It was only amid the peak of the 2020 U.S. presidential election campaign in October of last year that the imam of Michigan, Belal al-Zuhairi, showered praise on Donald Trump in his presence and called him a man of peace. The imam did not stop there, but endorsed his candidacy and promised full support to him, believing his political rhetoric was gospel that Trump would end the war in Gaza. Trump had stated that he was only one capable of ending the war in Gaza and accused his predecessor and opponent, both former President Joe Biden and the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, of all the plights in the region.
It was not only in Michigan, a major swing state, where Trump was welcomed, but in other states as well; he maintained his lead over his rival among the majority of Arab American voters. The day after the imam endorsed Trump, one of Trump’s closest friends, Rudy Giuliani, claimed that Hamas, along with Iran, wants to kill Americans and all Palestinians, since the age of 2, are taught to kill Americans. He also expressed his anger over why Palestinians are living in Israel today instead of Jordan and Egypt.
Though forgetfulness or amnesia is a blessing to survive in today’s chaotic world, one still finds it difficult to overlook the prejudices that Trump continues to exhibit in favor of Israel. Though he was able to impose a cease-fire in Gaza before entering the White House, the massacre soon resumed, with all cease-fire violations occurring after a year-long marathon of efforts. Instead of adhering to the first phase of the cease-fire and resuming the talks for the second phase as stipulated in the plan, Israeli forces launched a fresh military operation from one corner of Gaza to another on March 19, with a call for fresh peace talks to secure the release of more Israeli prisoners. The second round of Israeli operations in Gaza is enjoying all support from Trump, as his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, also talked of a fresh cease-fire plan, first aimed at securing the release of Israeli prisoners, ignoring the earlier cease-fire plan, which was more judicious.
Before the inauguration of the first phase of the three-phase cease-fire plan on Jan. 19, 2025, many, including Trump, had expressed apprehensions about the plan's successful implementation, which aimed to end the occupation of Gaza, establish some form of governance and ultimately, those apprehensions proved to be true.
The resumption of the genocidal war in Gaza, along with the prevention of all humanitarian aid despite global outcry, exposed the fleeting nature and emptiness of Trump’s promise to end the war.
The ongoing genocidal campaign seems to be a copy-paste of what had happened in the first round, which already turned the Gaza Strip into an inhospitable land of rubble and killed more than 50,000, victimizing numerous people. Many watchers of the violence in Gaza claim that the numbers could be much higher than what is being reported in pro-Israel and Western media, which are acting more like spokespersons of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Amid the yes-no dilemma of the cease-fire entering into the second phase, Trump came up with a provocative proposal triggering an unprecedented crisis when he in a joint press conference with Netanyahu in White House on Feb. 4, 2025, said that the U.S. would take over the war-battered Gaza Strip as it has become a demolition site and approximately 1.8 million Palestinians should be moved to countries such as Egypt and Jordan where they can live in peace. He also promised to turn Gaza into a beautiful location, which he called the “Riviera of the Middle East."
Trump's statement not only rendered all talk of a two-state solution redundant, but the plan seems to have evaporated the aspiration of Palestinians for an independent state, paving the way for an unending regional cycle of violence. His Gaza proposal not only pushed the clock of Palestinian movement back but scared the Arab countries and prompted them, particularly Egypt which has all the pretense to dictate the strategic and diplomatic trajectory on Palestine, to call a meeting of the Arab League, a divided and tattered house since its inception, on March 4, 2024 to offer an alternative proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza. The plan provided a comprehensive blueprint for Gaza reconstruction, but was silent about the means of the huge economic resources worth $53 billion. As expected, Israel took no time to reject the plan, saying that the resolution passed at the Arab League Summit was more a reflection of the impotence of Arab politics. The U.S. also rejected the plan, citing that the outcome statement overlooks the realities on the ground.
It is not the Trump plan of takeover of Gaza or rejection of the Gaza reconstruction plan that shows the height of the U.S. proclivity for Israel, but Trump’s every move on the Israel-Gaza conflict shows his disrespect and insensitivity toward the victimized Palestinians. The choice of Pete Hegseth as U.S. secretary of defense by Trump reveals all the misfortunes lying ahead for the Palestinians. During his confirmation speech in the Senate, Hegseth justified the atrocities in Gaza and stated that he would extend all support to the killing of the last member of Hamas. We know well that the prerogative of distinguishing between Hamas and non-Hamas lies only with the Israel-U.S. duo. Similarly, the appointment of Mike Huckabee as the U.S. ambassador to Israel is revealing of Trump’s plan for the West Bank and Gaza. The newly appointed ambassador is someone who has always called for the total capture of the West Bank and sending the indigenous people to Jordan.
This one-sided plan of Trump for Gaza, the West Bank or the whole of the Middle East is facing all-out resistance across the world. Within months of his entering the White House, the entire region, ranging from Syria to Iran to Yemen, has become tense, and the verbal sparring between Iran and the U.S. has reached a point where the decade-old war-like situation seems on the verge of becoming a terrible reality at any moment.
Since Trump was inaugurated for his second term, U.S. streets have witnessed protests daily. The majority of the protests are aimed against the brutal war in Gaza and Trump’s defense of the genocidal acts of Netanyahu and his armed forces. The Turnberry Golf Club in Scotland, owned by Trump, was spray-painted red and areas of the lawn were dug up with the words "Gaza Not for Sale" written in bold letters. Another of Trump’s golf courses in Ireland was vandalized when pro-Palestinian activists planted a Palestinian flag there. A deal between Trump and the government of Indonesia to develop six resorts in Bali has failed to make any headway since the war in Gaza broke out. Similarly, the score of Holocaust survivors signed a memorandum condemning the harassment of another Holocaust survivor, Stephen Kapos, by London police for expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine.
The most recent protest occurred in the first week of April, when hundreds of thousands of Americans in different U.S. cities took to the streets against Trump’s clampdown on democratic voices and his politics of weaponizing trade policy. The rally drew support from around 300 organizations. Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and graduate of Columbia University, has already become a symbol of protest after he was detained for his pro-Palestine advocacy. In another case of opposition to Trump’s policy of a crackdown against academic institutions, Harvard University filed a lawsuit against his administration for withholding billions of dollars of funding for the university.
A recent poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos shows a steady decline in Trump's popularity since he returned to the White House. Today it has reached its lowest. Some 83% of the 4,306 respondents said the U.S. president should comply with federal court rulings even if he doesn't want to.
Trump 2.0 is giving all indications that one should harbor no hope that Palestinians will receive a just solution under the Trump administration. No doubt, all negotiations on the prospect of the two-state solution will lie buried as long as he occupies the White House.
His first term in office (2016-2020) was equally unjust for the people of Palestine, as he was the one who shifted the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the city of Jerusalem and declared the city the eternal capital of the state of Israel. Trump is not unpredictable, as assumed by many in his first term, and whatever he is doing today in the region is to ensure a secure, stable and prosperous future for the state of Israel. To achieve this objective, he can sacrifice centuries-old American values nurtured by the founding fathers of America, which was loftily called a shining city on a hill.
