It was by any measure a stunning moment. An American president essentially offering to gentrify the Gaza Strip, suggesting that should they resist, they be forced to leave their historical homeland by the Armed Forces of the United States of America. “They’re living in hell,” Trump said, as he sat a few feet away from the man who bombed it to hell and ordered that destruction. That’s Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump said these coastal lands could be made as lovely as the Riviera. “It’ll be beautiful,” he said. Netanyahu beamed at every word and while Trump saw it as a grand real estate deal, Netanyahu saw it as the ultimate Zionist dream.
Palestinians saw it as the ultimate nightmare. for they have lived for the better part of a century with political betrayals since Israel’s founding in 1948. For over 70 years they have lived under an occupation that the United Nations has called illegal, but has never done anything about it. Now the US is touting an illegal removal of millions of Palestinians from their own homeland. Is this the gentrification of Gaza? Probably not. But who can really say? Who indeed? We can only hope that Palestinians have the last word. With love, not fear, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.