We are deeply alarmed by President Trump’s recent statements that appear to endorse and plan for forced Palestinian displacement leading to the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip.  On January 25th, Trump stated “I would like Egypt to take people… You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say: ‘You know, it’s over.’” He also said that he had informed King Abdullah of Jordan that “I would love for you to take on more, ‘cause I am looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.’”  On the same day, responding to questions from reporters on whether Egypt and Jordan would comply with such a request, he stated “They will do it. They will do it. They’re going to do it, okay? We do a lot for them, and they’re going to do it.” Then, on February 4th in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Trump said that the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza should be “permanent,” and announced a “long-term ownership position” for the United States.

We, the undersigned organizations, decry and oppose any effort or initiative, and any calls for, the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and support the Joint Statement of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League that similarly rejected any such steps. The forcible displacement of civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law, including under Article 49(1) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which both the U.S. and Israel are party, and which states (emphasis added):

Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.

Forcible displacement, when carried out with an intent to permanently remove a people from a land on the basis of their identity is ethnic cleansing.

Gaza is an ancient and historic Palestinian city, and the Gaza Strip itself became one of the most densely populated areas on earth precisely because of the ethnic cleansing that occurred in Palestine in 1948 (the Nakba), and 80% of Gaza’s population are themselves refugees or descendants of refugees from the Nakba.  Since 2006 it has been in a state of siege, its people have undergone repeated bombardment and restrictions on basic necessities including food, water, and medicine. Since October 2023, it has been the locus of what experts have called the most intense bombardment since the firebombing of Dresden, resulting in what both academic experts, United Nations experts, and even a U.S. federal judge have found to be a plausible case of genocide.

Through this all, the Palestinians in Gaza have stood with remarkable dignity and perseverance, insisting throughout the immense suffering and loss that they will never abandon their homeland.

We are deeply concerned by clear statements of intent from Israeli government officials over the past year concerning the creation of new Israeli settlements within the Gaza Strip, which further reinforce the intent of ethnic cleansing, and note that outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Halevi has stated that Palestinians in Gaza “can exit through the Rafah Crossing into Egypt, but only one way and they cannot return to Gaza…”

U.S. Middle East Envoy Stephen Witkoff was by some measures correct when he said, upon a visit to Gaza in late January, that it is “inescapable” that “there is almost nothing left of Gaza.” But he was also wrong: the heart and soul of Gaza is retained in its people, and for as long as that strength of spirit endures, Gaza lives.

The United States has no right to dictate to the Palestinian people in Gaza to leave, and direct other countries to participate in their displacement. We are also aware that even a temporary external displacement could be used by Israel to enact permanent exile. While we agree that the short and medium-term humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza may be difficult to meet given the nearly complete destruction that Israel has wrought, if the necessary services cannot be provided in Gaza, the people of Gaza must be able to access them elsewhere within the historic borders of Palestine and must be able to return.

We are also extremely alarmed by an uptick in settler violence and IDF operations in the West Bank that have resulted in scores of Palestinian casualties. These actions are part and parcel of a strategy that seeks to make not just Gaza, but all Palestinian areas across historic Palestine, unlivable for the Palestinian people, and are thus contributory to a process of ethnic cleansing.

Palestine is not just an idea – it is a place.  It is a homeland to the Palestinian people. To participate in, facilitate, or endorse their removal from it would violate every precept of international law, devastate the rules-based international order that protects us all, do irreversible harm to America’s global influence, and be an act of unconscionable immorality.

As Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish wrote,

 

My country is not a suitcase

I am not a traveler

I am the lover and the land is the beloved.

The archaeologist is busy analyzing stones.

In the rubble of legends he searches for his own eyes

to show

that I am a sightless vagrant on the road

with not one letter in civilization’s alphabet.

Meanwhile in my own time I plant my trees.

I sing of my love.

 

Date: Monday, 10 February 2025

 

Signed:

A New Policy

Friends Committee on National Legislation

 

US & International Organizations:

99 Coalition

Action Corps

ActionAid USA

Al-Awda PRRC

Alliance of Baptists

AMEEN Action

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

Animal Healthcare Workers Against Genocide

Arab Americans 4Ward

Arab Youth Union

Bangladeshi-Americans for Political Progress

CAIR Action

Center for Jewish Nonviolence

Center For Nonviolent Solutions

Center for Security, Race and Rights

Charity & Security Network

Churches for Middle East Peace

CODEPINK

CommonDefense.us

Community Alliance for Peace and Justice

Council on American-Islamic Relations

Counter Coalition

DAWN

Demand Progress Education Fund

Democratic Socialists of America

Doctors Against Genocide

Eisenhower Media Network

Episcopal Peace Fellowship Palestine Israel Network

Faith Strategies, LLC

Franciscan Action Network

Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)

Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ

Help Fund Gaza

HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement

IMEU Policy Project

IfNotNow Movement

Institute for Policy Studies New Internationalism Project

Jewish Voice for Peace Action

Just Foreign Policy

MADRE

Medical Mission Sisters, Justice Office

Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

Middle East Democracy Center (MEDC)

Middle East Justice and Peace Group of South Central PA

Migrant Roots Media

MPower Change Action Fund

Muslim Civic Coalition

Muslim Visionaries

National Iranian American Council

Nonviolence International (USA)

Oil Change International

Ollin Women International

Palestine Education Network

Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Palestine Shield Initiative (PALSHIELD)

Palestinian Christians for Justice

Partners for Palestine

PAX

Pax Christi USA

Peace Action

Physicians for Humanity

POLIFA

Progressive Democrats of America – Middle East Alliances

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)

Project TAHA

Resignees from Biden Admin over Gaza

ReThinking Foreign Policy

September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas – Justice Team

Society of Helpers

Terre des Hommes Italy

The American Federation of Ramallah Palestine

The Oakland Institute

The Rights Forum

Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East

United Church of Christ

United Church of Christ Palestine Israel Network

United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)

UNRWA USA National Committee

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR)

Vote for Peace PAC

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER)

World BEYOND War

Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation

Local Organizations:

Ann Arbor Friends Meeting

Atlanta Multifaith Coalition for Palestine

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists

Brooklyn for Peace

Carolina Peace Center

Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy

Green-Rainbow Party Southeast Chapter

Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

MARUF CT (Muslim Advocacy for Rights, Unity, and Fairness)

Massachusetts Peace Action

Minnesota Peace Project

New Hampshire Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East

NH Peace Action

NH Veterans For Peace

Northshore For Palestine

Palestine Taskforce California Nevada Conference United Methodist Church

Pax Christi Michigan

Pax Christi New York State

Peace Action of San Mateo County

Peace Action Wisconsin

Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Western American Area

Showing Up for Racial Justice Bay Area

Shut Down Indian Point NOW!

Smedley Veterans for Peace