Haaretz 05.02.25: “Trump, in Shock Announcement, Says U.S. Will Take Over Gaza After Permanently Displacing Palestinians.”
Permanently displacing! Every person who has some knowledge of history knows what “permanent displacement” means — it is a misleading and euphemistic term used as a substitute for the term ethnic cleansing. Every Palestinian can tell about the several “temporary displacement” which became permanent, which their people have gone through. The greatest one, the Nakba, occurred in 1947-8. Later, after the establishment of the state of Israel, Palestinians were “temporarily (permanently) displaced” from hundreds of their own villages, villages that Israel demolished immediately after evacuating them, and then turned them into parks, and of course the continuous “permanent displacements” since 1967 on in the occupied West Bank.
This practice of permanently displacing Palestinians has reached the highest levels in recent years, but October 8th marks the turning point, in which the ethnic cleansing has turned into an ongoing mass killing and the total destruction of Gaza. It is worth noting that ethnic cleansings may turn into genocides, because entire peoples are usually unwilling to leave their countries voluntarily.
Trump’s ambition to build a wonderful riviera free of Palestinians on the shores of Gaza is essentially an open invitation to ethnic cleansing, because it is unlikely that the Palestinians will voluntarily vacate their homeland.
While Trump is practically suggesting committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, Netanyahu hears him and smiles. One of them a convicted felon and the other an alleged criminal – both archvillains who wish to establish a new order in the Middle East. This will not work!
This will not work because Trump’s plan grants a permanent war and bloodshed for both peoples who live between the river to the sea, two peoples which deserve to achieve a just sustainable peace. Many citizens in Palestine and Israel want it, and yes, there are partners for this, on both sides.
This will not work because Gaza is not a piece of property, and its residents are not pawns. Gaza is a homeland to two million Palestinians, most of whom have already been displaced by Israel more than once.
The people of Gaza do not need a ”relocation to a nice place”, they need homes in Gaza! And they deserve safety, justice and freedom. The people of Gaza do not need Trump; they need his America to stop being an active participant with Israel in the genocidal war against them.
And a final note for the government here in Austria: fortunately, many countries, Germany among them, have already condemned Trump’s plan. Massive rejection of this plan by many states could change Trump’s course of thinking and dreaming. We just wonder if Austria will also join those states who have shown some sanity and morality.
Ruti Katz
Member of OneState Embassy art collective
and Standing together Vienna
Feb. 2024