Is it Injustice or Indifference Mr. President?

Is it Injustice or Indifference Mr. President?

Mohammad Ajmal

Just after one week of taking oath of US’s second time President, on January 26, 2025 Al Jazeera reported that President Donald Trump has said that after the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, he will pressure Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries to shelter 1.5 million displaced Palestinians. When asked whether this proposal is temporary or long-term, Trump said, “It is possible and that is also possible.” Whether the proposal is temporary or long-term reflects President Trump’s desire to vacate Gaza of its people. According to Americans, the world can only be a place to live when it is free of Muslims. They keep experiencing this all over the world. Today, the Muslims of Gaza are the target.

During his election campaign, President Trump had said, “When I look at the map of the Middle East, Israel seems like a very small piece of land. I seriously wonder if more territory can be acquired. It is very small, really small. (Sky News: 19/8/2024)

He wants to start Israel’s expansion from Gaza. Before the peace agreement, when Israel was brutally bombing Gaza and turning it into a barren wasteland, a conspiracy was hatched to establish Jewish settlements and build hotels and resorts on the coast of Gaza. He had also plotted along with Gerald Kushner, the son-in-law of US President, who was very serious about building a luxury palace there, and not only Gaza, President Trump wants to expand the Jewish presence by legalizing the settlement project in the West Bank as well, and wants to open their hands to seize the land and establish new settlements.

In fact, President Trump is extra frank in expressing his ambitions. He does not hide anything. While nominating Mike Huckabee as the US ambassador to Israel, on November 13, 2024, he had said, “He loves Israel and the Israeli people, just as the Israeli people love him. Mike will work for peace in the Middle East without reluctance.” The BBC quoted a statement by Mike Huckabee on the same day through Jewish Channel 12, saying that Huckabee is known for his statements in support of the Jewish state of Israel. Similarly, Huckabee had said in a statement in 2015: “Israel’s demand for annexation of the West Bank is stronger than America’s demand for Manhattan.”  According to him, “There is no such thing as the West Bank, on the contrary this is Judea and Samaria, there is no such thing as settlement, and there is nothing like occupation.” President Trump’s insistence on pushing the people of Gaza to Egypt and Jordan has become alarming. Mr. Trump’s unique style is that he starts the discussion on eye-catching points in a subtle, even humorous manner, but gradually his tone becomes harsh. The idea of ​​deporting Palestinians from Palestine is nothing new. Former US national security adviser and diplomat John Bolton has proposed this several years ago. By the same token, the current US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee says, “the most logical and realistic solution to the Middle East problem is to transfer Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.”

Speaking at the White House on January 30, the US president said in his traditional arrogant but determined tone, “They (i.e. Jordan and Egypt) will agree, of course they will agree, everything will be fine, we have also done a lot for them, they will also agree with us.”

On November 15, 2024, Mike Huckabee, speaking to Jewish Channel 7, repeated his statements, saying: “It is not possible for me to say anything that I do not believe in, I am not at all prepared to use the term West Bank, there is no such thing, I am talking about Judea and Samaria, I tell people that there is no occupation.” He further said: “Remember that during the last term of President Trump, he has been more supportive of Israel than any American president in history. He has done a lot, including recognizing Jerusalem as the capital, moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and declaring the Golan Heights the legal property of Israel. He has made no progress on the two-state solution, because it is an impractical and unworkable solution for Israel.” He said, “I do not think there is any justification for the two-state solution. This has been my position for years. Trump agrees with this position and I expect it to continue.”

These statements show Trump’s position on the Palestinian issue. It becomes clear that he wants to implement Israeli expansion and plan for Greater Israel by justifying the occupation and settlement in Gaza and the West Bank.

President Trump sees everything as simple as a cup of tea. He has a definite solution to every problem except a Palestinian state, no matter how huge it is. He wants to move toward formal US legalization of Israeli settlements not only in the West Bank but also in Gaza .This is supported by Trump’s lifting of the ban on Jewish settlers whose encroachments the US had declared illegal during the Biden era. For Trump, peace in the region means accepting Israel’s occupation and settlement of the West Bank, while at the same time allowing the Palestinian Authority to exist with some degree of autonomy for the time being so that it can continue to serve the Jewish state in the name of security cooperation, collect taxes from the people, and control the people through some municipal services.

