17 May 2026
Israeli Professor says Middle East will be the “epicentre” of global geopolitical crises
Bangkok — Travel & Tourism can no longer shy away from the fact that geopolitical conflicts are the primary cause of the ongoing destablising disruptions. Whether in Thailand or the Asia-Pacific region or the world at large, the industry can undertake any number of crisis management or resilience campaigns it wishes, but at the end of the day, all that is only as good as the next flashpoint.
Which is why Travel & Tourism leaders worldwide need to take very seriously an explicit warning by well-known Israeli historian and political scientist Prof Ilan Pappe that there is no end in sight.
On May 16, in a powerful, insightful 90-minute lecture and Q&A at Chulalongkorn university, Prof Pappe described the Middle East conflict as the “epicentre” of global geopolitical upheavals. He warned that the right-wing extremist powerbrokers in Israel, supported by the military-industrial complex and many global political leaders, will push ahead with their plan to set up a “Greater Israel” and effectively wipe Palestine off the map, regardless of which government is in power. At the same time, countervailing global forces are on the rise to hold Israel accountable for its genocide in Gaza, set up an independent Palestine state and enforce the rule of law.
Asked point-blank whether he felt Thailand is complicit in Israeli apartheid, he gently evaded the question, citing inadequate knowledge of the broader trade, security and economic relations between Thailand and Israel. Without taking names, he chided governments which sit on the fence while injustices take place before their very eyes.
“Injustice in Palestine is injustice in Asia is injustice in the world that eventually affects everyone of us, and it’s not just confined to what would be the future of the Palestinians and Israelis. It is a far bigger question of the essence of politics and the responsibility of politicians,” Prof Pappe said.
Prof Pappe’s lecture was complemented by another equally powerful lecture in Thai by Assistant Professor Dr. Arthit Thongin, President of International Relations Programme, School of Political Science, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University on the topic of “Settler Colonialism as a Crucial Strategy to Achieve the Greater Israel Vision and Its Implications for Thailand”.
In a lecture that will open the eyes of the Thai audiences, especially those who fall victim to the well-oiled Israeli propaganda machinery, he outlined the historic dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the cause-and-effect factor and the dehumanising impact it has on the Palestinian people.
As the Middle East conflict has clearly now hit Thailand in more ways than one, the Thai tourism industry needs to better understand the push-and-pull forces at play and settle in for a long, drawn-out conflict. The impact, as the Thai Foreign Ministry aptly says, is set to be “multidirectional and multidimensional,” cutting across business, leisure and MICE travel plus security, safety, purchasing, contracting and commercial decisions across the board.
As the organisers of the lectures said in the marketing preamble, “What is at stake is not only the future of the Palestinian people, but the sanctity of international law, the refusal to normalise expansionist policies, and the prospects for global stability. This is not merely a discussion – it is a call to awareness, accountability, and action.”