Every day Palestinians witness the American government finance their death and displacement; further shrinking their homeland. Since 1917, powerful white politicians in power have orchestrated the mass displacement and death of hundreds of millions of Palestinian men, women and children at the expense of American taxpayers.
During his first foreign meeting of his second term, President Donald J. Trump held a press conference with war criminal and genocidal maniac Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This conference was in the backdrop of a Biden-negotiated ceasefire agreement that ended over 470 days of consecutive bombing, killing and displacement of Palestinians from their homes.
With Netanyahu — called “Bibi” during the press conference by his friend, President Trump — by his side, Trump has proposed a shameful plan to kick all of the Palestinians out of Gaza into neighboring Arab countries and turn Gaza into vacation homes.
Bibi is currently wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed against Palestinians. But alas, the President does not recognize the ICC’s authority and believes that the over 46,000 Palestinian men, women and children murdered by Israel are not proof enough for the crimes Israel has committed.
At the beginning of the conference, President Trump boasted a list of so-called wins he orchestrated between the United States (U.S.) and Israel during his previous term. From naming Jerusalem (al-Quds) — one of the oldest Palestinian cities — as the capital of Israel, to recognizing “Israel sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights,” President Trump really could not do enough for his pal Bibi.
In fact, Bibi praised Trump, calling him the “greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” a statement that has proven true. One of many so-called accolades for Israel that Bibi bragged about was Trump’s withdrawal from the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) — a UN organization specifically designed to aid Palestinian refugees. During his second term in office, Trump has done nothing but continue to grow his laundry list of atrocities against Palestinian and minority communities alike, further solidifying his allegiance to Israel.
Trump’s proposal to “clean out” Gaza, and move the over two million Palestinians to neighboring countries like Egypt or Jordan is clearly a fast track effort to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Calling Gaza a “demolition site,” President Trump largely ignored his country’s extreme involvement and aid in financing this genocide. The destruction and death in Gaza would not have been possible without the U.S. $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel.
Israel’s entire occupation of Palestine is illegal under international law. Their egregious and continuous violations of international law are not only encouraged, but also funded by U.S. lawmakers. Every single American presidential administration has stood ten toes down in support of the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians — what a shame it is to be American.
Trump’s Gaza takeover is just the latest of many plans by imperialist powers to further control Palestine, but the will of the people has proven more powerful than the colonizer. Palestinians have demonstrated their resilience, and with every attempt to steal their land, they will come back standing deeper in their roots.
Gazans will rebuild their homes on their land and no one — not Bibi Netanyahu nor President Trump — have the right to take their homes away. Over 60 percent of the Gazan population are refugees from other Palestinian cities displaced in 1948 or 1967. Whether it be generational or first-hand, this would be the fourth time that this section of the Palestinian population has experienced displacement and ethnic cleansing.
If Trump is successful, the explosion of over 2 million Palestinian men, women and children to neighboring countries who do not want them will largely resemble the first Nakba. The Nakba — which translates to “catastrophe” — refers to the mass displacement and refugedom of millions of Palestinians between 1947 to 1948 by Zionists, who forcibly seized approximately 80 percent of all Palestinian land.
Every day, Israel steals more and more land from Palestinians living under occupation to expand their hundreds of Jewish-exclusive colonies. Palestinians are continuously subjected to more military violence, settler violence, home demolition, arbitrary arrests, displacement and death.
Palestinians do not even have the right to free movement in their own homeland, and are forced to obtain permits from Israel and go through hundreds of checkpoints to travel anywhere. Attempting to cross these checkpoints is usually a laborious affair, incurring extremely long lines, overpacked waiting rooms and abuse from the Israeli border police. This system of apartheid — segregation on the basis of race — is designed to make life for Palestinians as difficult and unbearable as possible.
It is disgraceful that the U.S. government plans to continue the cycle of mass displacement of Palestinians. Relocating all of Gaza’s population to neighboring Arab countries would be a clear win for white supremacy and colonialism, demonstrating just how much the world, voters and especially American lawmakers have failed the Palestinian people.
As Israel continues to oppress and dispossess Palestinians, it is clear that the Nakba did not end in 1948.
From the river to the sea, in this lifetime Palestine will be free.
