far below that suffered in cities of similar population and socio-economic profile anywhere in the West; citizens of Kansas City, a typical mid-Western US city with just over half a million residents, are some 300 times more likely to be the victims of violent crime than Arabs living in Judea and Samaria.
These facts haven’t been allowed to confuse the anti-Israel Left and the foreign governments and organizations that fund them. Peace Now, Rabbis for Human Rights, Breaking the Silence, and other foreign-funded NGOs have been stoking this libel for years as a means of delegitimizing the settlement enterprise, and defaming the IDF and the State of Israel, particularly the current government.
Israel has invested untold resources – millions of shekels, thousands of hours, hundreds of formal and informal educational initiatives, community policing, social workers, and more, in an effort to address the problem. On November 18, 2025 the security cabinet approved additional measures that had an immediate impact: arrests and administrative detentions resulted in a 60% drop in incidents of violence.
Why was violence allowed to run amok?
The flip side of this is quite dark. Critics might rightly ask: What took you so long? If the police were able to effect such sweeping change so quickly, why was violence allowed to run amok for so long?
If you ask this when you read these statistics, you’ve fallen into the trap. What you should be asking is: What do these percentages really mean? How widespread was the violence before the cabinet intervened, and how much of a problem is it today? Who are the perpetrators; where do they come from, where were they educated, who is responsible, and, knowing all of this, how will future violence be prevented?
The real numbers tell the whole story: Before the cabinet decision and the enforcement sweep, there were six “serious” incidents per month. This includes all types of violence that resulted in damage to Arab property or persons. Six incidents. The impressive 60% drop missed out on a whopping two “serious” incidents.
How did this massive change come about?
The Israel Police made 16 arrests, and a similar number of military restraining orders were issued. Of those either detained or barred from entering the region, nearly 50% are not residents of Judea and Samaria. They are, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently described them, troubled teens who crossed the Green Line looking for trouble; when they didn’t find it, they made it.
The current “wave of settler violence” consists of two incidents that did not result in a single Arab fatality. In fact, over the past 10 years, the only Arabs killed by Israeli civilians were terrorists who were caught in the act. Compare this to dozens of Israeli fatalities and many hundreds of casualties caused by thousands of acts of Arab terrorism.
But if the facts are so unequivocal, why is the general impression so skewed? That, my friends, is the definition of a blood libel.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-882753
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Beyond ruin – One state, liberation, and the grim work of reconciliation in Palestine
January 9, 2026
By Ranjan Solomon
The one-state solution for Palestine has been spoken of for decades—sometimes as a moral ideal, sometimes as a technocratic fix, and at other times as a convenient abstraction that avoids confronting the brute realities of settler colonialism. Today, after 7 October 2023, and the ensuing genocide in Gaza, the idea of “one state” can no longer be discussed in the language of coexistence, balance, or liberal optimism. It must be confronted as a post-catastrophe political project, one that emerges not from symmetry but from liberation, accountability, and historical repair.
The clarity and questions raised by Lara Kilani’s astute essay, “Liberation Is Not Integration: On liberal Zionism, one-state fantasies, and what Palestinians actually want,” and Rima Najjar’s uncompromising response, “The Settlers Are Not Leaving: Decolonisation, not coexistence,” place the discussion of Palestine’s future precisely where it belongs—with Palestinians themselves. These interventions reject the liberal framing of the one-state solution as a multicultural compromise between two equal sides. Instead, they reassert a fundamental truth: Palestine is not a conflict to be managed, but a colonial structure to be dismantled.
From a Jewish anti-Zionist perspective – one articulated for years by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network—the role of Jews is neither to design nor to preside over Palestine’s future. It is to actively dismantle Zionism: as an ideology, a global network of institutions, and a violent colonial project. As Najjar rightly argues, de-Zionisation is not an optional ethical gesture; it is a precondition for Palestinians to imagine liberation on their own terms. Yet the question remains unavoidable: what comes after occupation ends? How does a society emerge from genocide, apartheid, mass displacement, and structural erasure? And is it possible—indeed necessary – to imagine a single, secular, inclusive political community after such devastation?
