Israel's genocide aims to revive the old Zionist dream of Gaza without Palestinians

Amid intensifying genocide, forced displacement, and the normalisation of ethnic cleansing targeting two million Palestinians, groups of powerful men in Washington DC, Jeddah, and Doha met calmly last month to discuss their fanciful plans for Gaza's future. 

The new colonial attitudes of Trump's Washington dominate, continuing those of Britain in the 20th century.

Two Palestinian faces from 40 years ago illustrate these continuities: a grandmother in the Beqa'a refugee camp in Jordan was walking through the mud with her small granddaughter to collect Unrwa medical supplies for her family. Her shoes sank in the mire, and she turned back empty-handed, cursing the British under her breath, to the child's surprise.

She explained to the girl that it was Britain - a small, faraway country - whose politicians gave away her home and land to foreigners, with a piece of paper called the Balfour Declaration, written in 1917 during the First World War.

That was the year the grandmother, Leigh, was born in the Palestinian village of Iraq al-Manshiyya, between Gaza and al-Khalil, more than 200km south of what would become her home for half a century - a refugee camp in Jordan - until her death in 1993. 

Read more: Israel's genocide aims to revive the old Zionist dream of Gaza without Palestinians