Request: While we shelter with our families at home, let us spare a dua for those who are homeless and living under shredded tents.
Trump, hailed by some as a messiah sent to bring America out of darkness and make it great again, and by some as the very definition of darkness itself, has divided his people, to use his favourite phrase, “like never before.”
However, beyond ideological divisions, no group has suffered more in terms of life, limb, and land than the vulnerable and beleaguered Palestinian community. Their struggle will long be remembered as a particularly shameful chapter in American history—one where Trump and his Western allies orchestrated a genocide in Gaza through their proxy in the Middle East, Israel, all the while attempting to convince the world that there was no such genocide, that somehow, the dead Gazans had bombed and killed themselves.
But enough complaining. It’s time to wake up and face the truth. No saviour is coming. Neither Israel nor Trump, and certainly not Egypt or the numerous so-called Muslim nations, will do anything to support Palestine. How could they? While Trump and Israel consider building a seaside resort where Gaza once stood, wealthy Muslim nations are busy constructing the tallest skyscrapers in the world, bestowing civilian honours on Trump, and gifting him Boeing jets.
The latest farce is Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which was heralded as a new dawn for peace in the Middle East “for the first time in 3,000 years.” Yet, it is dead on arrival, and both Israel and America are aware of this. Since the ceasefire on October 10, more than 513 Gazans have been killed in Israeli strikes, including two children, one a two-week-old baby who succumbed to hypothermia in the harsh cold. Armed Israeli settlers are raiding West Bank farms, clubbing livestock to death, setting barns on fire, firing guns near homes, and spraying young children with tear gas. Prime Minister Carney has called out Israel for these crimes against humanity, but do they care?
Homeless and Starving: Over 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents remain displaced, most living in tents exposed to flooding and freezing temperatures. While the global hunger monitor claims that Gaza is no longer “technically” in famine, which is yet another cruel joke made at the expense of the starving Palestinians. Humanitarian organisations on the ground report that the aid is merely a trickle of what is truly needed.
In reality, the initial phase of the deal that Trump and his supporters have touted is a complete disaster. This raises the question: if Phase 1 is in such disarray, what about Phase 2?
In Trump’s plan, Phase 2 should include the deployment of an international security force and the establishment of an internationally supervised technocratic governing body for Gaza—a process to be overseen by a so-called “Board of Peace,” chaired by Trump himself. It remains unclear who will be on that board or the executive council beneath it, but one name circulating is Egyptian real estate billionaire Naguib Sawiris, which is alarming. A real estate tycoon collaborating with Trump—who wishes to recreate a Riviera in place of Gaza—is a disturbing thought.
Amidst all this empty rhetoric, we must not forget the brutal, generations-long struggle for Palestinian self-determination, accountability, and justice. Palestinians need peace, their own state, and the freedom to live on their land as they did before 1948. That is the only viable solution. Everything else is just empty talk.
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