By Taghreed Saadeh
In its truest sense, an intellectual is not merely someone who accumulates knowledge or holds advanced degrees; rather, an intellectual possesses the moral courage to practice objective criticism, the ability to connect facts with social and political contexts, and the capacity to offer a vision that sides with the people, not with authority or factional interests. Yet, in recent years, the Palestinian arena has witnessed a painful phenomenon: some elites have been drawn into a directed media narrative, backed by massive budgets, leading to the misguidance of public opinion and the suppression of rational discourse. Of particular concern is the pro-Brotherhood narrative promoted by Al Jazeera.
Since the early 2000s, channels such as Al Jazeera and other Qatari media networks have emerged as primary platforms promoting the Muslim Brotherhood’s discourse. With the rise of Hamas following the 2006 elections and its takeover of Gaza in June 2007, the media became a tool to justify and promote the de facto authority. Qatar pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into supporting Hamas, some through arrangements and tacit Israeli approvals under the guise of “preventing explosions” or “buying calm.” Various reports indicate that Qatari transfers exceeded one billion dollars over the past decade.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority was politically and financially constrained, particularly during the early Trump administration, which cut hundreds of millions in aid and halted funding to UNRWA in an attempt to coerce it into accepting the “Deal of the Century.” Despite this, the Authority continued paying civil servants in Gaza and covering part of the essential expenses, while Hamas continued benefiting from external funding to consolidate its rule.
The fundamental flaw lies in the inability of some Palestinian intellectuals to distinguish between supporting the people in Gaza and supporting Hamas’s authority. Many were swept up by propaganda, considering any criticism of Hamas as “betrayal,” whereas objective critique should reveal that the Palestinian division was, in many respects, an Israeli objective, and that cementing Hamas’s rule in Gaza while isolating it from the West Bank served a long-term Tel Aviv strategy.
Political ignorance here manifests in redirecting the intellectual’s focus from holding ruling powers accountable to repeating their narrative, which has weakened a unified national stance and deprived Palestinians of an effective tool against the displacement projects aggressively pursued by Netanyahu.
The Palestinian Authority may be weak, burdened by corruption and constraints, but it remains the institutional framework that preserves education, healthcare, and essential services. Diplomatic milestones, most notably Palestine’s admission to the United Nations, cannot be ignored, as they safeguard the historical rights of Palestinians regardless of occupation pressures. Undermining the Authority would practically lead to the collapse of what remains of the national infrastructure.
Relying on the assumption that the occupation will act responsibly, as some claim, is dangerous; Israel will not resume managing the affairs of two million Palestinians in Gaza or three million in the West Bank. Instead, it works to dismantle institutions and push people toward displacement.
Given this reality, what is needed is not to be swept along by funded media or to limit ourselves to exchanging accusations, but to convene a popular national conference comprising independent patriotic intellectuals, free from factional calculations. Its primary mission should be to preserve what remains of Palestinian life, protect society from collapse, and formulate a collective discourse grounded in the principle that the enemy is the occupation, and that the unity of the people and its institutions is the final line of defense.
Today, the responsibility of the intellectual is doubled to resist political ignorance, confront directed media campaigns, and clearly side with the people rather than any faction. A true intellectual possesses the courage to say; we stand with our people in Gaza, but we do not justify Hamas’s division nor allow Israel to exploit it. Yes, we defend the Authority despite its flaws, because it remains the natural framework that preserves the people from disappearance. In the end, it is collective national consciousness not political money nor directed media that will protect Palestinians from projects of dispossession and displacement.
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