Israeli attack on Doha is an assault on the very idea of peace itself

There are moments in a nation’s history that cannot be measured merely by material loss, but by the ability to safeguard dignity in the face of humiliation. When we witnessed Zionist arrogance displayed brazenly for all to see, it became clear that a tear wiped away by a handkerchief was no longer sufficient — and that very handkerchief had become a banner of resilient protest, resonating with the pride of the Ad-Dam (the Qatari national flag). 

It is a moment where emotional sensitivity intersects with firm resistance, and Arab anger transforms first into moral indignation before it becomes military: a rage that reminds us silence in the face of betrayal is a prelude to shame, and that dignity can only be reclaimed when tears are turned into conscious cries resisting extortion and exposing falsehoods.

It is no coincidence that the target is Doha — one of the capitals most committed to international law and the celebration of peace. When a capital that has made mediation its language, international law its tool and peace its strategic choice is attacked, it is no longer merely an act of aggression against a small state; it is an assault on the very idea of peace itself, and a mockery of the international system long extolled by the West. Betraying a mediator is not just a lapse of ethics — it is a deliberate message aimed at silencing a voice that chose dialogue over arms, and legitimacy over lawlessness.

Modern colonialism did not stop at occupying land; it manufactured and nurtured extremism, then used it as a pretext to fragment the region and paralyse its collective agency. Today, as this extremism has grown unchecked, it stands as an obstacle to the liberation that Islam at its core was meant to establish. Therefore, we must reject being pawns in the hands of an imperialism that lights the fire and pretends to extinguish it.

We have descended into this abyss because of both Arab and Islamist despotism, which transformed the messages of Arabism and Islam — from a theology of liberation and the defence of the weak into instruments of tyranny and justification for injustice. Today, we need flexibility in acknowledging political and social diversity, firmness in defending dignity and sovereignty and, above all, a re-reading of Islam as a message of liberation that unleashes human potential rather than confines it — a message of justice and mercy, not oppression and exclusion.

Qatar’s stance emerges not as the ideological position some claim but as a pragmatic choice. It has not adopted political Islam as an ideology, yet it recognises it as an intrinsic part of the Arab and Islamic social fabric, whose exclusion by force yields only devastation. What is needed is space for competition among all currents in a democratic and peaceful climate, where ideas are defeated by ideas rather than eradicated, and where politics is contested through programmes and choices rather than weapons.

The Arab and Islamic summit on 15 September will not be measured by chants or eloquent speeches, but by the strategic policies and practical plans it puts in place to shield the region from extortion. It is time to acknowledge that any betrayal of an Arab or Muslim country is a betrayal of us all. Perhaps the old saying, “The fall of the white bull devours us all in its shadow” serves today as an apt political maxim.

Critical discourse cannot be mere venting of anger without direction; it must carry poetry, history and reason. Poetry, in moments of grief, reminds us that dignity has a resonance beyond material balance; history teaches that victory is achieved through intelligence and patience. We need a strategy that translates our sense of injustice into policies that free us from being pawns in the hands of conscienceless actors pursuing cold interests.

Ultimately, the attempt to betray the mediator and trivialise the values of dialogue represents a devastating moral collapse — not only for the region but for humanity at large. It is another mark on the record of Zionism, which threatens not only the Arabs but steers humanity toward comprehensive destruction.

Let us transform the handkerchief’s tear into a cry of dignity, and restore to Islam its liberating spirit that protects the weak, rather than allowing it to be a tool for tyrants or a shelter for hateful rhetoric. True Islam does not justify the tyranny adopted by extremist groups; it opens horizons of freedom and reminds humanity of a dignity that can neither be sold nor bought.

Dr Waleed A Madibo is a governance and international development specialist, the founder and president of the Sudan Policy Forum and a Fulbright scholar.