‘Insane’: Rights advocates denounce Trump’s call for US to ‘own’ Gaza

Washington, DC – Donald Trump’s call for the United States to “take over” and “own” Gaza after its Palestinian population is entirely displaced has stunned rights advocates and politicians, prompting condemnations and forceful rejections of the proposal.
Trump had been calling for the Israeli government to depose Gaza, but he made a new proposal at a press conference on Tuesday, telling him that the US would annex the Palestinian territory.
According to critics, Trump supports ethnic cleansing in Gaza as well as for forcing the United Nations to acquire land in violation of the charter.
According to UN experts, ethnic cleansing is “a purposeful policy that one ethnic or religious group has developed to remove the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from a particular geographic area by using violent and terror-inspiring methods.”
After more than 15 months of US-backed Israeli bombardment, Trump claimed that depopulating Gaza was necessary.
“We will do a job with the Gaza Strip and the US will take control of it.” We’ll own it”, Trump said.
Netanyahu smiled as he heard Trump’s comments during their joint media conference.
In recent months, Trump has also suggested that the US should take over the Panama Canal, Greenland and Canada.
But his remarks about Gaza were particularly jarring in light of the region’s immense suffering. It was met with rebuke from many rights campaigners.
Here’s some of what Trump’s critics had to say:
‘Terrifying’
Abed Ayoub, executive director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said Trump’s proposal is “terrifying”.
Ayoub said the US president’s comments are “insane”, but they should not be taken lightly, stressing that it was Israel’s plan all along to ethnically cleanse Gaza.
It would violate all international laws and standards. This isn’t something that would be permitted to happen”, Ayoub told Al Jazeera.
“But at this point, you’ve got to ask yourself, if you look at the past year and a half: How much does the international community, including Israel, really care about international law and norms”?
He warned that the displacement of Palestinians would cause significant backlash in Arab nations and cause further unrest in the region.
“A threat to international harmony”
Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at the US-based rights group DAWN, slammed Trump’s remarks on depopulating Gaza and the US taking over the enclave.
According to Jarrar, “President Trump’s delusional assertions that he owns Gaza demonstrate the need for the international community to hold Israeli and US leaders accountable.”
“It’s a threat to international peace and international order to partner up with Israel in genocide and ethnic cleansing,” says the statement.
Endorsement of ethnic cleansing
Trump’s plan is “a support of ethnic cleansing,” according to Tariq Habash, who resigned from the Joe Biden administration for its unwavering support for Israel.
“The US has no right to ‘own’ Gaza or set the course for the Palestinian people,” the statement read. This is not diplomacy and is not in America’s interest”, Habash, who recently co-founded the think tank A New Policy, told Al Jazeera.
“Request of the commission of crime against humanity.”
Nancy Okail, president of the Center for International Policy, said that Trump’s proposal echoes ideas from the “darkest chapters of history”.
According to Okail, President Trump’s remarks that the population of the Gaza Strip should be permanently relocated and that the United States should “take control” the territory are nothing less than an open call for the commission of a crime against humanity.
It is illogical for a US president to advocate for forced population displacement and the annexation of territory in the twenty-first century.
‘ Palestinians aren’t going anywhere ‘
Democrats from Michigan and the state Democrat Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib pleaded with their colleagues to speak out against Trump.
“Palestinians aren’t going anywhere”, Tlaib wrote in a social media post.
Because of Congress’ bipartisan support for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing, “this president can only spew this fanatical bull***t.”
The Palestinians’ claim that “Gaza belongs to them”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) rejected Trump’s comments, saying that if the US president truly wants peace in the region he must work to end the oppression of Palestinians.
According to CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, not the United States, and President Trump’s call to force Palestinians to leave their land either temporarily or permanently is a total non-starter.”
This crime against humanity would bring the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians to an end, cause widespread conflict, put the last nail in the coffin of international law, and permanently tarnish our nation’s reputation abroad.
Bismillah. Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, not the United States, and President Trump’s call to expel Palestinians from their land is an absolute non-starter. Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the entire Muslim world have made it clear that this delusional idea is…
Palestinians can’t be eliminated, according to the statement.
The Arab American Institute said Trump hosted a “war criminal” at the White House for a “casual discussion” of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
“This declaration will give Iran and other adversaries ammunition while tarnishing our Arab partners in the region,” the statement read. The only real way to guarantee the Israeli and Palestinian peoples’ peace, stability, and security is through a two-state solution, according to the group in a number of social media posts.
Source: Aljazeera
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