This essay does not offer blueprints. It outlines conditions, principles, and hard questions—not as liberal aspirations, but as the groundwork of a post-colonial future.
Is This the Darkest Moment – and Can Light Still Emerge? October 7 and its aftermath shattered the last illusions sustaining the so-called “peace process.” The genocide in Gaza has stripped Israel of any remaining moral camouflage. It has also devastated Palestinian society beyond measure—physically, psychologically, and socially. To speak of reconciliation now risks sounding obscene unless it is grounded in justice first.
History, however, offers a grim lesson: the darkest moments often force political clarity. Algeria after French rule, South Africa after apartheid, Rwanda after genocide—none of these societies emerged healed. They emerged fractured, angry, wounded. Yet they also emerged post-colonial, with the coloniser’s political authority broken. In Palestine, dialogue – if it is to exist at all – cannot precede liberation. It must follow it.
What form of dialogue is possible?
The first mistake is to imagine dialogue as a conversation between equals. Under conditions of occupation, dialogue is domination by another name. A meaningful dialogue can only occur after the end of Zionist political supremacy.
Post-liberation dialogue would have three defining features:
Palestinian centrality: Palestinians define the agenda, terms, and timeline.
Asymmetry acknowledged: Settlers and beneficiaries of apartheid do not negotiate as equals with the colonised.
Truth before reconciliation: There can be no “moving forward” without naming crimes – dispossession, ethnic cleansing, mass incarceration, and genocide.
Any dialogue after 7 October cannot be framed as reconciliation between equals. It must be a post-liberation truth process, where Palestinians define the terms, sequence, and limits of engagement. Dialogue, in this sense, is not about harmony but about reckoning, accountability, and historical repair.
No political future is possible without dismantling settlements as structures of power, privilege, and land theft. This means abolishing settlement governance, armed settler militias, and legal regimes of dispossession—not cosmetic freezes or administrative adjustments. Decolonisation requires the end of settler sovereignty, not its reform.
The Palestinian Right of Return is non-negotiable and foundational, not a humanitarian add-on to be deferred indefinitely. It restores Palestinians as a people with history, continuity, and agency, rather than refugees frozen in time. Any one-state vision that bypasses return merely reproduces Zionism in a softer register.
A future Palestine must be secular – not to erase religion, but to prevent any religion from being converted into state power or supremacy. Secularism here is a shield against domination, ensuring equality before the law for all inhabitants. Without it, hierarchy will simply re-emerge under a different banner.
Palestine holds layered histories – Arab, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and more—but none grant exclusive ownership. A Collective Heritage can only be acknowledged after historical erasure and theft are confronted, not as a substitute for justice. Memory must be plural, but accountability cannot be diluted.
Colonial control in Palestine has always been material: land seizure, water theft, labour exploitation, and economic strangulation. A just future requires redistributive justice over land, water, housing, and infrastructure. Political equality without economic repair would be an illusion. Equitable Sharing of Resources must pre-conditioned.
Thousands of Palestinian political prisoners embody the carceral core of the occupation. Their release, rehabilitation, and public recognition are essential first steps toward justice, not acts of charity. No reconciliation is imaginable while resistance itself remains criminalised.
Jerusalem cannot remain a city structured by exclusion, residency revocations, and ethno-religious zoning. As a shared capital, it must guarantee equal access, restored property rights, and freedom of worship for all. The moral character of any future state will be tested first in Jerusalem.
Preconditions: Dismantling settlements and Zionist structures
No one-state framework is conceivable without the dismantling of settlements as political entities. This does not automatically imply the expulsion of all settlers, but it does require:
The abolition of settlement governance, armed militias, and land expropriation regimes.
The return of stolen land or its restitution through binding legal mechanisms.