There is no one to rival him in the world. He has the power to do whatever he wants. He is trying to show the Middle Eastern rulers the heaven, just as Satan shows the followers. Al Jazeera reported on January 23, 2025, that President Donald Trump said that his administration had achieved in four days what the former President Biden’s administration had not achieved in four years. If it were not for his administration, there would not have been a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is wishing investing $600 billion in the United States, but the US president has demanded that Saudi Arabia must increase its investment to $1 trillion. In this realm, President Trump has received a “gift package” for the Jewish state from the Gaza peace deal. The Jewish newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on January 14, 2025, that Israel will have the right to end the ceasefire if it feels the need to, and that the White House will soon lift sanctions that the former Biden administration imposed on some settlers who committed crimes. It will launch an international campaign against the two United Nations courts that have investigated or prosecuted Israel, specifically Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Martin Luther King once had said, “I can be a brother to any white man, but not a brother in law.” In contrast, President Trump is both a brother to Jews and a brother in law as well. In his first term, he had proven himself to be a protector of Jewish interests. Now, in his second term, he will prove to be more pro-Jewish than ever.

Those international resolutions that the US and major countries had approved, and whose violators the US used to reprimand, are now being trampled upon by Trump himself, which are against the interests of the Jews. He has also trodden upon the UN resolutions that state that the West Bank is an occupied territory, on which the Jewish existence has no right to settle, rather, that the Jewish existence must leave these areas and be limited to the borders of June 4, 1967.

He has also crushed on the UN resolution regarding Jerusalem (Al-Quds), which states that it is occupied Palestinian territory; and has also justified the Jewish occupation of Jerusalem and the Golan by trivializing the resolution that the Golan Heights are occupied Syrian territory.

Now President Trump wants to exhort the withdrawal of people of Gaza from the Strip and legalize the settlements and Jewish occupation in the West Bank, allowing for further settlement or expansion. At the same time, he has also announced amnesty for settlers who were sentenced during the Biden administration.

According to reports, President Trump will focus on his previous plan to increase ties and expand relations with Israel and other Muslim countries in the Middle East in order to justify Israeli atrocities and Israel’s seizure of Palestinian land by Muslim countries themselves. Saudi Arabia is at the forefront of the countries chosen to achieve this goal. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has close ties with Trump, who is also eager to normalize Saudi Arabia’s relations with Israel and has also played the role of Trump’s assistant in this matter. Given his unusual inclination towards Trump, it can be said that this matter may not be delayed much longer. How is it possible for the Saudi Crown Prince, who promised to invest $600 billion to the American economy in one phone call with Trump, not to announce normalization of relations with the Jews in the next call?

The UN’s Stephen Dave rejected President Trump’s statement regarding the idea of ​​clearing Gaza of its inhabitants and annexing the West Bank to Israel, saying, “We oppose any plan that involves the forcible displacement of people or that constitutes any form of ethnic cleansing.”

Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Europeans for instance, Germany, Spain and many other countries have also condemned this move, but what could Trump care less about this protest?

Does it mean, Trump putting the rulers of Jordan and Egypt in a difficult position by tightening the noose around them, who already depend on Trump’s support and American aid for their survival, who have clearly stated that they do not support the relocation? Or is this statement in line with Trump’s habit of starting with a very loud and explosive demand and then, after heating up the atmosphere, coming up with another demand?

As for Trump’s statement that states “When I look at a map of the Middle East, I see Israel as a very small piece of land. I seriously wonder if there is a way to get more territory. As it’s very small.” The above statement was about Israeli expansion, while the current statement is about the “method” how Israeli expansion be made possible?

It seems that Trump’s Jordanian and Egyptian friends are creating conditions for the other Arab rulers to facilitate the forced displacement, or is it a pulse-testing exercise to see if these rulers can put pressure on the people of Palestine to accept the proposal, and erode them from their land, and hand it over to the Jewish state? Or if the Palestinians can stand up to these two Arab states and prevent these two countries from implementing this plan that betrays the entire Muslim countries, then this plan should be postponed until another suitable time.

President Trump calls Gaza a demolition site where everything has collapsed and all the rubbles will be turn down and cleared for construction until he asks the Arab countries of Egypt and Jordan to keep these people in their respective countries, who number about 1.5 million, and build homes for them where they can live in peace.

President Trump may not have read history, but the people of Gaza and the Palestinians have not forgotten their history and past when they went to other countries as refugees and Israel took away their right to return. One of the reasons why the long conflict between the Palestinians and Israel has not reached any resolution is Israel’s refusal to grant these Palestinians their right to return. This is why President Trump’s statement is being called the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.

