The September 11, 2001 attacks, according to Taliban leaders cited in outlets like Al Jazeera, were partly motivated by Israel’s colonial dispossession of Palestinians, perceived as an affront backed by the United States.
This global connection illustrates how the Zionist occupation not only impacts Palestine but has fueled resentment across the Muslim world, contributing to conflicts that the West exploits to justify its militarism. The complicity of the United States and Great Britain, which shield Israel at the UN Security Council, has allowed these policies to persist without consequences, entrenching a global order that prioritizes imperial dominance over justice.
The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, under the auspices of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, marked the onset of a colonial Zionist project that, backed by the United States and Great Britain, has unleashed a campaign of dispossession, violence, and structural racism against the Palestinian people and others in the Middle East. This foundational act, which promised a Jewish “national home” in Palestine without consulting its Arab inhabitants, was an imposition of the British mandate that disregarded Palestinian self-determination. Supported by Western powers, this project laid the groundwork for an occupation that has perpetuated the suffering of millions, with Israel serving as a strategic outpost for Western geopolitical control in the region.
John Mearsheimer, in The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, details how the United States has sustained Israel through billions in military aid and unconditional political support, establishing it as an instrument of dominance in the Middle East. This alliance has enabled Israel to perpetrate acts of state terrorism, such as the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre, where Zionist paramilitary groups murdered hundreds of Palestinian civilians to instill terror and force the Nakba, the mass exodus of over 700,000 Palestinians. British complicity, which armed and trained these militias during the Mandate, was critical, but U.S. corruption fully manifested in wars like the 2003 Iraq invasion, designed to destabilize the region and bolster Israel’s hegemony by eliminating a key adversary, Saddam Hussein, under false pretexts of weapons of mass destruction.
Israeli society, steeped in a Zionist ideology that promotes Jewish supremacy, is not a passive actor but a fundamental pillar of this oppression. Laws like the 2018 Jewish Nation-State Law institutionalize discrimination, relegating Arab citizens to second-class status and justifying the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. This racist mindset drives the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, where armed settlers, protected by the military, burn olive groves, destroy villages, and attack civilians with impunity. Israeli media and education reinforce narratives that dehumanize Arabs, framing their suffering as a necessary sacrifice for Jewish “security,” perpetuating a cycle of structural violence.
Benjamin Netanyahu, while central to escalating aggression, is not the sole architect of this crisis. His predecessors, from David Ben-Gurion to Ariel Sharon, laid the foundations for the “Greater Israel” project, an expansionist vision seeking to annex Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese, and Jordanian territories. Netanyahu, plagued by corruption charges, has exploited war and the “national security” narrative to consolidate power, but his leadership reflects the continuity of a Zionist policy rooted in Israeli society. The massive bombings in Gaza, which have killed tens of thousands of civilians since 2008 according to Amnesty International, are merely a recent manifestation of this terror strategy, backed by U.S. weaponry.
U.S. corruption extends beyond military aid to Israel and is evident in its global war agenda, designed to serve Zionist interests. The 2003 Iraq invasion, driven by neoconservatives with strong ties to the Israel lobby, destabilized the Middle East, creating chaos that strengthened Israel’s strategic position by neutralizing a hostile regime. This war, based on fabricated claims of chemical weapons, cost millions of Iraqi lives and unleashed regional instability that Israel has exploited to justify its expansion. Mearsheimer argues that the Israel lobby in Washington has shaped U.S. foreign policy, ensuring that regional wars advance Tel Aviv’s objectives.
Arab states like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the signatories of the 2020 Abraham Accords have betrayed the Palestinian cause by prioritizing alliances with Israel and the United States. These Washington-brokered accords normalized relations with Israel, allowing it to act without fear of regional repercussions. This complicity has facilitated the occupation and ethnic cleansing, while corrupt Arab governments, driven by economic and political interests, ignore Palestinian suffering. This elite betrayal contrasts with the solidarity of Arab peoples, who continue to support Palestinian resistance.
The Palestinian suffering lies at the heart of this tragedy. Since the Nakba, over 700,000 Palestinians were displaced, and their descendants live as refugees in dire poverty. In Gaza, Israel’s blockade since 2006 has created a humanitarian crisis, with restricted access to food, water, and medicine. Air and ground attacks, framed as “defense,” have destroyed essential infrastructure, leaving the population in despair. Organizations like Human Rights Watch have documented these violations as war crimes, yet Israel’s impunity persists due to Western support.
Israeli terrorism extends beyond Palestine, impacting the peoples of Lebanon, Syria, and beyond. The 1982 Lebanon invasion, supported by the United States, left thousands of civilians dead, including the Sabra and Shatila massacres, where Israel-allied militias killed hundreds of Palestinians under the Israeli army’s supervision. Recent bombings in Syria and the occupation of the Golan reflect the “Greater Israel” ambition, executed with U.S. weaponry and Britain’s complicit silence. These regional aggressions position Israel as a threat not only to Palestinians but to global stability.
The international community has failed to hold Israel accountable, reflecting the systemic corruption of a U.S.- and British-led world order. Israeli society, far from being a victim, is an active accomplice in these policies, fueled by a racist ideology that justifies genocide and expansion. The suffering of Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians, and other peoples victimized by Zionism demands a global response to dismantle this apartheid regime and its imperial backers, prioritizing justice and liberation.