«المصير الواضح» أو «القدر المتجلي» هما ترجمتان وردتا في المراجع لمصطلح Manifest Destiny، الذي يمثّل رؤية أيديولوجية عبّر عنها لأول مرة الصحفي جون أوسوليفان في مجلة Democratic Review، وذلك في العام 1985، وكان موجهاً لتبرير ضم ولاية تكساس للولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، الذي كان موضع جدل حينها.
والقدر المتجلي هي رؤية تستند إلى أن الأمريكيين المهاجرين من أصول أوروبية بروستانتية موكلون بمهمة إلهية من المحيط الأطلسي شرقاً إلى المحيط الهادي غرباً، ونتج عن ذلك بطبيعة الحال تهجير قسري للسكان الأصليين، وكانت هذه الرؤية تستند على أهداف سياسية واقتصادية بطبيعة الحال، لكن غُلّفت بإطار ديني يرى تفوق الأمة الأمريكية.
بل إن أصحاب هذه العقيدة يرون أن مشروعهم يحتوي على قيم لا تجعلهم في ميزان المساواة مع الاستعمار الأوروبي التقليدي حينها، رغم توسعهم وتهجيرهم للسكان الأصليين وحتى صفقات شراء الأراضي مثل صفقة لوزيانا. وامتدت هذه الفكرة بتصرف في السردية الأمريكية لتصبح في العقود الماضية تحت عنوان «نشر الديموقراطية».
هذه العقيدة تذكرنا بما ذهب له رئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي نتنياهو في لقائه قبل أيام، حين أجاب صحفياً بأنه يؤمن بشدة بإسرائيل الكبرى، وهي ما تعني في شكلها المصغر ضم كامل أراضي الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة وهضبة الجولان، وفي شكلها الموسع الأرض الموعودة من النيل للفرات.
التقطت التيارات اليمينية المتطرفة داخل إسرائيل تصريحات نتنياهو لتعبّر عن أفكارها المتطرفة، مثل وزير المال ذي الأصول الأوكرانية بزيايل سموتريتش، عبر دعم مشاريع توسعية مثل خطة E1، التي تقطع الأراضي الفلسطينية وتفصل القدس الشرقية عن الضفة الغربية، وهو ما يهدّد عملياً فكرة دولة فلسطينية قابلة للحياة.
من الصعب الاعتقاد أن تصريح نتنياهو محض صدفة، بل قُصد توقيته بوضوح، لكي يكون أولاً مستفزاً لكل الدول التي اجتمعت في نيويورك واعترفت بدولة فلسطين أو أعلنت نيتها الاعتراف في شهر سبتمبر القادم خلال اجتماع الجمعية العمومية للأمم المتحدة.
ويأتي التصريح أيضاً لشد عصب الداخل الإسرائيلي الذي تعب من طول الحرب، ومن امتداد فترات طلب قوات الاحتياط للخدمة العسكرية، كما أن سردية إعادة الأسرى والقضاء على حماس يقابلها تشكك كبير داخلياً، وقد عبّر عن ذلك نتنياهو بالقول «استعادة الأسرى أحياء أو أمواتاً»، ليبرر مبكراً للمجتمع الإسرائيلي جلبهم أمواتاً على الأرجح بعد احتلال غزة.
معركة غزة التي بلغت شهرها الـ22 هي الأطول بين قطاع غزة وإسرائيل منذ سيطرة حماس على القطاع، مما يؤكد حاجة نتنياهو لإبقاء نار الحرب مشتعلة، مستغلاً الدعم الأمريكي، رغم كل التحديات الأخرى من مؤتمر نيويورك وصولاً إلى قرارات محكمة العدل الدولية.
تصريحات نتنياهو هي هروب إلى الأمام، ومسعى للاستفادة من المعركة سياسياً، لكنها في نفس الوقت تصريحات خطيرة جداً، ومقلقة جداً، خاصة للعالم العربي، واجترار لأيديولوجيات من قرون خلت سبقت وجود قانون دولي وقرارات أمم متحدة وحدود معترف بها.
إن الوسيلة الوحيدة التي يفهمها نتنياهو وقد تثنيه عن استمرار الأعمال الوحشية هي حشد المزيد من الضغط الأوروبي والأمريكي، مثلما حصل من ألمانيا تجميد جزئي لتصدير السلاح لإسرائيل، أو تصريح رئيسة وزراء الدنمارك مته فريدريكسن بأن نتنياهو أصبح «مشكلة بحد ذاته»، موضحة أنها ستحاول الضغط على تل أبيب بشأن الحرب على قطاع غزة، في ظل رئاسة بلادها الحالية للاتحاد الأوروبي.
عبدالرحمن الطريري
نتنياهو في القرن التاسع عشر
18 أغسطس 2025 - 00:09
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آخر تحديث 18 أغسطس 2025 - 00:09
تابع قناة عكاظ على الواتساب
"The Clear Destiny" or "The Manifest Fate" are two translations found in references for the term Manifest Destiny, which represents an ideological vision first expressed by journalist John O'Sullivan in the Democratic Review in 1985, aimed at justifying the annexation of Texas to the United States, which was a matter of controversy at the time.
