How October 7 Unmasked the True Terrorists of The Middle East.

It’s been a partnership that has waged a brutal campaign of expansionism, occupation, and targetted assassinations – always masked as "self-defence" but now seen for what it truly is—a systematic drive to dominate the region at any cost.

Since Israel’s creation in 1948, it has pursued a relentless agenda of ethnic cleansing and territorial expansion, uprooting more than 700,000 Palestinians during the Nakba, followed by decades, a quest to expand its borders through military occupation, illegal settlements, and apartheid policies which have rendered Palestinians as second-class citizens in their own homeland – this has been an ongoing project of Zionist expansionism, with the aim to control the Middle East.

When Hamas launched a large-scale operation against Israeli forces last year, it was a direct response to decades of occupation, apartheid, and violent subjugation. It wasn’t an unprovoked attack but a desperate cry for freedom from a people who have been trapped under an Israeli-imposed blockade for 17 years, subjected to regular bombardments, and deprived of basic human rights.

The West's portrayal of it as a “terrorist massacre” disregards the daily, ongoing terror faced by Palestinians—bombings, home demolitions, arbitrary arrests, and the killing of civilians.

For decades, the narrative of “self-defence” has been weaponised to justify the most heinous acts of violence, from bombings that level entire city blocks in Gaza to assassinations of political leaders in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, by Israel and the US.

However, Israel’s reaction in the aftermath of October 7 revealed its true character. Airstrikes decimated entire neighbourhoods in Gaza, killing thousands, including large numbers of children, with many attacks targeting hospitals, schools, and refugee camps. Israel’s collective punishment—wasn’t just a response to Hamas’s operation; but part of its strategy of making Palestinian life unbearable, pushing them toward submission or annihilation. And rather than incur the ire of the West, instead Israel has been provided Israel with arms, diplomatic cover, and political backing for decades.

October 7 also cast a harsh light on Israel's wider pattern of aggression across the region, which has gone largely unchallenged. In Lebanon, Israel has repeatedly launched unlawful and illegal attacks, violating Lebanese sovereignty and targetting Hezbollah, while inflicting significant civilian casualties. The attacks aren’t isolated incidents but part of Israel’s strategy to suppress any form of resistance to its regional dominance.

The assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah commander Faoud Shukr, and other high-profile targets—including Hamas leaders like Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh—are framed as counter-terrorism but what they really are, is, targeted state executions meant to weaken and intimidate Arab resistance.

The assassination of Iranian generals, notably Qasem Soleimani in a US-Israel coordinated drone strike in Baghdad, further demonstrates the lengths to which these powers will go to maintain dominance in the region. Israel’s recent escalation in Syria, including the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, and attacks on Iranian positions, has been part of a campaign to undermine Iranian influence and assert control over the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East.

Yesterday's escalatory bombing attack by Israel on Iran underscores Israel's willingness to provoke broader regional conflicts, with the US's tacit or direct support.

America’s complicity in Israel’s crimes is undeniable. US foreign policy has consistently aligned with Israeli interests, whether through diplomatic support or military interventions that have destabilised the region. The Iraq War, sanctions on Syria, and the military presence in Lebanon have all served to weaken Arab nations while strengthening Israel’s strategic position.

October 7 should be understood not as the starting point of violence but as a moment that exposed the layers of aggression, deceit, and oppression that have long defined the Israeli-US alliance in the Middle East. Portraying Arabs as the primary aggressors has been a deliberate narrative constructed to justify Israeli and American wars, occupations, and covert operations. It has obscured who the real terrorists are—state actors who employ massive military power, intelligence operations, and economic coercion to maintain control.

For decades, the narrative of “self-defence” has been weaponised to justify the most heinous acts of violence, from bombings that level entire city blocks in Gaza to assassinations of political leaders in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, by Israel and the US. It’s been rhetoric that has provided cover for genocidal policies which have aimed to erase Palestinian resistance and ensure Israeli hegemony over the Middle East.

The language of “terrorism” has been selectively applied to non-state actors while state-led terror is normalised, and even celebrated, throughout the Western.

The true sources of terror in the Middle East are not Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran, but the systemic violence of the Israeli state, reinforced by US imperialism. It’s the combination of military might, economic dominance, and political manipulation that has perpetuated a cycle of violence and war and prevented any meaningful path to peace. The global community must confront the reality that this conflict is not about defence, but about occupation, expansion, and the unrelenting ambition to control the region.

While global awareness continues to grow, so too does the urgency to demand accountability from the real aggressors – Israel and America along with its allies. The international community must reject the false narrative of “Arab terrorism” and address the ongoing state terror that has devastated millions of lives.

It’s not the Arabs who have been the terrorists, but rather the architects of colonial expansion, supported by American power, that have destabilised the region and inflicted unimaginable suffering on its people.