The removal of Zionism from constitutional, legal, and military structures.
Decolonization is not coexistence. It is the end of settler sovereignty.
The Right of Return: Non-negotiable, transformative
The Palestinian Right of Return is not a humanitarian request—it is the core decolonial demand. Any one-state vision that dilutes or postpones it reproduces Zionism in another form.
Return will transform demographics, politics, and culture. That is precisely the point. It restores Palestinians as a people with historical continuity rather than a humanitarian problem to be managed. Mechanisms of return will require planning, resources, and transitional arrangements—but its legitimacy is absolute.
A secular state: Protection through equality, not supremacy
A future Palestine cannot be Jewish, Muslim, or Christian. It must be secular, not in the sense of erasing religion, but in preventing any religion from becoming a vehicle of state power. Secularism here is not Western liberal neutrality. It is protection against domination, ensuring that no community – especially one historically armed and privileged – can convert identity into supremacy.
A common heritage without erasure
Palestine’s land holds layered histories: Canaanite, Arab, Jewish, Ottoman, and more. A liberated state would acknowledge this plural inheritance without allowing any group to weaponize history.
Common heritage does not mean equal culpability. It means shared stewardship after accountability.
Equitable sharing of resources
Colonialism in Palestine has always been material: water theft, land seizure, labour exploitation, and siege. A just state must redistribute:
Water and agricultural land
Energy and infrastructure
Housing and urban space
Economic justice is not secondary to political liberation—it is its continuation.
Palestinian prisoners: The first test of justice
No reconciliation is imaginable while thousands of Palestinians languish in prisons—many without charge, many tortured, many imprisoned as children. The release and rehabilitation of political prisoners must be among the first acts of a post-occupation order. They are not criminals; they are survivors of a carceral colonial regime.
Jerusalem: Shared, not divided
Jerusalem cannot belong to one people or one religion. Nor can it remain the symbol of exclusion it has become. As a shared capital, Jerusalem would require:
Equal access to holy sites
End of ethno-religious zoning
Restoration of Palestinian residency and property rights
This is not symbolic. Jerusalem embodies the moral character of any future state.
First, End the Occupation
All of this remains hypothetical until the occupation ends.
There is no dialogue without freedom.
No reconciliation without justice.
No one state without decolonisation.
All of this remains impossible until one condition is met: the occupation must end. Without liberation, dialogue is theatre; without justice, coexistence is coercion The one-state solution is not a fantasy of coexistence. It is a long, painful, post-liberation process – one that demands the collapse of Zionism, the return of the displaced, the accountability of perpetrators, and the rebuilding of society from ruins. This dialogue would resemble truth and accountability processes, not peace workshops. It would be uncomfortable, accusatory, and destabilising—precisely because it would confront history rather than erase it. Whether light can emerge from this darkness depends not on optimism, but on political courage, moral clarity, and the refusal to compromise on justice. Palestinians will decide what freedom looks like.
The rest of the world – and especially those who benefited from Zionism – must decide whether they are willing to dismantle what made genocide possible. All of this remains impossible until one condition is met: the occupation must end. Without liberation, dialogue is theatre; without justice, coexistence is coercion.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260109-beyond-ruin-one-state-liberation-and-the-grim-work-of-reconciliation-in-palestine/
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Injustice Cannot Last: Trump and Netanyahu’s ‘Glory’ is Terminal
January 10, 2026
By Iqbal Jassat
Having returned from his latest visit to the White House, where new plots were hatched by him and Donald Trump to further destabilize the world, the fugitive Netanyahu’s vain wish to insulate Israel from international censure has not materialized.
As architects of plunder, death, and destruction, both leaders have a terrible public record that no amount of money or fake news will wipe out. Their evil design to spread corruption across key regions of the world while hoping that global citizens will remain oblivious to the fallout is equally foolish.
