By Mafa Kwanisai Mafa

The world today is witnessing one of the most decisive moral tests of our era. At its heart lies the Palestinian question, a question that cannot be ignored, evaded, or silenced.

It is a struggle that defines whether humanity will stand on the side of justice, dignity, and sovereignty, or whether it will bow down to the machinery of occupation, apartheid, and imperialist violence.

The recent Zionist Israeli attack on Qatar is not an isolated incident; it is part of a broader campaign of terror and domination directed not only at the Palestinian people but also at all nations that refuse to kneel before the empire of war and oppression.

On 9 September 2025, the Zionist regime launched a cowardly and unprovoked attack on Qatar. It was an attack designed not just to kill, but to humiliate and to intimidate. Civilians were targeted; six people were killed, including Qatari security personnel.

This was a violation of the most basic principle of international law: the prohibition on the use of force against sovereign states. The world has watched the Israeli military repeatedly disregard these principles in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Syria, and now in Qatar.

But what makes this act even more reprehensible is that it was facilitated by the United States, whose intelligence and political approval empowered Israel’s criminal assault. The Trump administration, in line with decades of Washington’s pro-Zionist policies, once again demonstrated that the so-called “land of the free” is in reality the fortress of hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy of the United States

For years, the United States has claimed to be a broker of peace in the Middle East. It parades itself as the champion of human rights and international order. Yet, the same United States has armed Israel to the teeth, vetoed countless United Nations resolutions condemning its apartheid regime, and now openly supports Israeli aggression against another sovereign Arab state.

The Trump administration’s supposed interest in a ceasefire in Gaza is nothing but a charade. History has taught us that Washington does not bring peace, it exports chaos.

The cynical ambitions behind U.S. policies in the Middle East are not hidden. Reports have suggested Trump’s desire to turn Gaza into a “casino empire” once his presidency ends.

This grotesque vision encapsulates the mentality of imperialism: to transform lands of suffering into playgrounds of profit, to erase the blood of martyrs with neon lights and gambling tables. Such proposals are not only an insult to Palestinians but a desecration of their struggle for survival.

The Struggle of the Palestinian People

The Palestinian resistance is not a quest for power, domination, or revenge. It is the most basic struggle of any people: the struggle to live, to exist, to raise children free of bombs, checkpoints, and colonial humiliation.

Every stone thrown in Gaza, every protest in Ramallah, every defiant voice from Jerusalem is an affirmation of life itself. It is a message to the world: we will not disappear.

The Palestinians are fighting not only for themselves but for all oppressed peoples. They are fighting against the principle of “might is right,” a principle that justified colonial conquest in Africa, slavery in the Americas, and apartheid in South Africa.

Zionism, as a modern colonial project, seeks to erase Palestine just as European imperialism once sought to erase African nations. That is why the Palestinian struggle resonates so deeply across the Global South. It is a continuation of our own histories of resistance.

Israel’s War on Civilisation

The Zionist entity claims to defend “civilisation” against barbarism. In reality, it is waging war on civilisation itself. By bombing homes, schools, and hospitals in Gaza, by assassinating leaders and silencing journalists, by stealing land and uprooting olive trees, it assaults not only Palestinian lives but the very values that make us human.

The recent attack on Qatar is further proof of this reality. It was not merely an attack on one country but an assault on the principles of peace, sovereignty, and the rule of international law. Qatar has long stood for values of dialogue, cultural heritage, and peaceful coexistence. To attack it is to attack the universal aspiration for a world governed by respect and dignity.

Solidarity With Palestine

The international community cannot afford silence. The history of colonialism has left us with too many scars to ignore the rise of a new apartheid state. Zionism, like colonialism before it, has no place in the 21st century. From Africa to Asia to Latin America, nations must unite in a single voice: Israel’s occupation and aggression must end.

Palestine’s fight is not isolated. It is tied to the anti-colonial struggles of Africa, the resistance of the Vietnamese against American bombs, the Cuban revolution against imperialist blockade, and the battle of South Africa’s liberation against apartheid.

In every case, oppressed peoples triumphed not because they had superior weapons, but because they possessed an indomitable will. Palestine, too, will triumph.

Global Resistance Against Double Standards

The world has grown weary of Western double standards. The same governments that cry for “international law” in Ukraine turn a blind eye when Israel slaughters Palestinians. The same media outlets that weep for European refugees vilify Palestinian children as “terrorists.” This hypocrisy must be called out.

The Global South is rising, and its peoples are no longer intimidated by the moral lectures of colonial powers. We know the truth: that Israel’s aggression is part of a broader imperialist strategy to dominate the Middle East, control its resources, and crush any voice of independence. By standing with Palestine, we are standing not only for justice but for our own liberation from the global chains of exploitation.

A Call for Unity

At this historic juncture, solidarity is not a choice; it is a duty. We must unite our voices in every international forum, from the United Nations to the African Union, to demand an end to Israeli aggression. We must boycott the products of apartheid, strengthen the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and isolate Israel diplomatically, economically, and culturally.

Arab states, in particular, must rise to the occasion. The normalisation deals pushed by Washington are nothing less than a betrayal of Palestine. To shake hands with the occupier while Gaza bleeds is to trample on the memory of martyrs. History will not forgive such treachery. The true honour lies in resistance, not in capitulation.

Toward a Just Future

The Palestinian dream of independence is not utopian. It is achievable, just as the dream of African liberation once seemed impossible under the weight of colonial empires. The day will come when the flag of Palestine rises over Jerusalem, not as a symbol of domination but as a beacon of freedom.

That day will come when Palestinian children play without fear of airstrikes, when families rebuild homes without watching them being demolished, and when refugees return to the lands from which they were expelled.

The attack on Qatar, like the endless attacks on Palestine, reminds us of the urgency of this struggle. It is not only a Middle Eastern struggle but a global one. It is a struggle for humanity itself, for a world where might no longer dictates right, where every nation small or large can live in peace, dignity, and sovereignty.

Conclusion

Israel’s aggression against Qatar and its unrelenting war on Palestine reveal the true face of Zionism: a project rooted in conquest, apartheid, and the denial of human dignity. But history teaches us that no empire lasts forever. Just as apartheid crumbled in South Africa, just as colonialism fell across Africa and Asia, so too will Zionism collapse under the weight of its crimes.

Palestine will rise. Qatar will endure. And humanity will one day look back at these dark times not as the triumph of oppression but as the dawn of a new world order, an order built on justice, solidarity, and freedom.

Long live Palestine!
Long live the resistance!
Long live the global struggle against Zionist imperialism!