Who Really Deserves to Be Person of the Year?

Since 1927, the Time magazine has been claiming that it picks the person of the year based on human values and humanitarian standards, and meanwhile there have been many choices criticized for being chosen for political motivations that serve the Western interests. Many of the chosen persons are American and Western.

This year, the choice was made from a shortlist of three names: Kamala Harris, who lost the US presidential election, and Benjamin Netanyahu, a war criminal and perpetrator of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and Donald Trump, the controversial winner of the US elections. 

In the final vote, Trump won the title, despite having done nothing for the world during his previous presidency (2017-2021) except fan the flames of ultra-nationalist populism and more blatantly expose the US disregard for international law.

In explaining the reason for this choice, Time magazine editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs highlighted these negative aspects of his personality and political and social views, including tariffs on imports, deportations of millions of people from the immigrant community and threats to the press, and that he put anti-vaccine Robert Kennedy Jr. in charge of vaccination in the federal government.

However, it is strange that with the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ex-Defense Minister Yoav Galan, the Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister, respectively, for war crimes and genocide in Gaza, they would have been more despicable figures to choose by any standard.

When we talk about Gaza, we talk about the most distinguished and important manifestations of resistance in the contemporary century. We talk about the ruins of Gaza, where Israel killed over 50,000 innocent Palestinians, mostly children and women, and injured 10 folds of this number and displaced hundreds of others under the toughest conditions of medical and food blockade and even reduced this coastal enclave to ruins by destroying over three-fourths of the residential buildings. Actually, history will bow down in respect to the souls of the martyrs who have gone beyond the high level of martyrdom. History will bow down to the steadfastness of the Palestinian people against the barbaric Israeli military, which could not break their determination and resistance despite all forms of crimes it committed against them. 

With its indescribable steadfastness in the face of all that has befallen it, Gaza deserved to be the person of the year. Gaza weakened the Israeli occupation's deterrence, brought the war within the regime's borders for the first time, drew the world attention and support to the historical oppression against the Palestinians by Israeli occupation, and, by increasing international acceptance of the Palestinians, paved the way for the creation of an independent Palestinian state despite all the American obstructions. 

The Gaza resistance is a clear example of resistance of the Palestinian nation. This resistance is much greater than the political or ideological conflict with Hamas or other resistance organizations. Palestinian blood is one and indivisible and does not accept political or ideological classification. The occupied Palestinian land is one and every living Palestinian has the responsibility to protect it and ensure sovereignty over it.

The Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank and Al-Quds (Jerusalem) have provided an inspiring example for all nations of the world in defending rights and freedom and sacrificing the most precious things to preserve genuine human values.

The Palestinians' aim behind this resistance is to liberate their land and cleanse it of the presence of occupying foreigners. The Palestinian resistance transcends political and ideological prejudices. The Israeli propaganda machine is trying with all its might to distort the historical narrative of the "resistance" in Gaza and present a false narrative in order to achieve its evil aim of "demonizing the steadfastness of the Palestinians."

The Israeli and mainstream media general narrative is a historical reality fabrication based on five false narratives. First, they try to get the world to accept that the conflict started from October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, ignoring and burying all the Israeli crimes of attacks on Palestinian camps and cities in the West Bank and inhumane blockade on Gaza and the unceasing settlement construction in the summer of the same year. 

The second narrative claims that Israel is not an occupying force in the occupied Palestinian territory, and that this territory is a disputed area between Israelis and Palestinians, and claims that the "Land of Israel" is a historical "gift from God" to all Jews in the world.

The third narrative claims that Israel waged war against the Palestinians in self-defense and considers this its legal right, while the attack on Lebanon and the seizure of Syrian territory during this period revealed the expansionist nature of this regime.

The fourth narrative claims that the Palestinians are terrorists and threaten the entire world, and that Israel is carrying the burden of war on behalf of the world and deserves thanks for it! But the international outcry to stop the Gaza war and the UN resolutions and the release of the arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant by the International Court of Justice are the answer to this false claim.

The fifth and final narrative claims that Israel faces historical injustice due to the deep-rooted culture of anti-Semitism in the world. Accordingly, it accuses everyone who does not support its aggressive policy against the Palestinians of being “anti-Semitic” and, in particular, uses political and propaganda influence in Western countries to try to fire them from their jobs or prevent them from studying in schools and universities.

This is while the racist political discourse of the Israeli regime, which describes the Palestinians as “human animals”, has become fully obvious to the whole world. 

Washington and its allies and its accomplices have begun to work day and night to promote the idea that Israel was a victim and had the right to self-defense, even if this was outside the boundaries of international law and amounted to a gross violation of international laws. In addition, the official Western media faced severe restrictions on reporting the real news of the brutal actions of the Israeli military in Gaza. Tel Aviv only allowed coverage from inside Israel and prevented foreign journalists from entering Gaza and then the occupied West Bank. Weeks later, the regime showed that it could not tolerate even this limited coverage by deliberately killing journalists. 

The limited and censored coverage of war has been limited to release of Israeli prisoners, while the Israeli officials reject halting the war in return for freedom of prisoners held by Hamas. 

After fall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the Gaza issue was deliberately marginalized by the Western and Arab media, as if tens of thousands of Palestinian women and children were not killed in the war. 

This disregard of the mainstream media to Gaza catastrophe, which is driven by direct and indirect sway of radical religious Zionism over the world media outlets and politics, is a clear sign of their fear of resistant and glorious Gaza becoming a symbol to the world, telling the world it stands firm and is unyielding like its leader Yahya Sinwar in the last moments of his battle against the occupation forces despite the deep wounds. Actually, resistance is a duty until occupation ends and Palestinians retake their land and the right to self-determination. From this viewpoint, Gaza deserves the title of person of the year.