From Dearborn To Cairo To London And Paris, The Whole World Is Condemning Trump's Harebrained Scheme

Arab-Americans & The Saudis Helped Put Trump Back In The White House. Happy Now?

Although he didn’t win a majority of the state’s votes, Trump won Michigan’s 15 electoral votes, 49.7% to 48.3%, at least in part because of his campaign’s very aggressive outreach to the Arab-American community in the southeast corner of the state. They worked hard to get Arab-Americans to vote for Trump, but those savvy enough to dismiss that idea were targets for a reasonable campaign to not vote for Kamala as a protest against the Biden administration’s support for Israeli genocide in Palestine, particularly Gaza. Democrats were encouraged to either stay home or vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. It worked. In 2020 Biden won 2,804,040 raw votes. This past November, Kamala won only 2,736,533. Stein won 44,607 (0.8%), But in the counties where most of the state’s Arab voters live, Stein did much better. In fact, in Dearborn, where over half the population identifies as Middle Eastern, 18.6% of the voters backed Stein, and Trump beat Kamala 42.5% to 36.3%. It was exactly the same in other heavily Arab communities. In Hamtramck, Trump won 40.1% to Kamala’s 38.4% and Stein’s 17.8% and in Dearborn Heights, Trump bested Kamala 44.5% to 33.7% with Stein at 17.8%.

So… who’s sorry now (aside from Rubio for giving up a safe Senate seat to take one of the worst jobs in Washington? The organization Arab Americans for Trump, a voter outreach group that played a key role in Trump’s Michigan campaign changed its name yesterday to Arab Americans for Peace. The group’s chairman, Bishara Bahbah, was unhappy with Trump’s remarks about taking over Gaza. Yesterday, the Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan’s Arab American leaders are slamming Señor T’s deranged statements “suggesting that Palestinians be moved to some Arab nations and for the U.S. to take control of Gaza.” To save face for their atrocious and failed  electoral strategy “they're also criticizing Democratic politicians for not speaking up against Trump's remarks and supporting policies that they said have led to this.”

Niraj Warikoo wrote that Trump’s “proposal has led to outrage because of its suggestion that Palestinians could be removed from their homeland… ‘Beyond crazy,’ is how Terry Ahwal, a longtime Palestinian American activist in Farmington Hills, described Trump's ideas. ‘I am sad that my president wants to ethnically cleanse an indigenous population... It's not enough to destabilize and steal Palestinian land. It's not enough to maim the children in Palestine. Now we want to take over.’ Trump said of Gaza in a press conference with Netanyahu: ‘We'll own it... Level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.’ Trump earlier said he wants to ‘clean out’ Gaza by sending Palestinians to live in Egypt and Jordan, which have rejected his proposal.”

The American Federation of Ramallah Palestine, a national group based in Westland that is one of the oldest Palestinian American organizations in the country, echoed Ahwal's views, saying in a statement Wednesday that "President Trump’s suggestion to ethnically cleanse Gaza is not only unacceptable and criminal, but also morally bankrupt, contemptible, and repugnant."

The Palestinian American group added "that past presidents were complicit in aiding and abetting genocide in broad daylight."

"We should aspire for peace, equality, and humanity, rather than this mere suggestion of displacing an already traumatized community" the statement said. "It reveals the moral depravity of our country’s leadership."

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who leads the city with the highest percentage of Arab Americans in the country, said in a tweet late last night that "President Trump's proposal to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza and have the U.S. 'take over' is yet another chapter in the ongoing genocide."

Hammoud was an outspoken critic of former President Joe Biden's support of Israel during its attacks in Gaza and Lebanon. The Democratic mayor did not publicly endorse Biden or any other presidential candidate last year. Trump visited Dearborn on Nov. 1, meeting with Arab Americans and vowing to bring peace to the Middle East. The Republican nominee won Dearborn in the November election and Kamala Harris lost in heavily-Arab precincts across Wayne County.

"Deploying U.S. troops and using taxpayer dollars to invade Gaza is morally indefensible," Hammoud said Tuesday of Trump's proposal. "Our commitment to justice remains unshaken, no matter who sits in the White House."

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) the only Palestinian American member of Congress, also slammed Trump's plans in a tweet late Tuesday.

"Palestinians aren’t going anywhere," wrote Tlaib, who did not endorse Biden or Trump and whose district includes Dearborn. "This president can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing."

She called upon Democrats and others to publicly rebuke Trump's remarks.

"It's time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up," Tlaib said.

Some Biden supporters have been attacking Arab American voters for supporting Trump or candidate Jill Stein, who got 18.6% of the vote in Dearborn, but advocates say that criticism ignores the role Biden played in the thousands of deaths in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen. Michigan has the highest percentage of residents of Middle Eastern ancestry, according to 2020 census data. After the election, Arab Americans asked Trump for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza, which did happen, leading some [complete idiots] to have hopes for his presidency. But his latest remarks are being criticized.

Osama Siblani, the publisher of the Arab American News in Dearborn, said on Facebook that "Trump... is an embarrassment to America and its standing in the world. He is acting irresponsible, violating international law and our own laws."

Jeremy Ben-Ami, President, of pro-Israel, anti-Netanyahu J Street wrote that “the U.S. has no right to push two million people out of Gaza– and would be committing a war crime if it did so.” He said what Trump was proposing was “dressing up ethnic cleansing as a real estate proposal with Netanyahu grinning glibly by his side. ‘This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship,’ right-wing, pro-war extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir responded… It’s an ultra right-wing fever dream. An unworkable fantasy and a recipe for endless, devastating conflict. Locking in Israel’s global isolation and smashing Israel’s founding Jewish, democratic ideals. Thankfully, this hugely irresponsible, illegal and unworkable notion has already been rejected by any and all potential partners in the region. 

He sees this proposal through Jewish eyes: “Trump’s unhinged ideas are often cover for other dark plans. We’re deeply worried this is going to provide the pretext for right-wing forces in the Israeli government to sabotage the ceasefire and reignite the war— and set the stage for more news next week about the West Bank and potential annexation. This has real meaning for Israelis and Jews around the world— all of whom will now be subject to the fallout. More hate, more condemnation. Some will defend the indefensible and cry antisemitism when the criticism comes. Others will join the growing chorus of Jews washing their hands of Israel altogether. At J Street, we will call this plan out for what it is. We will oppose it with all our strength. We will make clear that the overwhelming majority of American Jews stand against this cruelty and madness – and we’ll rally pro-Israel policymakers to do the same. We cannot let Trump, Netanyahu and their anti-democratic allies transform ‘pro-Israel’ into anti-Palestinian, anti-human rights and anti-international law.”

Pretty much the entire world reacted against Trump’s ad hoc trial balloon, including Saudi Arabia who Trump seems to think he can bully into paying for it. Chloe Cornish, Malaika Tapper and Heba Saleh reported that the proposal was “met with anger across the Arab world, and raised fears of reigniting conflict in the region. Saudi Arabia, considered Trump’s closest ally in the oil-rich Gulf region, was quick to denounce the US president’s plans… Other US allies in the Middle East and Europe also rejected the plan for Gaza. 

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the country would “not establish diplomatic relations with Israel” without an independent Palestinian state, adding that its position was “non-negotiable and not subject to compromises.”… Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has previously labelled Israel’s assault, which killed about 47,000 people in Gaza, a “genocide.”

King Abdullah of Jordan on Wednesday stressed “the need to put a stop to settlement expansion, expressing rejection of any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians,” the kingdom’s royal court posted on Twitter.

Neighbouring Jordan and Egypt have previously rebuffed Trump’s suggestion that they should accept displaced Palestinian refugees.

Following Trump’s latest remarks, Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty said it was important to speed up the delivery of aid to Gaza “without Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip, especially with their attachment to their land and their refusal to leave it.”

Badr Albusaidi, Oman’s foreign minister, meanwhile said “any attempt at forced resettlement would be a very serious crime” that would “condemn the region to a state of perpetual instability.”

…Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan described Trump’s remarks on Gaza as “unacceptable.”

In comments to state agency Anadolu, he added: “Neither we nor the region would accept a deportation from Gaza. Why put forth proposals that do not stop the conflict but will bring more conflict?”

Hamas, the militant group that has controlled Gaza since 2007, said Trump’s “irresponsible” statements were “aggressive to our people and cause, will not serve stability in the region and will only pour fuel on the fire.”

It called on the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the UN “to convene urgently…  and to take a firm and historic position that preserves the Palestinian people’s national rights.”

… European allies of the US and Israel also appeared to reject Trump’s proposal. France rejected any “third party” control of Gaza, a reference to Trump’s plan for the strip.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Palestinians in Gaza “must be allowed home, they must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild— on the way to a two-state solution.”

Rick Wilson suggested that Trump’s proposal “sounds insane because it is. It sounds manic because it is. It sounds deranged because it is… This is the same man who, throughout the 2025 campaign, boasted about ‘no new wars’ and stoked nationalist isolationism— promising to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, and forever bragging (falsely) the world was a quiet glade of restful peace during his first term. Now, those same supporters who once clamored for an ‘America First’ retreat behind our two oceans are cheering a ludicrous scheme to become Gaza’s new landlords… Worse, this kind of posturing gives Netanyahu a pretext to level Gaza entirely, reducing it to finer-grained rubble and dust with the comforting thought that the Americans will pick up the pieces afterward. ‘I see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East, maybe the entire Middle East,’ Trump declared. A retired general confided to me, ‘This is thousands of American boys waiting to die. It’ll make Iraq in 2007 look calm.’… [T]he fiasco over Gaza reveals a deepening rift and an administration struggling to cope with a president whose reality often diverges from everyone else’s.”

No doubt El Salvador's brutal, authoritarian government would be absolutely delighted to take the 2.2 million displaced Gazans for Trump and Netanyahu, just as they say they would be happy to incarcerate American citizens who Trump wants locked up far away. The population of El Salvador is 6.3 million, so digesting 2.2 million unhappy, non-Spanish-speaking Gazans would be quite the feat.