My friend in Gaza’s response to Trump’s ethnic cleansing plan? It was not polite
While US President Donald Trump repeatedly declared, "It's all death in Gaza", the war criminal wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stood beside him.
Instead of arresting and punishing the perpetrator, Trump threatened the remaining survivors in Gaza with expulsion to as-yet-unknown destinations.
He openly advocated for the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip, aiming to remove all Palestinians - not just some but "all of them", as he stressed - from their destroyed homes and land.
As a real estate developer, Trump sees the world as nothing more than land to be bought or seized if necessary. Panama, Canada, Greenland and now Gaza are mere plots in his mind - each with a price tag or a temptation to conquer.
The scale of absurdity, war criminality and outright racism in his speech is simply incomprehensible.
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His words seem to belong to the 1830s, evoking images of white cowboys driving the indigenous Cherokee and Choctaw from their lands around the Mississippi River, exterminating many in the process.
The place Trump calls a 'demolition site' is, for the impoverished people of Gaza, a beloved homeland worth defending to the death
Trump's words render sensible analysis obsolete.
Even world leaders, including America's closest allies, were too ashamed to voice support for his "creative" plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza and claim ownership of the land.
In trying to gauge the reaction in Gaza, I called a friend who survived the war, though his home lay in ruins and half his family was killed.
When I asked what I should write in response to Trump's remarks, he answered instantly and furiously: "Tell him to fuck off. In four years, he'll be gone, and we'll never see his ugly face again. We in Gaza and Palestine are here to stay until the end of time."
There was nothing more I could ask.
Genocidal intent
The blatant genocidal intent expressed by this American president echoes the rhetoric of Israeli officials, who have made similarly chilling statements.
Trump wants to expel more than two million Palestinians from Gaza and replace them with his kind - the rich and corrupt - after transforming the strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East". It is a crude real estate blueprint drawn up by a broker who sees "great potential" in a Mediterranean coastal area once its native inhabitants have been erased.
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There is little point in debating Trump's plans, speeches and attention-seeking buzzwords.
There is no need to cite international law, UN Security Council resolutions, the Geneva Conventions or principles of self-determination - all of which affirm Palestinians' inalienable right to liberation and independence.
What matters now is the collective Palestinian determination to remain on their land despite war and starvation. The logic of steadfastness and belonging to the land is far too complex for a property dealer to comprehend.
The place he calls a "demolition site" is, for the impoverished people of Gaza, a beloved homeland worth defending to the death.
How and why do thousands of destitute families endure days-long journeys in the cold and rain, walking from southern Gaza back to the rubble of their homes in the north?
Why do they insist on staying no matter the cost? Why did hundreds of thousands refuse to leave northern Gaza despite Israel's most brutal, genocidal bombardment?
The simplistic Trumpian mind cannot grasp such realities. His perception of the world is built entirely on money and material gain.
Unlivable wasteland
The bombs dropped on Gaza - already the most densely populated place on earth - have reduced entire neighbourhoods to dust, levelling thousands of buildings and burying countless families beneath the rubble.
The death toll, now surpassing 62,000, rises daily as new bodies are recovered.
Beneath the rubble of each destroyed home in any part of Gaza, the returnees find human bones. The destruction, the calculated elimination of all aspects of life, is staggering.
However, these destroyed homes, streets, markets and spaces have now become blended with the blood and flesh of their beloved ones - far from being disparagingly called a "demolition site".
We can now clearly link this systematic devastation - square by square, neighbourhood by neighbourhood - to Trump's vision: reduce Gaza to an unlivable wasteland, a "demolition site", and then step in as the American saviour with a master plan once its people have been driven out.
Despite Israel offering a $5m reward for each freed captive, not a single Hamas fighter or Palestinian in Gaza took the offer
In a recent Israeli news segment about the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, the reporter questioned why, after 15 long months of war, the Israeli army had failed to locate its captives.
The segment ended with a telling fact: despite Israel offering a $5m reward for each freed captive, not a single Hamas fighter or Palestinian in Gaza took the offer.
Just as Israel's military failures defy its own expectations, Trump's mind remains utterly incapable of understanding the world view, values and unwavering resilience of Palestinians in Gaza and beyond.
That is why my friend asked me to convey his feelings to Trump: "Tell him to fuck off!"
Khaled Hroub's Hamas: A Beginner's Guide, 3rd edition by Pluto Press is scheduled for publication on 20 March 2025.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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