Their idiocy is evident in the illegal abduction of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on trumped-up charges, attempts to overthrow his government and blatant theft of the country’s mineral resources as well as oil.
Trump’s avarice is unlimited. His goal to take control of Greenland via military force, regardless of Denmark’s warning that the NATO alliance is at risk of fracturing, seems on track.
For him and his MAGA clan of thugs, the mineral-rich, self-governing Danish territory in the Arctic represents wealth and prestige. Framing it as a “national security priority” is a ruse.
Zionist Hasbara is not confined to the occupiers of Palestine. It has been adopted by Trump and his spin-doctors to drive narratives based on myths and fantasies.
The Hasbara related to the Gaza genocide, following the fanfare of a “ceasefire”, wants the world to turn its attention elsewhere by pretending that the genocide has ended while mass deaths continue.
Commenting on it, Palestinian writer Eman Abu Zayed, based in Gaza, made the following observation:
“It became clear to me that the real goal of the ceasefire was not to stop the violence or death, nor to protect people or limit bloodshed and genocide. The real goal was to stop the world from talking about Gaza, about the crimes being committed there, and about the daily suffering of people”.
Netanyahu’s desperation to save himself from capture and face trial at the International Criminal Court for war crimes is real. His reliance on Trump for protection is misplaced, given the US president’s prospect of impeachment.
To add to Netanyahu’s woes, the United Nations in its latest human rights report has slammed Israel’s decades-long discrimination and segregation of Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank and demanded an end to its apartheid.
“There is a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.
“Whether accessing water, school, rushing to hospital, visiting family or friends, or harvesting olives –- every aspect of life for Palestinians in the West Bank is controlled and curtailed by Israel’s discriminatory laws, policies and practices,” he added.
“This is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before.”
Though numerous credible human rights organisations, including institutions within the colonial entity, reached the conclusion that Israel is an apartheid regime, this marks the first time a UN rights chief has applied the term.
Volker Turk’s report is evidence-based and categoric: the Netanyahu regime treat Israeli settlers and Palestinians residing in the West Bank “under two distinct bodies of law and policies, resulting in unequal treatment on a range of critical issues”.
“Palestinians continue to be subjected to large-scale confiscation of land and deprivation of access to resources,” it added.
Apartheid is a system that thrives on racism, cruelty, injustice and as practised in Israel has resulted in dispossessing Palestinians of their lands and homes. In addition to targeted criminal prosecution in military (not civil) courts, where due process is absent and fair trial rights are systematically violated.
While right-wing elements in South Africa and elsewhere have cheered Trump’s assault on Venezuela and simultaneously applauded his hostile stance on Cuba, Mexico, Somalia, and Iran – among others – Netanyahu has foolishly been basking in his glory.
The insecurity he faces is clear. It is borne by the fact that while his talking points raise the spectre of “radical Islam” to drive fear and alarm among his Islamophobic constituency, Netanyahu is haunted by the tide of global public opinion against him.
As cowards behave, he has now effectively banned dozens of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) working in Palestine. 37 foreign aid groups, including Doctors Without Borders, have been banned from operating in Palestine.
International aid workers have described Gaza as a dystopian demolition site – an apt description for an area of 365 square kilometres that has been subjected to the equivalent of six times the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, according to Yara Hawari.
Trump and Netanyahu represent the new face of colonialism as they plot and execute decisions to dispossess people of freedom and liberty.
And though the damage wrought by them is monumental and ongoing, it cannot last. Injustice is not perpetual; it is terminal.
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/injustice-cannot-last-trump-and-netanyahus-glory-is-terminal/
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A Look at Today’s Palestinian Sports: Developments and Prospects for the Future
January 10, 2026
By Issam Khalidi
It is important to note that Palestinian sport is unique in that it is grounded in national, social, and organizational foundations, all of which are essential to ensuring its long-term sustainability. These foundations allow sport not only to develop and preserve its national identity, but also to function as a tool of resistance against the occupying power.
