US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to transfer hundreds of thousands of residents from the Gaza Strip to Egypt, Jordan and other countries is dangerous on many counts.
Apart from overlooking the demographic change that can happen in the countries asked to host this large number of Palestinian refugees, most probably permanently, the same suggestion totally disregards the views of the people who are asked to leave their land and their ancestors’ land.
In failing to take the views of the people of Gaza about his suggestion into consideration, the US leader considers these people an object or a piece of furniture that will accept to be moved from one place to another without protesting.
In doing the same thing, President Trump also fails to recognise affinity between people and their land in a region where people are ready to die to defend their land.
If settling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is that easy, why then have the Palestinians stuck to their land all those decades, braving the mighty Israeli war machine and experiencing all types of torment?
For the Palestinians, this is not a fight over a piece of land or a piece or property they can exchange for a better property. It is rather a fight over the past of their ancestors, their present and the future of their children and grandchildren.
Footage of hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents returning to their homes in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave on foot on the past few days should have given the US president an idea about how the Palestinians of Gaza view his suggestion for them.
The people travelling miles on foot and returning home know that they might return to discover that their homes have become just heaps of rubble, their neighbourhoods totally erased by Israel’s military machine. Despite this, they are returning and determined to make life out of the devastation and death left behind by the Israeli military.
Mr Trump’s blueprint for solving Gaza’s problems and helping its people live in peace and away from violence is also dangerous in that it does not exclude the transfer of the people of Gaza to other countries outside the region.
The idea of transferring the people of Gaza to other countries has been high on the agenda in Israel since the beginning of the war on the Palestinian territory in October last year.
A few months into the war, the Israeli Foreign Ministry formed special teams to engage with African countries to convince them to accept Gaza refugees.
This prospect of transferring the people of Gaza outside their territory will most likely gain renewed momentum in the coming period, especially with the Israeli government and farright parties and politicians picking up President Trump’s suggestion and considering it applicable.
The same prospect will be at the centre of discussions between the US president and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, when he meets Trump in early February to be the first foreign leader to meet the new American president.
President Trump’s suggestion is expected to involve so many parties in the future, assuming a scope far wider than its current one.
If this means anything, it means that Egypt and Jordan should not be left alone in this battle. This is all the Arabs’ battle.
Amr Emam is the managing editor of The Egyptian Gazette.
