WHILE candidate Trump was able to get away with making outrageous statements on the campaign trail, what President Trump says will be construed around the world as American policy. In this regard, the US leader’s recent remarks about Gaza are deeply troubling. Over the weekend, Donald Trump suggested that the devastated Palestinian Strip be “cleaned out”, and its people be shipped off to Jordan and Egypt in a “temporary” move, or perhaps even something “long term”. These suggestions sound ominously like a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants, and pave the wave for Israeli reoccupation. There has been opposition to this dubious plan across the board — with the exception of the Israeli far right. Egypt, Jordan, the Europeans as well as some of Mr Trump’s Republican allies have said the proposal is a non-starter, and it would be a bad idea to empty Gaza of its people. As some experts have noted, any forcible expulsion of the Strip’s people could be considered a crime against humanity. Of course, Israel has been committing plenty of crimes against humanity in Gaza over the past 15 months until the ceasefire took effect. But the Palestinians — by returning to northern Gaza in droves — have shown the world that even savage bombardment and starvation will not make them abandon their land. Their forefathers were forced off their land during the Nakba; the people of Palestine seem convinced not to repeat this dark chapter of history.

Wild ideas such as settling the Palestinians in other Arab states — some have even recommended dispatching them to Indonesia — are dead in the water. This land belongs to the Palestinian people, and the only viable and just option is the two-state solution where the Arabs rule over sovereign, contiguous territory able to sustain itself. Unfortunately, far too many amongst the Israeli elite, along with their fervent Zionist supporters in the American political establishment, wish to devour more and more Arab real estate to recreate the supposed biblical land of Israel. That is why the occupied West Bank, Gaza, Syria’s Golan and southern Lebanon are all on the wish list of Israeli extremists. If Tel Aviv were to go ahead with bringing the plans for a ‘Greater Israel’ to fruition, and if the US were to aid this dangerous endeavour, it would be a guarantee for setting the Mideast alight.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025