During their joint press conference this week, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that all Palestinians will be forcibly displaced from the Gaza Strip, the U.S. would take “ownership” of the Strip, and eventually rebuild it as the “Riviera of the Middle East” to be inhabited apparently by everyone from around the world (but clearly, they meant Israeli Jews), but not by the Palestinians who will be forcibly expelled from Gaza. For Trump, those Palestinians must be moved to Egypt, Jordan, and elsewhere once and for all.
During his speech, Trump recognized that U.S. leaders in the past have not helped the people in the region achieve peace, stability, and tranquility, citing U.S. military intervention in the region as a major mistake and a source of violence and suffering for the people of the region. But evidently, this self-criticism of U.S. military intervention does not apply to his plan. He is illogically planning to fix the problem of U.S. intervention in the region by continuing the invasion of Gaza through the U.S. proxy, Israel, and possibly with U.S. soldiers, forcibly expelling over 2 million Palestinians, relocating them to live in one city or multiple newly built towns and cities across the region, and “taking ownership”, that is colonizing, Palestinian lands for good.
In his speech, Netanyahu made clear that Israel remains committed to its three goals: eliminating Hamas as a military and governing body, returning all the hostages, and ensuring that Gaza will never be a security threat to Israel again. His speech of course conceals the fact that Israel is indeed the real security threat for Palestinians and for the region. Israel’s settler colonial conquest of Palestine is the root cause of all the violence and instability. The three goals are a cover that conceal the real driving force behind Israel’s genocidal and apartheid policies and actions: Israel’s desire to colonize all of Palestine and establish exclusive Israeli Jewish sovereignty from the river to the sea.
Most telling of this basic fact is a moment in the press conference when Netanyahu responded to Trump’s statement that his proposal is for the U.S. to “own that piece of land” over the long term. Netanyahu gleefully followed up on Trump’s statement by declaring that their third goal is being addressed by Trump on a “much higher level,” that Trump has a “different idea” that “could change history.”
What he means by that is that for him and indeed for the Israeli state, more or less across the political spectrum, the only real solution that would achieve “peace,” “stability,” and “tranquility,” is the creation of Greater Israel. This involves the historic reshaping of the Middle East where Israel would become the only sovereign on the land, with Israelis Jews becoming the majority inhabiting all the lands between the river and sea, and for this to become a “natural” reality in the region, to be accepted by all the states and people of the Middle East.
When watching this 21st century version of the British empire’s Mandate in Palestine, which took “ownership” of Palestine to “develop” it and hand it over to Zionist settler colonialism, you cannot help but notice Netanyahu’s continuous smiles and constant surveying of the room. His expressions communicated a pleasant shock, as if he wanted to scream to his supportive audience, “Can you believe this is happening?” Like a little child who cannot but show his pleasure for getting away with mischief that others thought impossible to achieve, Netanyahu’s words attempted to paint Trump as if he had actually come up with a “different idea” that could “change history.” In reality, there is nothing different, original, or new about this idea, nor does it change history, but rather it is the continuation of the one-hundred-year Zionist settler colonial conquest of Palestine with the active support and participation of a Western imperial power.
Simply put, far from taking it to a “much higher level,” Trump’s plan is precisely what Israel had in mind when it stated its third goal from the very beginning of their genocidal operation.
The world must act
Behind the incoherence, propaganda, and ramblings of the two leaders, there is a serious strategy at work, which requires naming and strong opposition from states and people around the world. Their joint strategy is to ensure that Gaza remains uninhabitable by preventing its reconstruction. Over fifteen months of genocide, Netanyahu’s government has utterly destroyed Gaza rendering it uninhabitable, and the Trump administration will now step in to help him make sure that Gaza will not be rebuilt. By stating that only by emptying the Strip will the U.S. take ownership of the land and rebuild it, the Trump administration is clearly stating that the forcible expulsion of the Palestinians is now the precondition for full reconstruction.
The world’s reaction has been to condemn Trump’s proposal. But words of condemnation are not enough. While the world condemns, Trump and Netanyahu plan to block the full reconstruction of Gaza, which they believe will eventually force the Palestinian people to desert their lands and move into Trump’s allegedly “beautiful towns and cities” that will have “great sunlight.”
There must be a concerted international effort to force the full reconstruction of Gaza and ensure that Palestinians can remain steadfast on their lands.
The only way to ensure that this plan is foiled is to commence as soon as possible the full reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, regardless of what Israel and the U.S. have to say about the matter. Only power plays can oppose the U.S./Israel power play. There must be a concerted international effort to force the full reconstruction of Gaza and ensure that Palestinians can remain steadfast on their lands.
Time is on the side of the imperial and settler colonial powers. Spectacles such as this press conference will continue to lay the groundwork for delaying and obstructing the reconstruction of Gaza. With each passing day, life on the land will continue to become more and more difficult, until it becomes the “humanitarian” thing to do to get Palestinians out of the Strip. This is the Trump-Netanyahu strategy, and the ultimate strategic goal is the elimination of Palestine, once and for all.
We know, from historical precedent and ongoing political and social dynamics, that the Palestinian people will not go quietly into the night. They will remain steadfast. I have no doubts about our fidelity to the struggle against settler colonialism and Western imperialism. The only real question is: will the rest of the world be as steadfast as we are? The current tenuous ceasefire is not the time to take a break from acting in support of Palestine. This is the time to increase action, and place pressure on both Israel and the U.S., to stop their plan, and stand on the side of truth, justice, liberation, and freedom.
By Muhannad Ayyash
Source : Mondoweiss
