US President Donald Trump shocked the world this week when he announced that the United States would remove Gaza’s population and directly occupy the strip.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too”
The announcement was celebrated by most Israelis and pro-Israel Diaspora Jews.
Someone posted a picture of Gaza, hard borders intact, with the word “Gaza” crossed out and replaced with “MAGA.”
One influencer wrote that “Trump just confirmed that it was time for a new landlord.”
Another proudly shared the Israeli and American flags boasting that this is an acceptable “two state-solution.”
Yet another influencer with millions of followers declared that the news all felt “Messianic.”
At a time when Israel’s “Sovereignty” movement should be screaming from the rooftops, resisting this blatant act of US imperialism, we see expressions of gratitude for Trump’s statements.
The farce of the right-wing Jewish cynical deployment of “indigeneity” talking points now lies completely exposed.
The empire that forcefully removed the Jews from Gaza in 2005 plans to physically replace the population, build resorts where our homes and Synagogues once stood, and luxury beachfront properties on the soil we wet with our tears as our army did the bidding of George W. Bush.
I am left wondering if perhaps some of the true ideological tendencies of the Maccabim, protested when the Romans set foot onto Judean soil. Did they celebrate their “allies” exchanging soft power for direct rule?
Even groveling at the foot of the emperor for recognition, let alone of an empire’s implicit colonial conquest, has historically been an embarrassing feature of our own inferiority complex.
This celebration makes it clear that while utilizing buzzwords from the postcolonial discourse, the lack of creativity in Israel’s political echelons has brought us to colonialist policies and mentalities. But despite their offense by the accusation, they roll the red carpet for the Caesar’s imperialist project.
This pathetic response to US imperialism has cast a shadow over Israel’s “Sovereignty” movement. It has created a space where it’s hard to suggest that they seek anything beyond Western dominance over Islam and the Arab world. That foreign rule in the land of Israel is acceptable, so long as Israelis feel safer. Or worst of all, perhaps, that US rule isn’t foreign at all.
Fundamentally, much of the Jewish right has shown that they perceive themselves as a branch of Western Civilization. As if more westernization in the Semitic region is an indication of progress towards redemption. They revealed that the opposition to the ceasefire deal was not in opposition to Trump strong-arming our prime minister, but rather that it didn’t allow us to sufficiently control Palestinians.
While crazier things have happened, I don’t expect the US marines to land on our shores any time soon. It seems clear that Trump is being bombastic and wants to use this as a bargaining chip to secure a normalization deal withSaudi Arabia. Perhaps this is even meant as pressure on Hamas. But this is not a gift to Saudi Arabia nor to the Palestinians. It’s being presented as a gift to Israel.
In exchange for the “gift” of US control over Gaza, will Israel be forced to destroy Jewish communities in the West Bank?
Furthermore, this is not the departure from long-standing US foreign policy that it’s being made out to be. This is the natural conclusion of decades of US policy seeking both a regional foothold and seeking to limit our sovereignty. At times, they have backed specific groups as forces to carry out their interests here. In 2004, as Bush forced Ariel Sharon to evacuate the communities of Gush Katif, Martin Indyk wrote that this would inevitably lead to US boots on the ground. Anyone committed to Jewish independence should vehemently oppose these policies.
Even if nothing more comes from this, it feels as if we have to a certain extent shown ourselves to be not ready for the great responsibility of independence. We have proven ourselves absolutely incapable of even identifying the forces seeking to remove us from our land, let alone resisting them. How can we expect Palestinians to see us as anything other than Crusaders when we seem to think the same of ourselves?
The urgency of changing the dynamics of the US-Israel relationship is reaching a breaking point. If we allow ourselves to remain tools of US imperialism, we risk ceding Israel’s role to the Kingdom of Esav.
Rather than celebrating Trump’s vision for our country, we should be formulating our own vision of justice – for us and for all of humanity.
The people of Israel have survived every empire and world superpower, in bouts of limited sovereignty, and exile itself. At times we’ve had to bind ourselves to them, but today we have more power than we realize.
The Jewish people needs to catch up psychologically to all of our great material achievements of the last century. One of the ways to advance this process right now would be by saying no to Trump and resisting his plan to take Gaza.
Taking over Gaza by the US is a bad idea but we should take it over and have Jews resettle there.