Macron Says No to Gaza Expulsions
CrossFireArabia- February 12, 2025
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for “respect” for Palestinians, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s reported plans for the mass deportation of Gazans.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Macron said: “You cannot say to 2 million people, ‘okay, now guess what? You will move’,” emphasizing that this is not a matter of “real estate” but a “political operation.”
Macron also said any “efficient” response to rebuilding Gaza “doesn’t mean automatically that you should lack respect to people or countries,” highlighting the wishes of Palestinians to remain in their homelands and the unwillingness of both Jordan and Egypt to accept large numbers of Gazan refugees according to Anadolu.
France has voiced support for “Israel’s right to defend itself” following Oct. 7, 2023, while Macron criticize Israeli operations and policies on multiple occasions.
“I always reiterated my disagreement with (Israeli) Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Macron said. “I don’t believe, once again, that such a massive operation targeting sometimes civilian people is the right answer.”
France suspended arms exports to the Israel Defense Forces in October 2024, calling on other nations to follow suit.
On Feb. 4, Trump announced at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US intended to seize Gaza and relocate its Palestinian population to neighboring countries, including Egypt and Jordan.
Trump’s plan has faced widespread rejection from Palestinians, Arabs, and the international community while receiving significant political support within Israel across various factions.
The Israeli attacks have killed over 48,200 Palestinians and devastated Gaza since the war on the enclave began on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Glittering Stone
- CrossFireArabia
- February 11, 2025
By Khaled Nusseibeh
Perchance a demolition site
Is the breeding ground of a great culture
Areas decimated and people maimed
The sin being the will to be
And they are evincing prodigious resilience
Persevering in conditions of great harshness
The ceiling might have collapsed
But the earth is ready for rapid reconstruction
Undertaken by the brave men and children
Evincing invincibility in the face of great odds
One could not withhold a humble salute
To the women of legendary resistance
The targets of an unjust battle
To usurp, uproot and expel
But the roots are too deeply entrenched
In the beloved Gaza of Palestine
Truly, the bloodletting has been too profuse
Of people baffled by the extent of rancor
The great lengths of guileful plotting
To exacerbate a tragic diaspora
However many a time the uprooting
The displacement is supplanted by a will to live
To restore the broken tents
To water a tiny garden of life
Supporting families that were abandoned
To a fate knowable only to God
Perchance illusory peace may become a reality
Perverted by an inordinate penchant for war
And you Gaza are a glittering stone
With a sparkle that will outlive the morbid plots
Khaled Nusseibeh is a translator, writer and a poet with several published poetry collections to his name. He holds a BA and MA Degrees from Colombia and Princeton universities in the USA. Mr Nusseibeh was born in Amman in 1961 and is a Jordanian of Palestinian origin.
‘Relocate Israelis to Alaska’ Saudi Official Tells Trump
- CrossFireArabia
- February 9, 2025
A member of the Saudi Shura Council has criticized US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, suggesting that relocating Israelis to Alaska and Greenland would be a better solution to Middle East stability.
Trump has suggested relocating Palestinians from Gaza on several occasions, claiming that he will carry out an extraordinary redevelopment plan to transform the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Following Trump’s remarks, which were widely condemned by several major Arab, European, and other countries, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ironically suggested on Thursday that Palestinians should establish their state in Saudi Arabia rather than in their own homeland, dismissing any notion of Palestinian sovereignty.
“The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there,” he said.
“If he (Trump) truly wants to be a hero of peace and achieve stability and prosperity for the Middle East, he should relocate his beloved Israelis to the state of Alaska and then to Greenland—after annexing it,” Shura Council member Yousef bin Trad Al-Saadoun said in an article for the Saudi newspaper Okaz on Friday.
He urged Palestinians to remain united, as “the worst is yet to come.”
Trump’s proposal was met with wide condemnations from the Palestinians, Arab countries, and many other nations across the world, including Canada, France, Germany, and the UK.
Saadoun also dismissed Netanyahu’s call for establishing a Palestinian state on Saudi territory.
“The Zionists and their allies must realize they will not succeed in dragging the Saudi leadership into media traps and false political pressures,” he said.
The Saudi official further criticized Trump’s decision-making, arguing that poor choices are made by those who “ignore accumulated knowledge and expertise” and refuse to consult specialists.
He also accused Washington of blindly adopting Israel’s methods.
“The official foreign policy of the United States will seek the illegal occupation of sovereign land and the ethnic cleansing of its population—both of which are Israel’s methods and constitute crimes against humanity.”
Riyadh on Sunday strongly condemned Netanyahu’s comments about Palestinian statehood in Saudi Arabia and emphasized the right of the Palestinian people to their land.
The Saudi Shura Council, whose members are appointed by the king, advises on policy and legislation but lacks legislative power, focusing on laws, economic plans, and social policies.