No other sports movement in the world faces conditions comparable to those confronting Palestinian sport. Since the onset of occupation, Palestinians have endured displacement, hardship, and continuous confrontation with Israeli control. As Palestinian sport evolved into a vehicle for affirming national identity and challenging domination, Israel increasingly came to view it as a threat. Palestinian sport—so long as it carries the name, flag, and symbols of the Palestinian people—has remained a persistent nightmare and a thorn in Israel’s side.
Historically, Palestinian sport has been characterized by strong social foundations dating back to the 1920s. Most sports clubs in Palestine were originally established as social clubs, with sport forming a central component of broader social activity. Over the past century, these clubs have developed management systems aligned with prevailing social structures, cultural norms, and national aspirations.
Today, the majority of Palestinian sports clubs continue to operate as community-based social institutions, run by committed members and officials and sustained by local support. There is little doubt that as sport becomes increasingly professionalized, it risks losing its authenticity and social essence. Palestinian sport, however, has largely escaped excessive professionalization. While some clubs have adopted professionalism in response to FIFA requirements, the social dimension of their activities has remained largely intact.
Since the re-establishment of the Palestinian Sports Federation in the 1940s, Palestinian sport has been organized at an institutional level, a process that has continued to the present day. Each historical phase, and each location within the Palestinian diaspora, developed its own distinct organizational characteristics shaped by political, social, and geographic realities.
For the Palestinian sports movement to reach its full potential, it must also be built upon complementary foundations—namely, health, scientific research, and democratic governance. Integration across these areas is essential for sustainable development.
One of the major challenges remains the widespread perception that sport is not an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. This presents a serious problem. Sports officials bear responsibility for promoting sport as a daily habit and an integral part of public life. Addressing unhealthy lifestyles—characterized by physical inactivity, smoking, poor nutrition, sleep deprivation, and chronic stress—requires sustained collective effort. There is no doubt that the Israeli occupation has played a significant role in exacerbating these conditions and deepening Palestinian suffering.
Globally, countries that achieve sustained sporting success increasingly rely on scientific research. Over recent decades, the number of university departments dedicated to physical education has grown, offering bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. As a result, Palestinian physical education teachers and coaches have become more qualified and capable. However, stronger cooperation is needed between universities, sports federations, and the Palestinian Olympic Committee. Universities should play a more active role in research and applied studies to support coaches, federations, and long-term planning.
Before the Oslo Accords, sports in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were rooted in democratic principles and broad social participation, largely free from favouritism and bureaucratic control. Today, however, decision-making has become centralized, with power concentrated in the hands of the president of the Palestinian Olympic Committee and the Palestinian Football Association.
Political factionalism has come to dominate Palestinian sport, with Fatah exerting influence in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It has been documented that Fatah violated the sports rights of Hamas members in the West Bank, while Hamas committed similar violations against Fatah members in Gaza.
Despite displacement, harsh living conditions, the absence of an independent state, and ongoing occupation, Palestinian sport has achieved remarkable success. This success began in the 1940s and continued after the Nakba of 1948 to the present day. Palestine’s participation in the Arab Games during the 1950s stands as a notable example.
Further milestones include the re-establishment of the Palestinian Football Association and other sports federations in the 1960s, as well as early attempts to secure FIFA membership. By the late 1960s, the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports was established, followed by the creation of the League of Clubs (Rabitat al-Andiya) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the 1970s. This league remained active until the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 and the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
A new phase began in 1993, when the League of Clubs was dissolved and replaced—along with many civil society organizations—by state institutions. This marked a major structural shift in Palestinian sport. Following the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Football Association and other federations relocated from Tunisia to the Gaza Strip, and later to the West Bank.
The Oslo Accords also facilitated intensified Israeli land confiscation, settlement expansion, construction of the separation wall, fragmentation of the West Bank, and its separation from Jerusalem. Palestinian sport, however, continued to exist within these realities and evolved in response to them.
