Between the Balfour Declaration and Trump’s Plan: Betrayal Begets Betrayal

Between the Balfour Declaration and Trump’s Plan: Betrayal Begets Betrayal

By Dr. Hussein Yameni

Writer and Researcher in International Economic Relations

In the pages of history, there remains a document whose effects have yet to expire: the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, in which the British government announced its support for “the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people” in the land of Palestine, even though the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of the country were Palestinian Arabs. That declaration was not merely a diplomatic statement; it was a turning point that ignited a historic conflict and laid the foundation for a long-standing injustice against the land’s indigenous people.

Since then, every international plan or deal proposed regarding the Palestinian issue has carried with it the legacy of betrayals and veiled compromises. For example, it is true that the Trump administration presented in January 2020 what became known as “Peace to Prosperity” (the Deal of the Century), which many considered a rearrangement of facts on the ground without securing Palestinian rights. Yet in this article, “Trump’s Plan” refers to the Gaza war ceasefire proposal announced in September 2025, which introduced a package of measures including a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, conditions tied to dismantling certain factions’ military capacities in Gaza, and a temporary foreign administration. The discussion here focuses on the political and moral implications of this plan, understood against a backdrop of a long history of deals and betrayals.

This plan is a double stab in the side of the Ummah: first, in its content and essence; and second, in the fact that certain Arab and Muslim rulers and leaders have approved it an act of ultimate betrayal in every sense of the word!

In the last decade, a new pattern of open “normalization” has emerged: some Arab states have signed normalization agreements with the occupying power under various pretexts (economic interests, regional security, reduction of hostilities). This represents a grave concession of the Palestinian people’s rights and entrenches the marginalization of their national cause. The Abraham Accords stand as a prominent example of this trend, amounting to a betrayal of the blood of martyrs and the sacrifices of generations.

I do not rule out the possibility that some Arab and Muslim heads of state received “privileges and money” in exchange for agreeing to policies or deals serving other parties’ interests. This raises a stark moral and political question: can the interests and honor of the Ummah be bartered away for fleeting privileges? History is replete with examples of leaders who sold out national rights for personal or partisan gains. Yet what matters most today is that peoples are no longer what they once were: means of communication, documentation, and accountability have become stronger; nations are more aware and more prepared to hold their rulers accountable. The peoples now possess many toolsfrom peaceful protests, to exposing corruption files, to applying pressure through public opinion and media to unveil normalization deals leaked to the public.

Resistance is a legitimate right; it expresses a refusal to surrender to injustice and a desire to halt displacement, annexation, and marginalization.

A nation that relinquishes its right to self-defense is a dishonored and cowardly nation. Therefore, I call upon all peoples to exert pressure on their rulers and ministers to secure the most basic demands: the right to defend themselves, the refusal to capitulate, and the accountability of all who fall short. The promise that peoples will hold their rulers accountable carries a glimmer of hope, but it requires clear, consistent, and impartial mechanisms. The corrupt or those who betray the trust must be held accountable through Sharia, constitutional, judicial, and political pathways; evidence must be documented and disclosed through independent channels and free media.

Organized popular pressure

peaceful demonstrations, boycott campaigns, sustained civic activism, and even civil disobedience will restore focus to the public good, not to the service of colonial powers.

These tools restore rights to their rightful place without feeding into the vicious cycle of violence, where none prevail except the machinery of tyranny and occupation.

The role of the free among Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and indeed across humanity is to refrain from engaging in actions that support the occupation or weaken the cause, for such acts are religious, moral, and national betrayals. What is required is political action, civil struggle, media confrontation, and the building of international support grounded in Sharia, law, and human rights.

Do not obey orders that lead their executors into injustice. Just as American pilots refused to participate in acts of aggression, so too must you refuse to serve in projects of oppression and silence the truth of Palestine.

A judge must not rule according to Zionist laws; police officers, military officers, and civil servants must not become instruments to enforce injustice against their own peoples, for in doing so they betray their nations.

The world is changing, and we face a multilayered reality: historical documents (such as the Balfour Declaration) have left their mark; modern initiatives whether past proposals like the 2020 plan or the September 2025 Gaza ceasefire plan attempt to reshape facts on the ground; normalization agreements have altered regional alliances. But the decisive, shifting factor is the awareness of peoples and their capacity to demand accountability and justice.

History will not pass judgment through exceptional rulings, but through a long process of revealing truths, holding conspirators politically and legally accountable, and rebuilding a national leadership capable of reclaiming usurped rights.

We shall not allow the betrayals of yesterday to be rewritten by the hands of today’s rulers. Restoring rights will not be a matter of slogans, but of daily practice: smart civic resistance, legal accountability, honest leadership, and a tireless, ongoing popular mobilization. Intellectuals must speak out only then will words become reality, and betrayal be reduced to mere lines in history, read but never reproduced.

And when Trump says that “the Middle East problem can be solved easily after 3,000 years,” he is, in essence, affirming the Zionist occupation’s false claim to our landgranted deceitfully and with Arab and Muslim approval.

So we ask the Almighty God to appoint for us the best of leaders and not the worst, to shield us from the harm of the Ummah’s enemies as He wills.

For in the dominion of God, nothing occurs except what He decrees; and everything with Him is set in its destined measure.

This article is in the path of Allah

, and our final prayer is: All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds