The US trail of tears for Palestine: Trump’s 21-point Gaza plan

Donald Trump’s 21-Point Plan for Gaza is not a peace proposal—it is a blueprint for modern colonization disguised as diplomacy. It denies Palestinians the fundamental right to self-determination and instead enshrines direct colonization under the guise of “peace and justice”

Palestine is barred from having its own military. Even more alarming, the Palestinian education system—the soul of its national identity—is placed under Israeli control, as if the history, identity, and future of Palestinian children can be dictated by the very power occupying their land. This is not peace; this is colonialism in disguise.

Repeated peace initiatives have failed to produce a just resolution, revealing a persistent gap between stated commitments to a two-state solution and the realities of U.S. policy and Israeli actions on the ground. From the 1978 Camp David Accords that sidelined the Palestinian question, to the Oslo Accords that left core issues like settlements and Jerusalem unresolved, to Obama’s hopeful Cairo speech that yielded no tangible change—all ended in disillusionment. Under Trump, the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the blatantly pro-Israel “Peace to Prosperity” plan (2020)—spearheaded by his son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner—deepened Palestinian dispossession and shattered any remaining trust in U.S.-led diplomacy. That plan offered Palestinians fragmented enclaves under permanent Israeli security control, no right of return, and no sovereignty over Jerusalem or borders.

Now, Trump’s revived Gaza proposal, reportedly shaped by his newly appointed Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff—a real estate developer with no diplomatic experience—echoes the same colonial logic. Most alarmingly, reports suggest the plan envisions an international stabilization force for Gaza, led by Tony Blair—a former UK Prime Minister and “Peace Board” member whose credibility on matters of war, peace, and human rights remains deeply compromised by his central role in promoting the false WMD narrative that justified the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a war that killed hundreds of thousands and destabilized an entire region. Entrusting Blair—whose name is forever linked to the false WMD claims that launched the Iraq invasion—to “secure” Gaza is not peacebuilding; it is outsourcing occupation to a man whose judgment on Middle East security has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

Where are the Palestinian voices in the conversations that shape their future? Who was consulted? Not Hamas that won democratic elections in 2006 and has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007. Nor the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people—which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank through the Palestinian Authority (PA). This absence is not incidental; it reflects a broader pattern in which the oppressed are excluded from the very decision-making processes that directly affect their lives.

Finally, what guarantee is there that Israel will honor this plan? None. As John Kerry warned, “The status quo is leaning toward one state and perpetual occupation.” And from Menachem Begin—who signed the Camp David Accords but refused to recognize Palestinian national rights—to Benjamin Netanyahu, who has consistently rejected Palestinian statehood, Israeli leaders have participated in peace negotiations without genuine commitment to a just resolution. Successive prime ministers, including Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, and Ehud Olmert, have often used negotiations to entrench Israeli control rather than to empower Palestinian sovereignty. This absence of sincerity reflects a broader pattern in which the oppressed are excluded from the very decision-making processes that shape their future, while the oppressor—Israel—backed by a self-appointed mediator like the Trump administration—enjoys a structural advantage that perpetuates the imbalance of power.

Palestine does not need another plan drafted in Washington—it needs justice, sovereignty, and the right to speak for itself. Rewriting history will not erase the truth: this is America’s Trail of Tears for Palestine—a forced erasure of rights, dressed in the language of peace.

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