In his February 12, 2025 column in the London-based Saudi Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily, Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id, a member of the Egyptian Senate and a veteran journalist, maintained that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has led the Arab world to a difficult position which is reminiscent of its situation after its resounding defeat in the war of 1967. He wrote that the images of the prisoner handovers following the temporary ceasefire agreement, during which Hamas members appeared in military uniforms, and President Trump’s initiative to remove the Palestinians from Gaza, have served to further fan the flames in a region where they should now be doused.
Therefore, Sa’id stressed that this “sensitive phase” obliges the Arab countries to demonstrate wisdom, and not to suffice with condemnations of President Trump’s transfer plan, but rather to present a new Arab peace plan to the Israeli leadership, to the people in Israel, and to the Jews of the world, while recruiting the Palestinian elite to the cause.
Abd Al-Mun'im Sa'id (Source: Ecss.com.eg/author/abdelmoneim-said)
“It may be that the entire Arab world is currently positioned in the same corner where it was when the Naksa[1] occurred in 1967, which was the fate of all [Arabs].
“The ‘Three Nos’ that were published by the Arab League Summit [in] Khartoum [in August 1967]… – no to recognition [of Israel], no to negotiation [with it] and no to peace – did not express momentary extremism and fury as the result of a shameful defeat, but rather a firm decision that the Naksa not continue.
“Later, the story became a war of attrition [between the Arab countries and Israel], and then came the October War [in 1973] … When the war to liberate Kuwait landed on us [i.e. the Gulf War in 1990-91], it was capitalized upon to expand the victory to Palestine, by means of the peace conference in Madrid, until it led to the Oslo Agreement which, for the first time in history, granted the Palestinians a Palestinian government on the land of Palestine.
“We now face another moment, difficult and wearying, that began on October 7, 2023, and has yet to conclude, that brought with it a new wound which awakened the Nakba of 1948.[2] [This new and difficult event is expressed] not only in the defeat by Israel [in the current war] but [also] in the decision by the U.S. about the migration of the Palestinians [from Gaza] …
“Currently, amidst the first prisoner exchanges [between Israel and Hamas] following a temporary ceasefire, more fuel has been added to the fire: once by Hamas, [whose operatives] appeared in full military attire and declared that it will remain [in Gaza] and that October 7 was just the beginning and not the end, and the second time by the U.S. and Trump which [if] we thought that the meaning of his participation in the ceasefire scene was that this process would continue, [we discovered that] what we have here is a return to the first Nakba.
“In this way, the matter reaches the threshold of the Naksa: not only because the Palestinians are losing their lands and additional neighborhoods, but because the American initiative leads us to the gates of the first tragedy; it paves the way for the destruction of the peace initiatives that have survived for decades and prepares the ground for eternal war.
“At this sensitive juncture there is crucial need for a bit of wisdom. Unfortunately, international solidarity that opposes the migration of the Palestinians is not enough to stop the earthquake unleashed by Trump. The Arab wisdom demands that a stand be taken by the group of countries that is interested in preserving the progress and economic growth achieved over the past decade, which are now threatened by ongoing conflict in the region which is still suffering the consequences of the [Arab] Spring…
“It is only natural that the Arab position reiterate and assert the opposition to exile, but [it must also] place on the international table, and mainly on the American [table], an Arab peace plan, that will address not only the leadership of the Israeli occupying entity, but – and this is more important – the Israeli people and the progressive Jews in the world.
“At the same time, the hour has come to compel the Palestinian political elite to face its responsibility for the Palestinian people; because at present the rift is deep, the people must be addressed, through this elite, so as to prepare for fair elections, that will determine the fate of Palestinian policy…”[3]
[1] The Naksa, literally "the setback," is the Arab name for the Arab countries' defeat in 1967 war with Israel.
[2] The Nakba, literally “the catastrophe,” is the Arab name for the Arab downfall in the war against Israel in 1947-48, and its consequences.
[3] >Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), February 12, 2025.
