The American administration has slammed the door on President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation, denying them visas for the annual UN General Assembly. This is a slap on the wrist for a series of Palestinian stances, chief among them the push for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state—a move expected to catch fire at this session, with several key Western nations now signalling their intent to recognize Palestinian state.
It's true that Washington pulled a similar move in 1988 after the declaration of the Palestinian state, but the world was a different place then. This was before the Oslo Accords, where the powerful gave crumbs to the powerless, and before the US recognized a PLO and a Palestinian Authority (PA) that shackled themselves with crippling restrictions they still honor. Meanwhile, Israeli governments tore up their own commitments long ago, burying them under a mountain of settlements and racist policies. This has all but ensured that the only game in town is the Israeli one: the permanent prevention of a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian response cannot be mere finger-wagging, demanding Washington take it back. Nor can it be a simple brainstorming session for President Abbas's next move. It must be a complete change of course, a new political path that bets on the Palestinian people and the vibrant forces and nations across the globe who champion freedom, justice, resistance, and equality. President Abbas must pivot with all his might, taking his message from New York to Geneva, just as the late Yasser Arafat once did. The gravity of America's decision is amplified by its timing, perfectly synchronized with an Israeli plan to finish the job in Gaza: complete the occupation, bring back settlements, bar the PA's return, and press on with a campaign of genocide, annexation, and displacement.
Israel was not created only, or primarily, to solve the "Jewish question" as a refuge, but to play a functional role in serving Western colonial interests in the region.
The interview with Israeli Minister Avi Dichter on Al Arabiya laid bare this agenda. The target is not just the resistance; it is the entire Palestinian people, whether they seek compromise or confrontation. It is their very right to exist. He didn't just parrot the three declared war aims; he openly called for the expulsion of 1.7 million Palestinians from Gaza, almost its entire refugee population, as he noted. This bombshell followed a US-Israeli summit at the White House, attended by none other than Jared Kushner, the architect of the "Gaza Riviera" fantasy, and Tony Blair, ever the loyal servant to American policy, his hands stained with the blood of Iraqis and Afghans. All this, while the groundwork is laid to swallow the West Bank, whole or in large chunks, and to dismantle the PA, breaking it into disconnected "emirates" on what amounts to less than 40% of its land.
This is no longer a series of isolated incidents; it is a methodical Israeli strategy—financial, economic, legal, military, and security—designed to bleed the PA dry. Palestinian cities, supposedly under the PA's own control, are now treated no differently than "Area C" territories under full Israeli command. We've seen the destruction of refugee camps in the northern West Bank, their people driven out and replaced by permanent military bases. The Israeli Civil Administration has been given sweeping powers, sidelining the PA's institutions and pushing them to the brink of collapse. The demands on the PA have escalated: it's no longer enough to provide security cooperation, suppress resistance, and look the other way on Gaza while demanding Hamas disarm. What's now required is total, unconditional surrender to the American and Israeli playbook.
Perhaps most ominously, denying visas is a clear step toward revoking US recognition of the PLO and the PA altogether. This follows the Trump administration's playbook: shutting the PLO office in Washington, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, closing the consulate there, and cutting off all non-security financial aid. The rare meetings that do occur with Palestinian officials are about balancing the books, not politics. For over a decade, there have been no political meetings between the Palestinian leadership and the Israeli government. High-level US-Palestinian talks are just as scarce, a far cry from the days when Yasser Arafat, and for a time Mahmoud Abbas, were regular guests in Washington. The PA is no longer a given. Factions in Israel argue for taming it further, or replacing it entirely with disconnected local councils on a sliver of occupied land. And all this is happening despite countless Palestinian concessions, including the continued adherence to the punishing terms of Oslo and the failure to act on national council decisions since 2015 to sever those ties and withdraw recognition of Israel.
It is true that Israel is too small to impose its existence from the Nile to the Euphrates, but it has been able to expand at several stations.
The existence of a single, internationally recognized authority representing Palestinian national identity and uniting the West Bank and Gaza is a dagger pointed at the heart of the expansionist Zionist project. Israel was not founded merely to solve the "Jewish question" by providing a safe haven; it was designed to be a functional outpost, a tool to serve Western colonial interests and keep the region's nations in a state of dependency, underdevelopment, and division. Today, as Washington turns inward with its "America First" policy and squares off against China, its need for a reliable regional proxy to maintain dominance only grows. Israel's expansionist ambitions in Palestine and beyond must be taken with deadly seriousness. It may be a meal too big for Israel to digest, but that won't stop it from trying to swallow it whole.
The current Israeli government favors the iron fist of direct occupation over the velvet glove of soft power. The attempts to carve out "safe zones" in Syria and Lebanon are not just about security; they are part of a broader expansionist blueprint. When Netanyahu speaks of "Greater Israel," it's not just a campaign slogan; it is a deep-seated political and religious creed. While it's true that Israel is too small to impose its will from the Nile to the Euphrates, its history is one of relentless expansion: occupying Palestine in 1948, the West Bank, Sinai, and Golan in 1967, invading Beirut in 1982, and now pushing again in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. Despite occasional withdrawals, the tide has always flowed outward. This makes today's threats all too real.
Hope remains, especially with the exacerbation of the Israeli government's crises internally and externally, the rise of global anger, and the increasing isolation of Israel.
...I write these words from Detroit, where I attended a conference called "Gaza: The Compass." Over four thousand people, mostly youth, came in person, with another ten thousand online, all paying their own way. The event was a testament to the fact that the Palestinian people and their allies—from every race and nation, united under the banner of freedom, justice, and resistance—are worthy of life and destined for victory. Polls in the US now show that over half of Americans see what is happening in Gaza as genocide, and 60% want to cut off the supply of weapons to Israel. This is a sea change that cannot be ignored.
The situation is dire, and the worst-case scenarios dominate the headlines. But hope is not lost. The Israeli government is cracking under pressure, both at home and abroad. Global outrage is mounting, and Israel's isolation is deepening. We must also be prepared for a "black swan"—an unforeseen event that could change everything in an instant.
What's missing is a unified Palestinian front built on democratic and revolutionary principles. If unity cannot be forged from the top down, then it must be built from the ground up. In the meantime, we must find common ground and coordinate our efforts where we can. For in the end, only unity can galvanize the people. It is the iron law of victory, the force that can steer the global movement toward its goals of freedom, return, self-determination, and independence.
