the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Feb 17, 2025
This article is translated from the February 14 issue, #2950 of Lutte Ouvrière (Workers Struggle), the paper of the Trotskyist group of that name active in France.
Trump has reiterated his delusional plan—declaring that he wants to deport the Palestinians to build “the Riviera of the Middle East” on the ruins of Gaza—despite the strong reactions he’s provoked, including within the U.S. administration.
On the future of the Palestinians as on the sovereignty of Greenland or that of the Panama Canal, Trump expresses his desires without cloaking them under so-called “international law,” like other more hypocritical imperialist leaders. With the economic, technical and military power of the United States, with his Israeli ally, a government determined to drive the Palestinians from their land and an army that has proven its ability to intervene against all its neighbors, Trump would like to settle the old Palestinian question by getting rid of the Palestinians.
On February 10, to remove the ambiguity of his first announcement, he stated on Fox News that the Palestinians evacuated from Gaza to rebuild the bombed enclave would never be able to return there. On the same day, he threatened Jordan and Egypt, the two countries to which he plans to deport most Gazans, with cutting off U.S. financial and military aid if their leaders continue to reject his plan.
Allies of the United States and dependent on its aid, King Abdullah of Jordan and Egyptian leader Al-Sissi have no desire to welcome nearly two million deported Palestinians onto their territory. They are well aware that these “wretched of the earth” would stir up revolt among the poor classes and become a source of instability in their countries, already suffering from the economic crisis and social inequalities. Seeking to loosen the vise, Al-Sissi repeats “that the reconstruction of Gaza must begin without displacing the Palestinians and preserving their right to live on their land.”
Saudi Arabia, another ally of the United States, had undertaken to normalize its relations with Israel before October 7, 2023. If it agreed to support the Trump plan and participated, with Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, in the financing of this “Middle Eastern Riviera,” it would appear to all Arab peoples as an accomplice to this “Nakba” of the 21st century, a new “catastrophe” reproducing that of 1948.
After all, with all due respect to Trump, who wants to reshape the Middle East as he sees fit, to the leaders of secondary powers who act horrified at his words but have never hesitated to massacre peoples, to Israeli leaders who steal Palestinian land, to the leaders of Arab countries, the main obstacle remains the peoples of the region, starting with the Palestinians, determined not to let themselves be deported or exterminated.