Donald Trump's recent statements claiming U.S. ownership of Gaza are the latest iteration of U.S. bipartisan imperialist policy.
Originally published in Black Alliance for Peace.
February 5, 2025 — Last night, President Trump named what many of us have known for some time – the intentions of the United States to complete the State of Israel’s final solution by announcing his plans to resettle Gazans and assume U.S. control and ownership of the Gaza Strip, Palestine.
In signaling the U.S. imperial initiative, Trump has also revealed that the U.S. cannot be seen as a trusted partner or leader in pursuing global stability and peace. Indeed, the cognitive dissonance and moral infirmity associated with the U.S. colonial, imperialist mindset, driven by the sickness of white “supremacy” ideology, is now irrefutably elucidated. As Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) founder and Coordinating Committee member Ajamu Baraka noted, “The Russians and Chinese must learn the lesson that the peoples and nations of the global South learned decades ago, and that is that the U.S. is a lunatic state that can't be reasoned with.” He continued, “The Russians should have learned this with Ukraine. But if the Chinese believe that they can keep their heads down and allow the U.S. to destroy peoples and nations, it is only a matter of time before the barbarians will be at their gates."
This is nothing more than a continuation of the U.S.’s own settler colonial experiment that includes the extermination, ethnic cleansing, and displacement of Indigenous peoples from their sovereign homelands that commenced in the 15th century and continues today. And the idea that even the most reactionary Arab governments would accept such a non sequitur proposal continues the same amateur, inefficacious, and wanton approach to foreign policy we observed under Biden, Blinken, Austin, and other Democrat party agents who were complicit in funding and arming Israel’s genocidal war machine 15 months before Trump assumed control of the White House.
To this end, BAP admonishes those who seek to use this as an opportunity to evoke the idea that conditions would be better if the U.S. government were currently controlled by Harris and the Democrat Party. For such a silly and sophomoric proclamation ignores the fact that it was a Democrat-controlled government that vetoed numerous United Nations ceasefire resolutions, allocated billions of dollars to support genocide and ethnic cleansing, and enjoined the conclusions of the International Criminal Court (ICC) when it rightfully asserted that the State of Israel had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should not be at all surprising that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the first convicted war criminal to be invited to, and enjoy the pomp and circumstance of, the Oval Office.
For those who believe that the Democrats would be any better if they emerged victorious from the 2024 elections, BAP would ask, has there been any indignation or semblance of disapproval from leaders of the Democrat Party, including, but not limited to, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi or its Black Misleadership Class representatives Jim Clyburn or House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries? Have any Democrats called for an immediate arms embargo and economic sanctions against the State of Israel? Have any Democrats pledged to block the use of the military to carry out Trump’s feckless and illegal pogrom? Has the new leadership of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) declared it will no longer accept donations from or allow for the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to influence its primaries?
It should be noted that Trump’s Gaza Grab Declaration would require the use of U.S. military force, which would be a violation of International Law, the Geneva Convention, and the basic tenets of human rights. To this end, BAP calls on the Congressional Progressive Caucus, as well as the Congressional Black Caucus, to immediately denounce previous Democrat Party stances on Gaza and to do all within their constitutional authority to proactively block the use of any U.S. military forces to carry out Trump’s plans. Furthermore, as using the military to colonize and occupy Gaza would be an illegal act and in itself a war crime, BAP reminds all U.S. military personnel of their duty to reject any and all unlawful orders pursuant to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The world is awakened, the Palestinian resistance and pursuit of their liberation is more ubiquitous and unwavering than ever, and global solidarity with Palestine remains inexorable.
Michael Li is Senior Counsel in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
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