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Trump’s ‘Business-like’ Solution to Gaza

Dr Khairi Janbek
January 28, 2025

By Dr Khairi Janbek

If you remember in the films, when the big mafiosi harms a friend or an ally, says, usually I had nothing against him, I even liked him, but this is pure business.

One is using this adage, because it simply reminds me of what president Trump said about the Jordanian monarch and the Egyptian president. He expressed his affection towards both, and said he got on well with them and liked them, but wants them to take refugees from Gaza and settle them in their own territories.

Now, doesn’t Mr Trump know that this move presents an existential threat to all? Or is he indifferent to their concerns, the fact being that, it’s nothing personal, just a businesslike solution to the Gazan Palestinians, whom in fact do not wish to leave their land as things stand now.

Unfortunately, this proposal stems from a very long history of the notion that, Israel is a very small country, and the Arab world is vast, and since the Palestinians are Arabs then they can be absorbed in other Arab countries!

Of course, this notion does not take into consideration that the Palestinians do not wish to leave their lands and seek justice in their own homeland, but then again there is an Arab contribution to this dimension which emerged in the so-called post-Arab-Israeli peace process, albeit in all probability unintentionally.

The fundamental idea of land for peace, which implicitly and explicitly meant land and state for the Palestinian people; which is incidentally a political notion, is that the Palestinian problem becomes a humanitarian issue that of refugees demanding the right of return.

In essence a people without land, or unspecified area of land doesn’t not constitute a nation. One is not going to bore everyone with justice and injustice, rather wishes to say why is it assumed by Mr Trump that the Palestinians should not have a say in their independent destiny? Why doesn’t he address them directly, after all the US is one of the guarantors of the Oslo accords, which incidentally gave legitimacy to the PNA.

Having said all that, where do we go from here, and for whom is Gaza supposed to be built for? If it is supposed to be built for the Gazans would that mean the Gazan status in Jordan and Egypt is a temporary proposal, in other words until Gaza is rebuilt? And who will rebuild Gaza?

These are very important details which cannot be swept aside without discussions involving the Egyptians, Jordanians and the PNA. But can Mr Trump’s idea really be worth considering and entertaining in terms of practicalities or is it on top-of-the-head remark?

The writer is a Jordanian columnist based in Paris

Opinion

Calls to Displace Palestinians is a New Battle For Jordan

CrossFireArabia
January 27, 2025

By Samih Maaitah

As Jordan has only just recovered from the aggression on Gaza and has seen some relief along its northern borders, the issue of displacement has resurfaced once again. This time, it arises either from Gaza, exploiting the humanitarian and political catastrophe it faces, or from the occupied West Bank, where Netanyahu’s most right-wing government continues to escalate security and military tensions.

🇯🇴🇺🇸 Jordan rejects Trump's initiative to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, — DW

"Jordan rejects any relocation of Palestinians, and our position is firm and unwavering," Foreign Minister said. pic.twitter.com/rRgggW8Owt
— Charlie (@Acuteremod) January 26, 2025

From the beginning of the aggression on Gaza, Jordan understood that the goal was to displace its people. Alongside its Egyptian brothers and other Arab and international parties, Jordan worked to confront this scheme. Jordan is fully aware that displacement is not just about relocating Gaza’s residents to another country; it is about dismantling the Palestinian cause and undermining its major pillars. Amman is cognizant that Israel seeks a Palestine without Palestinians and, through displacement, it seeks to destroy the prospects for a Palestinian state and the right of return.

Jordan, which has already received millions of Palestinians and millions of others due to the region’s endless crises and wars, has paid a heavy price in terms of its limited resources and political stability. Each wave of migration—most recently from Syria—has come at a significant cost. Jordan is aware that accepting any number of people from Gaza or elsewhere is no longer acceptable or tolerable, especially given the political implications for Jordan’s demographic composition, its national identity, and the Palestinian national identity.

Logic dictates that after all these wars and acts of aggression, the world should seek to resolve the Palestinian issue by granting Palestinians their rights on their national soil. It should not seek solutions to address Israel’s so-called security concerns by emptying Palestinian land of its people and displacing them to other countries.

Jordanians will not accept any solution at the expense of their national identity, homeland, and state. Those who truly seek peace must understand that the path to peace lies in granting Palestinians their rights on their land, not through displacement or the illusion of peace based on a scheme that can only be described as a liquidation of the Palestinian cause.

