Trump's Gaza Plan: A century-old colonial blueprint dressed as peace

2026-03-15 - 22:02

The Trump Plan for Gaza, unveiled on Sept. 29, 2025, has been widely framed as a bold new initiative to end the war and usher in regional stability. Yet, when examined within the longer history of Western-sponsored peace proposals in Palestine, its underlying logic becomes unmistakably familiar. Far from offering a path to justice, the plan extends a century-long pattern of agreements that fragment Palestinian land, suppress political agency, and entrench structures of domination. Ceasefire collapse Within days of the plan's announcement, the October 10 ceasefire was already collapsing. Israel violated the agreement 80 times in the first ten days, killing more than 80 Palestinians. By the end of Jan. 2026, the death toll from these early breaches had exceeded 500, exposing the plan's deeper contradictions. Meanwhile, Israeli violence in the West Bank escalated, with the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission recording 1,872 attacks by the Israeli army and settlers in January 2026 alone. UNRWA warned that the West Bank was facing its gravest humanitarian crisis since 1967, with 33,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced and entire refugee camps demolished—realities entirely absent from Trump's plan. Board of Peace and reconstruction vision On Nov. 17, 2025, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2803, establishing the Board of Peace. Two months later at Davos, Trump signed its charter, appointing himself Chairman for Life and granting himself full authority over interpreting and applying its articles. The Board's reconstruction vision, unveiled by Jared Kushner, was promoted through glossy renderings of "New Gaza" and "New Rafah." These projects, however, disregard existing land ownership and are to be offered only to "vetted Gazans." The Board, including figures such as Tony Blair, supervises Gaza's transition on the pretext that Palestinians are unprepared to govern their own affairs—despite UN declarations that "inadequacy of political, economic, social or educational preparedness should never serve as a pretext for delaying independence." Peace agreements as colonial tools The Trump Plan fits within a historical pattern in which peace agreements serve colonial interests. From the secret 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement to the 1939 White Paper, and from the Balfour Declaration to the Oslo Accords, external powers have repeatedly imposed frameworks that defer Palestinian rights, fragment territory, and privilege Zionist—and later Israeli—strategic interests. Trump's plan continues this trajectory by framing Gaza as a separate political entity and excluding the Palestinian Authority entirely. The plan's 20-point structure relies on deliberate ambiguity, with the so-called "yellow line" becoming a de facto new border enforced with lethal force. Israel has already expanded its military operations across the region, with the US ambassador to Israel suggesting it would be "fine" for Israel to control a vast stretch of the Middle East as a biblical entitlement. Economic peace as substitute for rights Like the 2020 Peace-to-Prosperity Plan, the new proposal leans heavily on economic promises. Jared Kushner once assured Palestinians that "Israel's prosperity would spill over very quickly," echoing the Peel Commission's 1937 claim that Jewish capital would bring prosperity to all. This rhetoric masks a deeper strategy: replacing political rights with economic incentives. Meanwhile, Israel has already issued licenses for gas exploration off Gaza's coast, reinforcing the colonial logic underlying the plan. Symbolic presence, absent agency The plan establishes a Palestinian Technocratic Committee to administer Gaza, chaired by engineer Ali Sha'ath. Yet, when the committee used the Palestinian Authority emblem, Israel immediately intervened, insisting that no PA symbols would be permitted. This episode illustrates the broader dynamic: Palestinians may administer, but only within boundaries set by Israel. Their political representatives are excluded, and their rights are deferred indefinitely. Rewriting narratives, reshaping memory Two articles in the Trump Plan reveal its ideological ambitions. Article 13 demands that "New Gaza will be fully committed to... peaceful coexistence," while Article 18 calls for interfaith dialogue to "change mindsets and narratives." This is not reconciliation grounded in justice; it is an attempt to reshape Palestinian identity. Coexistence with Israel is not presented as the outcome of justice, but as a precondition for participation. Leaked QNN documents show that the Palestinian Ministry of Education made sweeping, EU-pressured revisions to textbooks, removing or diluting material tied to Palestinian history, identity, geography, and political reality. Conclusion The Trump Plan makes no mention of the destruction, displacement, or mass death Palestinians have endured. It does not acknowledge Israel's responsibility for the devastation of Gaza or the ongoing annexation of the West Bank. Trump described Gaza as "incredible real estate." Palestinians are spoken about, not spoken with. This is not a peace plan. It is a blueprint for deepening apartheid and legitimizing dispossession—a continuation of a century-long pattern of colonial governance, economic coercion, and political exclusion. The path forward requires resistance, international solidarity, and a commitment to justice and liberation.