United States President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the Gaza Strip and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East” has sparked widespread debate. Whether his plan is feasible remains to be seen. Regardless, Palestinians need a new modus operandi if they are to survive. They must recognize that leaders in the Middle East now understand that the future of their countries cannot be held hostage by a conflict that has shown little progress over the past seven decades. At the heart of this stagnation lie a series of strategic mistakes made by Palestinians, two of which stand out: destroying trust with the Arab world and failing to build a state. The notion that Palestinians are on a sacred mission to achieve self-determination and are therefore immune from historical revision must be strongly challenged.
First Mistake: Destroying Trust with the Arab World
Palestinians have gained a reputation in the Arab world as troublemakers. Their first mistake has been failing to act in good faith with their Arab neighbors. In 1970, tensions in Jordan escalated when Palestinian militant groups, under the leadership of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief Yasser Arafat, sought to assert control over northern areas by establishing their own enclaves. They set up checkpoints and armed patrols, openly defying the authority of the Jordanian monarchy. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) later hijacked three civilian planes in Jordan, took foreign nationals hostage, and blew up the aircraft on international television – undermining Jordanian rule and its international standing. By September of that year – later known as “Black September” – King Hussein resolved to end the Palestinian presence in Jordan, even at the cost of souring relations with Arab neighbors. His military offensive against Palestinian factions led to a brutal conflict with heavy casualties on both sides.
After Jordan, Lebanon became the next capital of Palestinian resistance following the Cairo Agreement, which allowed the PLO to establish its headquarters in the south. Rather than showing gratitude, Palestinian factions carried out brutal acts against the local Lebanese population. By 1975, their actions contributed to the outbreak of a civil war that plunged the country into 14 years of relentless violence and devastation – one from which Lebanon has yet to fully recover.
In 1990, Arafat supported Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait – a country that had provided Palestinians with significant financial and diplomatic backing. He also lobbied Hussein to condition Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait on Israel’s withdrawal from territories it occupied after the 1967 war. This angered the Kuwaitis, who subsequently expelled some 300,000 Palestinian residents. Arafat’s miscalculation effectively caused another Nakba for the Palestinian people. While he later apologized to Kuwait, many Palestinians never fully internalized the mistake. Years later, in a similar misstep, Hamas aligned itself with Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, in exchange for training and arms – alienating much of the Arab world, particularly Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Today, with Iran on the back foot, Saudi Arabia is the only country with any leverage keeping the two-state solution alive – albeit reluctantly and with less enthusiasm than before. However, this time, the Gulf states are not consulting with the Palestinians. Due to repeated strategic miscalculations, the very people most affected have now found themselves excluded from the conversation.
Second Mistake: Failing to Build a Functional State
Palestinians had the opportunity to capitalize on two major breakthroughs: the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994 and Israel’s unilateral disengagement from Gaza in 2005. In both cases, they failed miserably. Palestinians have yet to demonstrate to the world any viable model of governance – either in the West Bank or in Gaza. This failure has dampened enthusiasm among major international supporters of the two-state solution.
A poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) in 2023 found that an overwhelming 82% of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza perceive the PA as corrupt, 78% advocate for President Mahmoud Abbas’s resignation, and 63% view the PA as a burden rather than an asset. Large portions of the West Bank remain lawless, with no effective governance. Another PCPSR poll conducted in the same year found that Hamas, once widely popular, has seen its support decline – 59% of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza believe the group is corrupt. Rather than using international aid to improve living conditions in Gaza, Hamas launched the October 7 attack, killing over 1,200 Israelis and exposing the population in Gaza to a ruthless Israeli military response that devastated much of the Strip. Hamas sought to dominate Palestinian public opinion by achieving political goals through extreme violence. Now, as a result, Gazans are on the brink of permanent displacement from their land.
Following the October 7 attack, many activists hailed the operation as a major success and a source of pride. Sober minds, however, were more pessimistic. Now that Palestinians in Gaza face the prospect of permanent displacement, it is clear who won that debate. Palestinians cannot be given a permanent victim pass. They must chart a new path – one focused on life rather than death. They need to mend their relationship with the Arab world and become more responsive to regional concerns. To achieve this, they require a historical revisionist movement – one that is critical, adaptive and politically savvy. Until then, the dream of statehood will remain distant.
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