Elias Bejjani/Doha Summit: Islamizing & Arabizing the Palestinian Cause While Arab Leaders Ignored the Fact that Iran and Turkey—Patrons of Political Islam—Are the Real Enemies, Not Israel
Doha Summit: Islamizing & Arabizing the Palestinian Cause While Arab Leaders Ignore the Fact that Iran and Turkey—Patrons of Political Islam—Are the Real Enemies, Not Israel Elias Bejjani/September 16/2025
The so-called “Arab-Islamic Emergency Summit” held in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on September 15, 2025, gathered leaders from 60 Arab and Islamic states under the pretext of showing solidarity with Qatar after the precise Israeli airstrike that targeted Hamas leaders in Doha—a strike for which Israel’s Prime Minister openly claimed full responsibility.
Yet this summit was not about supporting Qatar. It was a theatrical propaganda show aimed at reviving the delusion of “Islamizing” the Palestinian cause—turning it from a national struggle for rights into a religious jihadist crusade. This represents a dangerous ideological regression and an undeserved gift to Israel.
Islamizing the Palestinian Cause:
Arabizing the Palestinian cause was the fatal mistake to which Said Akl pointed out.
Decades ago, the great Lebanese poet and philosopher Said Akl warned against the sin of “Arabizing” the Palestinian cause, saying, “They made the Palestinian cause an Arab cause, opening the door for Israel to turn its cause into a Jewish cause. Thus, they transformed the conflict from a political dispute into an endless war of religions.” This is precisely what the Doha Summit did: It removed Palestine from its national, human rights, and humanitarian dimensions, placing it in the category of Arab fanaticism, religious extremism, and isolationism, just as the extremists on both sides, Turkey and Iran—the sponsors of terrorist and jihadist political Islam, in keeping with the entire culture of the Muslim Brotherhood—wanted. This is also the case, as the majority of the countries that participated in the farcical summit.
Erdogan and the “Liberation of Palestine”… A Renewed Ottoman Jihadism
One of the clearest moments exposing the summit’s true nature was Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement declaring that “the Islamic Ummah is responsible for liberating Palestine.”
This was not support for Palestine but an open declaration of a “new Ottoman” project—draping Turkish expansionism in the cloak of religion. Erdogan, who occupies northern Syria, blackmails Arab states politically and economically, and shelters Hamas’s Muslim Brotherhood leaders, came to Doha to sell the illusion of “liberation” in exchange for influence and control.
Iran and Turkey’s Presence: Sheer Folly and Sectarian Blindness
The most surreal sight at the summit was seeing the Iranian and Turkish presidents sitting in the front rows, leading large delegations—even though they are, in reality, the Arab world’s fiercest enemies:
Iran represents the Shiite wing of political Islam, invading the Arab world through its militias: Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq.
Turkey represents the Sunni wing of political Islam, embracing the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas and financing transnational jihadist movements.
Allowing these two regimes to sit at the head of an Arab summit was the peak of strategic blindness—granting legitimacy to the very enemies who destroyed Arab capitals and wrecked regional stability.
A Sarcastic Question: Where Were Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis at This “Jihad Summit”?
If this summit was truly “Islamic” and “jihadist” as its organizers wanted, why weren’t the groups that embody this jihadism on the ground invited?
Where was Hamas, the group supposedly being supported?
Where were Hezbollah and the Houthis, whose “cause” the Iranian axis falsely claims is Palestine?
The answer is clear and ironic: their visible presence would have exposed the summit as neither Arab, nor peaceful, nor humanitarian—just a stage to whitewash jihadist terrorism with diplomatic neckties.
The Real Enemies of the Arabs: Iran and Turkey, Not Israel
What Arabs must understand—and what the Doha Summit completely ignored—is that their real enemies are Iran and Turkey, not Israel. Iran seeks to swallow the Arab East and turn it into a patchwork of sectarian Persian-controlled zones. Turkey dreams of resurrecting the Ottoman Empire on the ruins of Arab sovereignty. Both exploit the Palestinian cause as blackmail to dominate Arabs, while Israel at least does not claim to represent or lead the Arab world.
From the Arab League’s Failure to the Doha Summit’s Collapse
Since the Arab League was founded in the mid-20th century, all its summits have been nothing but empty slogans and meaningless final statements. It has neither liberated a single inch of occupied land, nor stopped a war, nor protected one Arab state from collapse or occupation. The Doha Summit did not break this miserable tradition—it was an even more pitiful and shallow version, laced with a high dose of jihadism, Islamization, and deception.
An Iranian-Turkish Summit with an Arab Façade… and Arab Witnesses of Falsehood
Despite its “Arab-Islamic” label, the Doha Summit was in reality an Iranian-Turkish summit with an Arab façade. The Arab leaders present were mere witnesses of falsehood—blind to their real enemies, applauding jihadist speeches, and granting Arab cover to Persian and Ottoman expansionist projects that have nothing to do with Palestine or peace.They have willingly reduced themselves to tools of their own destruction.
Qatar… Sponsor of Jihadist Terrorism and Muslim Brotherhood Propaganda
Any discussion of the Doha Summit must also recall Qatar’s long-standing destructive role:
Financing political Islam movements and jihadist groups from Afghanistan to Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza.
Sheltering the leaders of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood and offering them media platforms.
Sponsoring and funding Hamas politically, militarily, and through propaganda.
Running Al Jazeera TV, which has turned into a global platform to market jihadist and incitement rhetoric, whitewash terrorists, and amplify their narratives under the guise of “journalism.”
