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NEW YORK, Feb 07 (IPS) - Even after Trump declared that he wanted to take back the Panama Canal, acquire Greenland by force, if necessary, and rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, I could not, like many others, imagine that his madness could reach a new unfathomable height.
At his news conference on February 4, with Prime Minister Netanyahu standing beside him, sporting a sinister grin, Trump announced that the US would take over Gaza, ship the Palestinians like sheep to Jordan and Egypt, build such a mesmerizing Riviera along the Mediterranean Sea and, voilà, bring peace and prosperity to the whole region. ‘What a wonderful and visionary plan that nobody could have possibly conceived but him.’
Of course, his bluster is short of any details. A display of bravado and raw exercise of power is what he wants to project, and to hell with the ramifications of his brazen plan that would set the region on fire, the likes of which is hard to envisage. Though no sensible person believes that Trump can effectuate such a perilous undertaking, mentioning it alone sent shivers down the spine of every Palestinian.
The message to them is simple: forget about the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. This land is the ancestral land of the Jewish people and it must be restored to its rightful owners. Oh, you Palestinians, be prepared now for the second Nakba (catastrophe), but this time, do not worry; the exodus will be well organized; you will settle in Jordan and Egypt and live happily ever after.
What Trump does not grasp, which is no surprise, is that even though much of Gaza lies in ruin, and it will take years and billions to rebuild, this is their land. They can rebuild their homes, restore the infrastructure, tend to their farms, and restructure their businesses, but they cannot replace their land.
Their attachment is to the land, which they cannot relinquish, substitute, or be compensated for. This is where they belong, where their ancestors lived and died, where their cultural heritage resides, and where they still dream of having a better and brighter future and living with dignity, which even the President of the US cannot usurp with impunity. The ramifications of Trump’s brutally brazen plan for Gaza transcends any nightmare that Trump or Netanyahu can envision.
The exodus of the Palestinians would immediately and ominously destabilize the region. Jordan, in particular, will be the first to be destabilized as an influx of Palestinians would shake the foundation of the country, which is already saddled with nearly one million refugees from Syria and Iraq.
Jordan's internal instability could potentially lead to conflict with Israel, with whom it shares a 350-kilometer-long border, and precipitate the infiltration of weapons and terrorists. This would wreak havoc on Israel and risk the peace treaty between the two countries that served as the anchor for stability.
Egypt, too, views Trump’s ‘ingenious idea’ as preposterous. Notwithstanding American aid to Egypt, President Sisi vehemently rejected Trump’s plan because it would have dire regional consequences that would not spare Egypt and potentially send Israeli-Egyptian peace asunder.
Trump and Netanyahu’s alignment in this regard is extremely treacherous. Instead of building a new structure of regional peace, Trump will plunge the region into widespread violence and wars, denying both Israelis and Palestinians a day of peace.
And rather than expanding the Abraham Accords, he could potentially unravel them, making the prospect of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace a pipedream while giving Iran’s axis of resistance a new lease on life. To be sure, Trump’s plan is strategically incomprehensible and horrifically ominous.
It is hard to exaggerate what the impact on the Palestinians would be should Trump's plan come to fruition. The displacement of the Palestinians will be catastrophic on many fronts, which most likely has not even crossed his mind. Uprooting more than 2.2 million Palestinians from their homeland is cruel and forbidding and will create an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
It will bring to life the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948, as the memory of those dark days continues to haunt the Palestinians to this day. Many current residents of Gaza are descendants of those original refugees. Moreover, it will destroy family ties, obliterate their cultural identity, and subject them to the horror of resettlement, in lands where they are unwelcome.
Palestinian radicalism will intensify, which will make the current violent conflict look like a rehearsal. Trump completely ignored Hamas, which remains a powerful force in Gaza, and will further validate its narrative that the Israelis are irredeemable foes seeking to eradicate all Palestinians and that only violent resistance is the answer to Israel's insatiable lust for more Palestinian land.
Another generation of Palestinians will be poisoned, whose mission in life will be nothing but revenge and retribution for what has befallen their people.
For Netanyahu and his fascist government, Trump’s idea of ethnic cleansing in Gaza of all Palestinians is a dream come true. This, along with the creeping, if not outright, annexation of the West Bank, would finally realize his dream of “greater Israel” as a God-given right; Trump, the Messiah, has come to deliver what God had promised the Jews. Genesis 17:8 (NIV) states, “The whole land of Canaan , where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
Everyone, especially Trump and Netanyahu, should remember this: the displacement of the Palestinians from Gaza will vanquish any prospect of a two-state solution, as no one has come up yet with any new viable idea that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict peacefully short of a two-state solution. The alternative is perpetual bloodshed to satisfy the corrupt Netanyahu-led government, whose thirst for Palestinian blood is insatiable.
After 77 years of Israel’s existence, Netanyahu and his gang of right-wing extremists seem to have learned nothing. Israel has every right to exist in peace and security, but it cannot build itself on the ashes of the Palestinians. The Palestinians will resist for generations if they must and will never forsake their inherent right to statehood, which is enshrined by UNSC Resolution 181, the same resolution that granted the Jews in Palestine the same right.
Trump believes that he can do whatever pleases him. One thing he will learn the hard way is that he is not the ruler of the world; he cannot take or dish out territories that do not belong to him. He has no jurisdiction; it is against international law, defies reason, and is devoid of any moral tenet.
The Palestinians have endured occupation, blockade, displacement, expulsion, and dehumanization, and suffered decades-long horrific pain and sorrow, but they have endured. They remained resilient and resolute because their thirst for freedom is absolute. No American president, including Trump, can bend their will.
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies. [email protected]
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