At the same time, the Oslo Accords marginalized sports in the Palestinian diaspora. As a result, sporting activity became more concentrated in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while diaspora communities—particularly refugee camps in Lebanon—were increasingly neglected. This imbalance created long-term structural challenges for Palestinian sport as a whole.
Palestinian sport is distinguished by its resilience and adaptability. History shows that every attempt by Israel to destroy Palestinian society has been met with renewed strength. In this context, the words of Libyan freedom fighter Omar al-Mukhtar resonate deeply: “The blow that does not break your back only strengthens you.”
This adaptability is evident in the survival and growth of sport under all circumstances—whether in refugee camps after the Nakba, under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or in the post-Oslo period. Despite the negative consequences of Oslo, Palestinian sport adapted and achieved notable successes.
Palestinian athletes have excelled locally, regionally—through participation in the Arab Games and Arab championships—and internationally, including qualification for the World Cup, Olympic Games, and other major competitions. Athletes have emerged in numerous individual sports such as swimming, boxing, karate, taekwondo, bodybuilding, weightlifting, and athletics.
Although Palestine’s FIFA membership was facilitated by the Oslo Accords, its positive impact on Palestinian football cannot be denied. Most importantly, it placed Palestine firmly on the global sports map, enabling the promotion of Palestinian identity—name, flag, people, and cause—on an international stage.
The Palestinian national team’s strong performance in the FIFA Arab Cup 2025 further demonstrated the significant progress achieved in recent years.
While football is undoubtedly the most popular sport, it should not be conflated with Palestinian sport as a whole. Football is only one component of a broader sporting landscape, and its success contributes to—but does not define—the overall development of Palestinian sport.
Given current realities, particularly the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, two urgent questions arise: what challenges face Palestinian sport today, and what lies ahead for its future? Beyond occupation, Palestinian sport confronts social, cultural, organizational, administrative, and economic challenges. Nonetheless, occupation remains the primary obstacle—manifesting through the targeting of athletes, restrictions on movement, obstruction of sports equipment imports, and systematic destruction of sports infrastructure.
The future of Palestinian sport is inseparable from its present conditions. These realities point toward an uncertain future, particularly for Gazan athletes who increasingly lose faith amid devastation and instability. For them, sport has become more than competition or recreation—it embodies memories of a proud past, the pain of the present, and uncertainty about what lies ahead.
There is now a stark disparity between sports in the West Bank and those in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s genocide in Gaza has resulted in widespread destruction of sports infrastructure and the killing of more than 800 athletes and sports figures. Simultaneously, Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank are accelerating ethnic cleansing, employing tactics reminiscent of those used in Gaza—a process often described as “Gazafication”—with severe long-term consequences, including for sport.
After the occupation ends, the objective must be to unify sports in Gaza and the West Bank under a single national sports administration and a unified Palestinian government. After so much bloodshed and sacrifice, rejecting division has become imperative.
The genocide in Gaza has also triggered a profound political and moral awakening globally, particularly in the West. As a result, the Palestinian cause has gained unprecedented international solidarity and recognition as a humanitarian struggle.
It is impossible to separate Gaza from the West Bank in sporting terms. Sports in Gaza are an inseparable part of Palestinian sports as a whole. The ultimate aspiration, once occupation ends, is full integration of sports across Gaza, the West Bank, and the diaspora under one unified administration and government representing all Palestinian factions.
The continued presence of Palestinians on their land, their resistance and steadfastness, and the international solidarity they have inspired form the foundation of the future Palestinian sports movement. Palestinian sport has no choice but to stand alongside the broader revolutionary struggle for liberation and self-determination.
There is little doubt that the people of Gaza—who thwarted ethnic cleansing plans and demonstrated extraordinary steadfastness—will be able to rebuild their lives and revive their sporting activities once conditions allow.
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/a-look-at-todays-palestinian-sports-developments-and-prospects-for-the-future/
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