Manifest Destiny is a vision based on the belief that American immigrants of Protestant European descent are entrusted with a divine mission from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. This, of course, resulted in the forced displacement of indigenous populations. This vision was based on political and economic objectives, but was cloaked in a religious framework that saw the superiority of the American nation.
Indeed, the proponents of this doctrine believe that their project embodies values that do not place them on equal footing with traditional European colonialism at the time, despite their expansion and the displacement of indigenous peoples, as well as land purchase deals like the Louisiana Purchase. This idea has been adapted in the American narrative to become, in recent decades, framed as "spreading democracy."
This doctrine reminds us of what Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stated in a meeting a few days ago when he told a journalist that he strongly believes in Greater Israel, which in its smaller form means the annexation of all the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, and in its expanded form, the Promised Land from the Nile to the Euphrates.
The far-right currents within Israel have seized on Netanyahu's statements to express their extreme ideas, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, of Ukrainian descent, through support for expansionist projects like the E1 plan, which cuts through Palestinian lands and separates East Jerusalem from the West Bank, effectively threatening the idea of a viable Palestinian state.
It is hard to believe that Netanyahu's statement is merely a coincidence; rather, its timing was clearly intended to provoke all the countries that gathered in New York and recognized the State of Palestine or announced their intention to recognize it in the upcoming September during the United Nations General Assembly meeting.
The statement also serves to rally the Israeli home front, which is weary from the prolonged war and the extended periods of reservist calls for military service. Additionally, the narrative of recovering prisoners and eliminating Hamas faces significant internal skepticism, which Netanyahu expressed by saying, "Recovering the prisoners alive or dead," to preemptively justify to the Israeli public bringing them back dead, likely after occupying Gaza.
The Gaza battle, which has reached its 22nd month, is the longest between Gaza and Israel since Hamas took control of the territory, underscoring Netanyahu's need to keep the flames of war alive, leveraging American support despite all the other challenges from the New York conference to the decisions of the International Court of Justice.
Netanyahu's statements are a retreat forward, an attempt to politically benefit from the battle, but at the same time, they are very dangerous and concerning statements, especially for the Arab world, and a regurgitation of ideologies from centuries past that preceded the existence of international law and United Nations resolutions and recognized borders.
The only means that Netanyahu understands, which might deter him from continuing the atrocities, is to muster more European and American pressure, as seen with Germany's partial freeze on arms exports to Israel, or Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's statement that Netanyahu has become "a problem in and of himself," indicating that she will try to pressure Tel Aviv regarding the war on Gaza, under her country's current presidency of the European Union.
Manifest Destiny is a vision based on the belief that American immigrants of Protestant European descent are entrusted with a divine mission from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. This, of course, resulted in the forced displacement of indigenous populations. This vision was based on political and economic objectives, but was cloaked in a religious framework that saw the superiority of the American nation.
Indeed, the proponents of this doctrine believe that their project embodies values that do not place them on equal footing with traditional European colonialism at the time, despite their expansion and the displacement of indigenous peoples, as well as land purchase deals like the Louisiana Purchase. This idea has been adapted in the American narrative to become, in recent decades, framed as "spreading democracy."
This doctrine reminds us of what Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stated in a meeting a few days ago when he told a journalist that he strongly believes in Greater Israel, which in its smaller form means the annexation of all the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights, and in its expanded form, the Promised Land from the Nile to the Euphrates.
The far-right currents within Israel have seized on Netanyahu's statements to express their extreme ideas, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, of Ukrainian descent, through support for expansionist projects like the E1 plan, which cuts through Palestinian lands and separates East Jerusalem from the West Bank, effectively threatening the idea of a viable Palestinian state.
It is hard to believe that Netanyahu's statement is merely a coincidence; rather, its timing was clearly intended to provoke all the countries that gathered in New York and recognized the State of Palestine or announced their intention to recognize it in the upcoming September during the United Nations General Assembly meeting.
The statement also serves to rally the Israeli home front, which is weary from the prolonged war and the extended periods of reservist calls for military service. Additionally, the narrative of recovering prisoners and eliminating Hamas faces significant internal skepticism, which Netanyahu expressed by saying, "Recovering the prisoners alive or dead," to preemptively justify to the Israeli public bringing them back dead, likely after occupying Gaza.
The Gaza battle, which has reached its 22nd month, is the longest between Gaza and Israel since Hamas took control of the territory, underscoring Netanyahu's need to keep the flames of war alive, leveraging American support despite all the other challenges from the New York conference to the decisions of the International Court of Justice.
Netanyahu's statements are a retreat forward, an attempt to politically benefit from the battle, but at the same time, they are very dangerous and concerning statements, especially for the Arab world, and a regurgitation of ideologies from centuries past that preceded the existence of international law and United Nations resolutions and recognized borders.
The only means that Netanyahu understands, which might deter him from continuing the atrocities, is to muster more European and American pressure, as seen with Germany's partial freeze on arms exports to Israel, or Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's statement that Netanyahu has become "a problem in and of himself," indicating that she will try to pressure Tel Aviv regarding the war on Gaza, under her country's current presidency of the European Union.