President Trump should wait for the time when the young men and the resisting forces will blow away such plans and statements like dust. Despite the brutal atrocities and indiscriminate bombings by the US and the Jewish state of Israel for fifteen months, the Palestinian people have firmly held on to their land, including their homes.

Despite the harsh weather conditions and the horrifying situation on the ground, they are returning to their homes on foot in their thousands. They know that the unfortunate Jews have destroyed their homes, yet they are in a hurry to return home and are considering their return a great success.

The world should see all this, reflect and know that Trump’s statements and his conspiracy to vacate Palestine of its inhabitants, even if the treacherous Muslim rulers join him, will still backfire on him. Sooner or later, this blessed land will become the home of Palestinian Muslims, and all these traitorous rulers will turn down from US’s all diktats.

Apart from Egypt, Jordan, Australia, and Spain, the entire world has rejected President Trump proposal, moreover it is being severely criticized by both its own and its foreign allies, supporters and opponents alike.

US President Donald Trump seems to have lost his senses in the toxic of power. As soon as he took office, he adopted an aggressive approach against Canada, Panama, Mexico, and China, etc., threatening them without considering the independence and sovereignty of these countries. Now he has presented his ridiculous plan regarding Palestine and the Gaza Strip, which can in no way be acceptable to the Palestinians or receive the support of the international community. There has been an immediate reaction against it from within the US itself, and US Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has criticized him, saying that the US attack on Gaza will lead to the killing of thousands of American soldiers and decades of war in the Middle East.

Alike, Trump’s plan is being severely criticized at the global leadership, and the entire international community has unanimously rejected it. Even his allies, who support the United States in all circumstances, could not digest Donald Trump’s plan, and even Britain, France, Germany, and Australia are not willing to stand with the United States, while Russia and China have also clearly opposed the Trump plan. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that Trump’s announcement of control over Gaza has dealt him a severe blow. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry told a press briefing that China opposes the forced displacement of the people of Gaza. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking in the House of Representatives, said that Britain supports a two-state solution. The French Foreign Ministry has rejected the proposal for the forced displacement of the Palestinian population from Gaza, saying that the Gaza Strip should not be controlled by a third party. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Russia said that any solution in the Middle East is possible only when the two-state solution is implemented. The German Foreign Minister has said that Gaza, like the West Bank and East Jerusalem, is a Palestinian city and there is no solution to the problem by excluding the Palestinians. The US President’s announcement has caused a huge wave of anger in the Muslim world. Although Trump gave the impression in his press conference that he had consulted with the leadership of some Arab countries on this plan and that the plan would receive their support and cooperation, however, as of now, no Arab or Muslim country has supported Trump’s forcible occupation of Gaza, but all Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia, have openly opposed the plan. Sami Abu Zuhri, an official of the Hamas movement, described the US President’s statement as ridiculous and unreasonable and said that such inappropriate ideas could ignite a fire in the region.

Hamas spokesman Khaled Qaddoumi said in his statement that Gaza will be rebuilt and will rise stronger than before, there can be no compromise on Palestinian rights, and the Israeli army will not exist in Gaza anymore. On the other hand, five Arab countries have sent a joint letter to the US Secretary of State, opposing President Trump’s proposal to expel Palestinians from Gaza. The letter was signed by the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Palestinian presidential advisor Hussein Al-Sheikh. The letter states that the Palestinians will remain in their land and will help rebuild it. Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said that world leaders and people should respect the Palestinians’ desire to remain in Gaza. Saudi Arabia has made it clear that relations with Israel will not be established without the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Saudi Foreign Ministry says that Saudi Arabia’s position on the establishment of a Palestinian state is strong and unwavering. The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has openly and unequivocally affirmed the kingdom’s position, saying that no interpretation of Saudi Arabia’s position is allowed under any circumstances. The Turkish Foreign Minister says that excluding Palestinians from any plan could lead to conflict. Jordan’s King Abdullah has rejected attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians, while Egypt has said that the rehabilitation of Gaza must proceed without displacing Palestinians.

And last, not the least, the top leadership of Hamas has said that “Israel is an illegitimate state that the Palestinian people have a right to the land of Palestine, and that Israel’s impure existence here cannot be accepted or tolerated under any circumstances”.

However, President Trump is working very persistently to implement his proposal. The detailed phone conversation with General Sisi and the summoning of the King of Jordan to the United States are part of this process. I would like to say, it is indifference Mr. President.

{The author, Mohammad Ajmal is Assistant Professor at Centre of Arabic and African Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi}