Dear Mr. Trump,
I write to you as a Palestinian and survivor of the genocide, who was born and grew up in Gaza – a city of love and resilience.
I read your statements on Gaza and frankly, I am confused.
You claim to be a “peaceful”, but encourage Israel to continue his genocide, calling for “all hell” to detach himself if your requests are not responded.
Mr. Trump, we have already crossed hell. We lost 60,000 martyrs there.
You request a credit for the cease-fire agreement, and yet your government-one of its guarantors-refuses to put pressure on Israel to fulfill all its obligations under it.
You call Gaza a “demolition site” but fails to name the responsible criminal, while providing it simultaneously with more bombs, financing and diplomatic coverage.
You talk about the Palestinians “safe” and “happy”, but you refer as if we were a burden to unload on Jordan, Egypt or any country ready to take us.
You say that we “only want to be in the Gaza Strip because (we) know nothing else”.
Mr. Trump, I think you misunderstood who we are and what Gaza is for us.
You can consider as a simple obstacle to your vision of luxury stations, but we are a people with deep roots, a long history and inalienable rights. We are the legitimate owners of our land.
Gaza is not your commercial business, and it is not for sale.
Gaza is our house, our land, our inheritance.
And no, it is not true that we want to stay here because we “know nothing else”. Although the 17 -year -old Israeli seat has made life incredibly difficult for us, some of us have still managed to travel – for education, medical treatment or work. But these people always come back because Gaza is at home.
A powerful example is Dr. Refaat Alareer, an inspiring figure, that the Israeli occupation targeted and killed in 2023. He obtained his master’s degree in the United Kingdom and then completed his doctorate at the Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Despite the opportunity to stay abroad, he chose to return to Gaza, where he taught creative writing and literature at Islamic University. He also co -founded We are not Numbers, an initiative that associated young Palestinian writers with experienced authors to amplify their voices and resist the occupation by narration. One of these voices is mine.
Last spring, I too had the opportunity to leave, but I decided not to do it. I could not leave my family, my friends and Gaza in the midst of a genocidal war. However, like many others, I plan to travel to finish my studies, then come back to help rebuild and support my people.
It is the Palestinian way – we are looking for knowledge and opportunities, not to abandon our homeland, but to build and strengthen it.
Speaking of construction – You talk about your plans to transform Gaza into “The Riviera of the Middle East”. The fact is that Gaza was the Riviera of the Middle East. Our ancestors transformed it into a flourishing shopping center, a port city and a cultural center. It was “beautiful” – to use your words – until Israel was created and started to destroy it.
And yet, after each brutal Israeli assault on Gaza, the Palestinians rebuild themselves. Despite all Israeli violence, restrictions and theft, the Palestinians have always made sure that Gaza was a safe place with a comfortable pace of life, where her young people were doing their best to pursue decent means of subsistence, where families were Happy and together, and where the houses prospered.
Israel has now tried to reduce all Gaza to rubble and death, so we can no longer live there. You have resumed the idea, effectively approving our ethnic cleaning under the veneer of humanitarianism.
No, Mr. Trump, we will not be “happy” and “sure” elsewhere.
But I agree with you on something other than you said: “You have to learn from history”. Indeed, history tells us that the colonialisms of the colonists in modern times are not durable. In this sense, your plans and plans of Israel are doomed to failure.
We, the inhabitants of Gaza – like any Aboriginal people – we refuse to be uprooted. We refuse to be dispossessed. We refuse to be forced to exile so that our land can be given to the most offender. We are not a problem to solve; We are a people with the right to live in our homeland in freedom and dignity.
No amount of bombs, blockages or tanks will make us forget that. We will not be relocated, reinstalled or replaced.
Power and wealth will not decide the fate of Gaza. History is not written by thieves – it is written by those who resist, by the will of the people. No matter the pressure, our link with this earth will never be cut. Abandonment and abandonment are not an option. We will honor our martyrs with resistance by nourishing this land with love, care and memory.
I wish you all the best in your futile activities,
Hassan Abuqamar
Gaza, Palestine
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.