The Arabs states’ proposals for post-war Gaza could pose just as much a risk to the Palestinians and wider Arab world as Trump’s [Al-Araby Al-Jadeed]
Donald Trump’s abandonment of his proposal to expel Palestinians from Gaza wasn’t a complete surprise, nor was it the result of one of the volatile president’s characteristic mood swings.
Since the moment Trump made the bombshell announcement about his desire to “own” Gaza and turn it into a real estate project, his advisers, congress members, and experts from US think-tanks got busy persuading the White House to retract the idea. However, they seized the opportunity to leverage to pressure the Arab states to set out an alternative proposal for Gaza’s reconstruction which abides by US-Israeli stipulations, including moving towards their ongoing objective of normalisation between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Indeed, Trump’s retraction wasn’t simply a response to Jordan and Egypt’s rejection of the proposal to displace and resettle the Palestinians in their territory. The primary reason is likely that influential circles in Washington believed the plan would undermine and further delay the normalisation deal they so desperately want signed between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Shifting the cost
It should also be noted that challenging Arab states to come up with the alternative plan was initially raised by veteran diplomat Dennis Ross, from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy – a Zionist think-tank. US officials then echoed the call, notably the secretary of state Marco Rubio.
The timing of all of this was also no coincidence, as it coincided with an unofficial “mini” Arab summit that recently took place in Riyadh. US officials realised Trump’s ideas about Gaza were forming an impediment to Arab leaders’ ability to present alternative proposals.
Ultimately, this push to present an alternative would ensure that responsibility for dealing with the devastating (and costly) consequences of Israel’s genocidal war, is placed firmly onto them.
The inevitable negotiations that will follow the alternative proposal would ensure that Israeli interests and security requirements are satisfied – something it failed to achieve through war on Gaza. Settling this issue will in turn pave the way for the Saudi-Israeli treaty.
There will likely be Arab oversight of a transitional phase, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be responsible for the administration of Gaza under new terms and new figures approved by Washington. The aim of this will be exerting control over Gaza’s population and ending Hamas’ presence there, as well as preventing the emergence of any group that will resist Israeli control.
Influence and US interests
While from the beginning Israel has vehemently rejected any PA involvement in Gaza, the previous US administration insisted on it. In fact, a senior American official met with several independent Palestinian figures to persuade them to take the role, but failed.
It isn’t yet clear whether the Trump administration will accept a role for the PA in Gaza, especially with its recent halting of financial aid to the Palestinian security forces. Furthermore, the responsibility for this decision has been exclusively assigned to Trump’s openly Zionist Middle East envoy, Steve Wittkoff, who shares Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s interest in exploiting Gaza’s coastline for tourism projects.
However, Trump did publicly change his position on Gaza despite unabashedly lamenting his failure to seize the “beautiful piece of land”, as he calls it.
The fact that major US interests overrode his wishes, demonstrates that the US establishment was able to rein him in – at least in this instance. This doesn’t imply we are seeing the start of broader moves to restrain Trump, either within or outside of the US, but it’s clear his broader circle within the Republican Party also intervened.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham even publicly and stridently rejected Trump’s vision for Gaza’s future.
Increasing normalisation
US administrations, including Trump’s last one, successfully widened the circle of normalisation of Arab states. Lest we forget it achieved the unprecedented Abraham Accords, which established a series of Arab alliances with Israel along with a growing regional acceptance of the Zionist narrative – developments they wish to see progress apace.
While Trump’s retreat is certainly significant, shifting the ball to the Arabs’ court doesn’t signify particular cunning on his part, nor on the part of influential decision-making circles in Washington.
Rather, it signifies that because Arab countries have abjectly failed to take the initiative or make any proposals to protect the rights of the Palestinians, the US is confident that any arrangements they propose will be fully aligned with (and even based on) US proposals. This ensures that whatever compromise is reached, American dominance will be accepted as a given.
Certainly, there should be deep misgivings around any Arab “alternatives” regarding Gaza, as these are being put forward by governments which have enfeebled themselves and reduced the ceiling of their aspirations to securing a role where they can “serve US interests”. These governments have marginalised their own peoples and institutions, with some even becoming hostages to Israeli normalisation agreements.
The fact that the Arab leaders haven’t even threatened to freeze normalisation or economic agreements, has only left them ever more vulnerable to blackmail and pressure from the US and Israel.
What is to come?
The Arab world’s dismal non-response to the genocide in Gaza, alongside Israel starting to implement its mass displacement plan in the West Bank by destroying the Jenin and Tulkarm camps and expelling their residents, has encouraged the US and Israel to keep advancing their plans to fully isolate Gaza’s population. Their goal is to prevent the rebuilding of Palestinian identity, and to shatter Palestinians’ hopes and aspirations for freedom.
With all this in mind, we have every right to be afraid – and angry – especially as we are headed towards the potential signing of an Israeli-Saudi agreement. This would be the final link in the chain of Arab and regional subjugation, transforming the region into an Israeli-American protectorate.
It is not just the Palestinians who are threatened by the current danger facing the region – it is every citizen in the Arab world, from the Atlantic to the Gulf. This moment is akin to – if not worse than – the eve of the Al-Aqsa Flood, when the US was on the brink of declaring a crushing victory over the Palestinians and Arabs by pulling Saudi Arabia into an alliance with Israel.
We are left to question whether any of the Arab regimes – those who regard resistance as a far greater threat to them than Israel – are paying attention to this. Do they even care?
Lamis Andoni is a Palestinian journalist, writer and academic who launched The New Arab as its editor-in-chief.
This is an edited and abridged translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original article click here.
Translated by Rose Chacko
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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff, or the author’s employer.
