Do you agree with Trump who suggests his plan for Gaza Strip is to clean out the whole thing and move all of the Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt ?
Living under Israel's occupation and apartheid in Palestine has been really tough for me, particularly at this moment more than ever. At the time of this writing, Israel has conducted extensive bombing of the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, expelled over 15,000 Palestinians, and demolished many of the homes there within the previous week.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump, in violation of international law, suggested over the weekend to "clean out" the decimated Gaza Strip by expelling 1.5 million Palestinian residents—who had recently endured Israel's genocide—to Egypt, Jordan, or even Indonesia, a number 100 times greater than those expelled from Jenin.
Trump's proposal for unlawful expulsion is not novel; it represents a continuation of a covert Western policy initiated 15 months prior.
In October 2023, immediately following the initiation of its extermination campaign in Gaza, Israel requested the expulsion of Palestinians to the Egyptian Sinai.
Former President Genocide Joe and his Arab allies promptly initiated a strategy to fulfill Israel's demands. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, however, dismissed the suggestion, advocating for the resettlement of displaced Palestinians within Israel instead of the Sinai Peninsula.
The United States and Europe engaged with a number of African governments, including the Congo, Canada, and even Saudi Arabia, in an effort to find possible destinations for the Palestinians whom Israel and the West wanted to expel.
Trump justified his proposal, which violates international law, by stating he would "rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change," further noting that this relocation could be "temporary" or "long-term."
This alleged aspiration for Palestinians to "live in peace" following their expulsion from their homeland, thereby facilitating unlawful Jewish colonization and land appropriation, resonates with Israeli proposals from October 2023.
The proposals characterized Israel's planned ethnic cleansing of Gaza's Palestinians and their possible expulsion to the Egyptian Sinai as a favorable and rational resolution. They characterized the Sinai as "one of the most suitable places on Earth to provide the people of Gaza with hope and a peaceful future.".
Alas, such a plan will not yield peace for either Palestinians or Israelis.
Should Israel comply with international law and UN resolutions, and if Trump were to "get involved" with Israel—rather than Arab nations—and compel it to repatriate all Palestinian refugees expelled since 1948 to the homes currently occupied by Jewish settlers, a genuine and enduring peace could be realized.
If Trump genuinely wants people to "live in peace for a change," he could push for Israel to "build housing" for Palestinians on their ancestral lands—specifically in the villages and towns that Israel has obliterated—thus aligning with international law.
Notably, no Arab country has proposed that African nations, Canada, or even the United States or Europe serve as refuge for Israeli Jews escaping the devastation in certain regions of Israel since October 2023.
Official statistics indicate that 82,000 Israeli Jews have departed the country since the onset of Israel's genocidal war, but unofficial estimates suggest the figure may be closer to half a million.
Undoubtedly, numerous Israelis would embrace the prospect of "live in peace for a change," as articulated by Trump, in the United States and other nations.
Trump might persuade those governments to accept them as refugees, particularly since around one million Israelis already own US and European passports and would not necessitate refugee status.
From 1948 to 2015, the Israeli government claimed that 720,000 Israelis, mostly Jewish colonists and their progeny, moved to more peaceful nations and never returned to Israel.
In December 2022, the Israeli publication Maariv reported the formation of a new movement designed to assist Israelis in emigrating to the United States.
Established following the Israeli elections, it perceived the ascendance of Benjamin Netanyahu and his fanatical coalition as altering the Zionist state's relationship to religion.
The organization, calling itself "Leaving the Country—Together," proposed a strategy to move 10,000 Israelis in the initial phase. The leadership comprises anti-Netanyahu activist Yaniv Gorelik and Israeli-American entrepreneur Mordechai Kahana.
There is an urgent necessity for Trump to provide sanctuary to the hundreds of thousands of Israelis displaced by the bombings in the north and the so-called Gaza envelope.
Many has declined to return to their settlements owing to safety concerns and continues to reside as refugees in other parts of Israel.
They, along with those who no longer feel secure from the intermittent missile strikes on Tel Aviv and its surroundings, would greatly appreciate an offer of refuge from the US, Europe, or Canada, complete with free housing, enabling them to "live in peace for a change."
Perhaps King Abdullah II of Jordan and Sisi of Egypt, who both rejected down Trump's offer to accept the expelled Palestinians, could instead suggest that displaced Israelis be provided refuge instead.
This proposal would signify their aspiration for displaced Israelis to "live in peace.".
Likewise, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates may either voluntarily contribute or be encouraged to finance the emigration of Israelis and offer them accommodation in their "old/new" homelands, referred to by the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, as "Altneuland.".
This is not an implausible, idealistic remedy to the persistent state of war that has been inflicted upon the whole Middle East by Israel since its inception as a Jewish settler colony on stolen Palestinian land in 1948.
On the contrary, permitting Palestinian refugees to return to the land from which they were ethnically cleansed would constitute a fair and rational implementation of international law.
Israelis who no longer feel safe residing on stolen Palestinian land may move to nations that would embrace them, providing the housing, security, and peace they desire.
Who’s willing to step up?