Part of the context of the Palestinian situation therefore involves the human societal dynamics in which it takes place. The establishment of Israel, for example, came about because an organised population could leverage its political-economic-diplomatic connections throughout the West to impose the creation of a new state on those territories. This imposition was facilitated, albeit not with enthusiasm or agreement, by the relative weakness of the populations surrounding the territory. That weakness is as much a cause of the condition as the strength of the international connections enjoyed by the Iraelis and that weakness continues to be the single main reason why no proper resolution has occurred.

Just speaking theoretically: there is no reason in theory why the Middle East (let us call it that for sake of argument although ideally there would be an Arab or other local name) cannot:
a) set up a regional constitution to which all individual nation states are bound or simply a pan-regional treaty affirming certain shared principles and protocols such as – shared currency and/or banking rules, mutual self-defence pacts and so forth;
b) set up a regional currency and/or change oil sales to be determined based on regional currency or basket of regional currencies versus US$, Euro, Yuan, Ruble or what have you.
c) set up regional banking laws based on Sharia principles that are quite different from Western credit-based (usury) models;
d) opt out of the United Nations which doesn't live up to its own charters and principles
e) determine the legitimacy or not of the state of Israel and/or define such legitimacy or not in clear terms which can include territory, political structure, legal status of refugees;

These are just examples. The point is that there is NOTHING stopping the region from self-organising as it so chooses.

Now in reality, ruling elites in Middle Eastern societies are no less distant from representing the real needs of the common people than they are in the West in many aspects. This sort of thing has been true throughout human history and with all systems. But my simple point is that the existence, both historical and ongoing, of the state of Israel and the state of being of the indigenous Palestinians, both in situ and as part of a diaspora of refugees living elsewhere, that existence is largely determined by the larger societal context in which it takes place which in this case, as in all such cases, involves three main zones:
1. The immediate, or local, zone, i.e. actually where it is, in this case Israel-Palestine physical territory. The Earth.
2. The regional context of immediately neighbouring states whose borders in reality help define the current territory physically, but also are part of a regional culture and history from whom the indigenous people come.
3. The larger international context which gave Israel the legal right to establish a State on someone else's territory and also to proactively help delay the Palestinian peoples' ability to create their own viable legal entity in the wake of widespread political changes that took place throughout the Middle Eastern region around the same time that the State of Israel was created.

In general, the discussion is about 1 and 3, usually mainly how can 1 influence 3. I believe that it is the absence of 2 that is the key missing dynamic here or put another way: the Israeli-Palestinian impasse is a direct manifestation of the dysfunctional nature of 2 and as long as that condition exists regionally it will prove impossible to come up with a true solution because ONLY when 2 establishes itself somehow in a more or less clear and self-determined fashion can they step up to the plate to address the existence of the internationally mandated state of Israel in their midst, something which was forced on their neighbourhood against their expressed wishes but which they lacked the power to stop and still lack the power to determine mainly because they lack the power to self-determine their own regional identity.

Many of my suggestions above having nothing to do directly with the Israel-Palestinian conflict, but are examples of how the region as a whole can begin to determine its own political and cultural identity. Nobody can stop this happening.

Of course in reality it is very unlikely because who has the interest to do it? The House of Saud? The Muslim Umma? Persians in Iran? Their leaders or their population? The region remains fractured – it seems to me as an outsider – in a way that Europe never was for centuries even when tearing each other to pieces with far too many ridiculous, and destructive, wars.

My suspicion – again as an outsider – is that culturally the region exists and in a strong way. It simply lacks the political ability to come together to fashion some sort of regional identity in tune with its own cultural norms which are both regional, tribal, religious, ancient and modern. But this HAS to be done if there is to be any resoluation to the Is-Pal conflict which, when all is said and done, happens within this overall regional context far more than in the international UN-sponsored context which is the one usually cited and referenced.

Thank you for a very important and relevant point

Indeed a "strong regional block is the key" and that is precisely why USA and the zionist entity are doing everything the can and using every trick in the book to prevent that from happening

look at the destruction of Iraq, the threats to Iran and the utter support of unelected tyrannical dictatorships in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Jordan, and Egypt, and at the same time the sanctions and total opposition of any liberation movement, or empowerment of the masses through using their votes in fair elections in which they chose independent and honest leaders they trust (Algeria, election of Hamas and Hezbullah)

I still hope that people in the Middle East will find a way of freeing themselves from their oppressive western groomed and supported tyrannies, for this is indeed the only way forward
That doesn’t relieve people from the rest of the world from their responsibility of helping to stop this genocide

I have felt for many years that lack of pan-Arabian / Middle Eastern solidarity is the key dynamic that needs to be addressed. An autonomous league of ME nations should be formed by those nations free of interference from those outside the region including Europe, US, Russia, China, India etc. so that a consensus can be formed as well as various policy initiatives. This bloc could have real influence, including boycotting the bogus UN organization if it continues to refuse to honor its own resolutions and founding charter in regards to the Middle East in general, but Palestine in particular. The key point here is to find areas where local and regional initiatives can find solidarity and from there find more ways to a) pressure existing western-dominated policy organs and b) improve international coverage of the facts on the ground both in Palestine and elsewhere. Waiting for the occupiers and their supporters to develop such solidarity or influence is clearly inappropriate. And yet it seems to me that even after many decades since the Ottoman structure was dismantled, nothing has arisen to take its place and the western elites get to use the Middle East as a playground for maintaining obscene military-industrial profits along with keeping the region fractured, confused and demoralised.

So again, I think crafting a strong regional bloc is the key.

Thank you for an excellent and well researched article