Expensive Mr Trump,
I’m writing to you as a Palestinian and a survivor of a genocide, who was born and raised in Gaza – a metropolis of affection and resilience.
I’ve learn to your statements about Gaza and albeit, I’m confused.
You declare to be a “peace-maker” however encourage Israel to proceed its genocide, calling for “all hell” to interrupt lose in case your calls for should not fulfilled.
Mr Trump, we’ve got already been by means of hell. We misplaced 60,000 martyrs in it.
You declare credit score for the ceasefire deal, and but your authorities – one in every of its guarantors – refuses to stress Israel into fulfilling all its obligations beneath it.
You name Gaza a “demolition web site” however conveniently fail to call the felony accountable—whereas concurrently supplying it with extra bombs, funding, and diplomatic cowl.
You discuss Palestinians being “protected” and “joyful”, but you consult with us as if we’re a burden to be offloaded onto Jordan, Egypt, or any nation prepared to take us.
You declare that we “solely wish to be within the Gaza Strip as a result of [we] don’t know anything”.
Mr Trump, I believe you profoundly misunderstand who we’re and what Gaza is to us.
It’s possible you’ll consider us as a mere impediment to your imaginative and prescient of luxurious resorts, however we’re a folks with deep roots, lengthy historical past, and unalienable rights. We’re the rightful house owners of our land.
Gaza isn’t your enterprise enterprise, and it isn’t on the market.
Gaza is our residence, our land, our inheritance.
And no, it isn’t true that we wish to keep right here as a result of we “know nothing else”. Though the 17-year-long Israeli siege has made life extremely tough for us, a few of us have nonetheless managed to journey – for schooling, medical remedy or work. However these folks nonetheless return as a result of Gaza is residence.
A strong instance is Dr Refaat Alareer, an inspiring determine, who the Israeli occupation focused and killed in 2023. He earned his grasp’s diploma within the UK and later accomplished his PhD at Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Regardless of having the chance to remain overseas, he selected to return to Gaza, the place he taught artistic writing and literature on the Islamic College. He additionally co-founded We Are Not Numbers, an initiative that paired younger Palestinian writers with skilled authors to amplify their voices and resist occupation by means of storytelling. One among these voices is mine.
Final spring, I, too, had the chance to go away, however I made a decision towards it. I couldn’t go away my household, mates and Gaza amid a genocidal warfare. Nonetheless, like many others, I plan to journey to finish my schooling after which return to assist rebuild and assist my folks.
That is the Palestinian means – we search data and alternatives, to not abandon our homeland, however to construct and strengthen it.
Talking of constructing – you discuss your plans to show Gaza into “the Riviera of the Center East”. The factor is, Gaza was the Riviera of the Center East. Our ancestors constructed it right into a flourishing commerce hub, port metropolis and cultural centre. It was “magnificent” – to make use of your phrases – till Israel was created and it began destroying it.
And but, after each brutal Israeli assault on Gaza, Palestinians would rebuild. Regardless of all of the Israeli violence, restrictions and thievery, Palestinians nonetheless made positive Gaza was a protected place with a comfortable rhythm of life, the place its youth had been doing their greatest to pursue respectable livelihoods, the place households had been joyful and collectively, and the place houses thrived.
Israel has now tried to cut back all of Gaza to rubble and loss of life so we’re now not in a position to dwell in it. You have got picked up on the concept, successfully endorsing our ethnic cleaning beneath the veneer of humanitarianism.
No, Mr Trump, we won’t be “joyful” and “protected” elsewhere.
However I agree with you on one thing else you mentioned: “You’ve received to be taught from historical past”. Certainly, historical past teaches us that settler-colonialism in fashionable occasions is unsustainable. On this sense, your plans and Israel’s plans are doomed to fail.
We, the folks of Gaza – like all Indigenous folks – refuse to be uprooted. We refuse to be dispossessed. We refuse to be pressured into exile in order that our land will be handed to the very best bidder. We’re not an issue to be solved; we’re a folks with the precise to dwell in our homeland in freedom and dignity.
No quantity of bombs, blockades, or tanks will make us overlook that. We won’t be relocated, resettled, or changed.
Energy and wealth won’t determine the destiny of Gaza. Historical past isn’t written by thieves – it’s written by those that resist, by the need of the folks. Regardless of the stress, our connection to this land won’t ever be severed. Give up and abandonment should not an choice. We’ll honour our martyrs with resistance by nourishing this land with love, care and remembrance.
Wishing you all the perfect in your futile pursuits,
Hassan Abuqamar
Gaza, Palestine
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