The writer is a columnist in the Jordan Times

News

Trump Proposes Relocating Gazans to Jordan, Egypt

CrossFireArabia
January 26, 2025

US President Donald Trump, Saturday, proposed relocating Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan. This is an unusual proposal that was opposed by the former administration of Joe Biden.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One towards Miami, the president said he raised the matter during a telephone call with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and he might talk with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday.

“I said to him (Jordan’s king) that I’d love you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess,” said Trump. “I’d like him (Jordan’s king) to take people”.

#BREAKING Trump proposes relocating Palestinians outside Gaza, says plan could be temporary, long term pic.twitter.com/v97O98nM0S
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) January 26, 2025

“I’d like Egypt to take people. I’m talking to Gen. Al Sisi tomorrow sometime I believe. I’d like Egypt to take people. And I’d like Jordan to take people,” Trump continued.

“You’re talking about a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing. You know over the centuries it’s had many, many conflicts. And I don’t know, something has to happen,” he added.

Describing Gaza as “a demolition site,” the US president said: “Almost everything is demolished and people are dying there. So l’d 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.”

He added that the move “could be temporary or could be long-term.”

The Biden administration opposed relocating Gaza residents outside the enclave, advocating a return of Gazans to their homes in the aftermath of a potential peace and a two-state solution.

Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured over 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.

Since Jan. 19, a ceasefire is in place to bring respite to civilians in the Palestinian enclave, but Trump said last week he is not confident that the truce will hold.

“It’s not our war. It’s their war. I think they are very weakened on the other side,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I looked at a picture of Gaza. Gaza is like a massive demolition site. That place is. … It’s really got to be rebuilt in a different way,” he said.

“Gaza is interesting. It’s a phenomenal location on the sea, best weather, you know, everything’s good. It’s like some beautiful things could be done with it, but it’s very interesting, but some fantastic things could be done with Gaza,” Trump added according to Anadolu.

News

Israel Kills More Than 15,000 Pupils in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
January 22, 2025

The Ministry of Education in the Gaza Strip announced, Wednesday, the genocide committed by Israel over the course of more than 15 months resulted in the killing and disappearance of more than 15,000 Palestinian school-age children, and the targeting of 95 percent of school and educational buildings.

The ministry said in a statement: “Initial statistics indicate the martyrdom and disappearance of more than 15,000 school-age children, more than 800 education sector workers, and the injury of 50,000 male and female students.”

It added: “The horrific number of martyrs is equivalent to a mass extermination of human elements, students and workers in more than 30 schools, which reflects the extent of the crimes committed against children and educational staff.”

It explained that the genocide resulted in the killing of 1,200 male and female students enrolled in higher education institutions, more than 150 scientists, academics and workers in those institutions, and hundreds were injured and disabled.

The ministry confirmed that 95 percent of school and educational buildings were directly damaged, while 85 percent of them were completely or partially out of service due to their destruction.

It indicated that the Israeli army destroyed more than 140 administrative and academic facilities, including devices, equipment, laboratories, clinics and libraries.

The ministry estimated losses of the education sector at more than $3 billion.

It explained thousands of children were exposed to shocking experiences and unprecedented psychological pressures, which led to the emergence of psychological symptoms and trauma that require specialized interventions.

The ministry announced the completion of emergency response plans for the next stage, which includes completing the 2023/2024 school year and opening the 2024/2025 school year.

The ministry called on media outlets and human rights institutions to document the “Israeli crimes” against children and depriving them of their right to education, and to prosecute Tel Aviv before international bodies and courts.

It also appealed to supporting bodies and partner institutions to provide urgent and necessary support to relieve and rehabilitate the educational sector.

With American support, Israel committed genocide in the Gaza Strip between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2025, leaving more than 158,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 14,000 missing.

Last Sunday, a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect, and its first phase will last for 42 days, during which negotiations will begin to start a second and then a third phase, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.

Israel has turned Gaza into the largest prison in the world, as it has besieged it for the last 18 years, and the genocide has forced about two million of its citizens, numbering about 2.3 million Palestinians, to flee in tragic conditions with a deliberate severe shortage of food, water and medicine.

News

Ireland Stands up to Israel

CrossFireArabia
December 20, 2024

Irish President Michael Higgins stated that the Israeli occupation has violated many provisions of international law and breached the sovereignty of three countries: Lebanon, Syria, emphasizing that Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to establish settlements in Egypt.

Higgins condemned Israel’s labeling of Dublin as “antisemitic” after it announced its support for the Palestinian people, stressing that it is dangerous to label a state as such merely for disagreeing with the Israeli Prime Minister.

The comment came after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar branded Higgins an antisemite amid the ministry’s decision to close the Israeli embassy in Dublin.