We asked people in Gaza what their thoughts were on US President Donald Trump’s stated plans to “take over the Gaza Strip” and displace the Palestinian population there. This is what they told us…
Producer: Belal Awad, Leo Erhardt
Videographer: Ruwaida Amer, Mahmoud Al Mashharawi
Video Editor: Leo Erhardt
Transcript
Ahed Hisham Raffat Arif:
Who is Trump? Who is this? Where did he appear from? This is a crazy, harmful person. We will not leave Gaza, even if it were the last moment of our lives.
Donald Trump [CLIP]:
The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a proper job with it. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, clear the rubble, and remove the destroyed buildings. We’ll level the area and initiate economic development that will provide unlimited jobs and housing for the people of the region.
Ibrahim Al Fayadh:
Trump’s evacuation plans are nonsense. We will stay until the end. We are losing people daily, yet still we say: “Don’t despair, God is with us” and “be strong and it will end,” and we say to Trump: your words are empty, we in Gaza are steadfast and remain until the end.
Abu Tha’ir:
This plan is new and old. In 1948 they were working on the expulsion of all Palestine from the Gaza Strip and from Jaffa… and everyone knows this. But of course, they weren’t able to empty Gaza City entirely, or erase or remove Palestine. No one would accept this, because it is rejected by the whole world and by the people of Palestine in particular: we refuse it completely. When you pull out a tree by its roots, you kill it. You won’t benefit from it in the future. For a human, who is forced to leave his land, he is being sentenced to death.
Mohamed El Kurdi:
This is the land of our ancestors. We will remain as long as the thyme and olive trees grow, by the grace of God.
Abu Tha’ir:
To be present on the land in Palestine—this is your land—you are rooted here. It’s hard to leave it. Even under threat of death, with force. It’s hard.
Mohamed El Kurdi:
We reject any plan, whether it’s from Trump or Biden—many have tried! God willing, they will fail. They attempted plans with their generals and to evacuate areas, but they have all failed.
Jamal Eid Qater:
We will not leave, because this land is ours. No one can buy or sell us. We are the people of this land. We will not allow anyone to buy or sell us. We won’t leave. Pharaoh himself could come—we won’t leave.
Mohamed El Kurdi:
What was destroyed will be rebuilt. We will rebuild it better, God willing. Abu Tha’ir:
Some left to go to the South but others stayed under fire and death. This shows how strongly people cling to their land. To die and be buried in it is better than to be forced out. The whole world has heard and seen this reality.
Ahed Hisham Raffat Arif:
To us, Gaza is the best country—and the best city—in the world. Despite all the destruction and the blockade, look at Gaza. Gaza is my whole life. I will rebuild my home, my family, and every stone in Gaza. I will rebuild it.
Ibrahim Al Fayadh:
Gaza is my life. My blood. My veins, my breath, my soul. My eyes, my vision. Honourable Gaza.
Abu Tha’ir:
Gaza is the soul, the blood, the body, the breath. Without Gaza there is nothing. Mohamed El Kurdi:
Gaza is the heart, is the soul. It’s the veins filled with blood.
Jamal Eid Qater:
Gaza means everything to me. It’s my mother, my father. She is the loving mother to us. Yes. We won’t leave her.
This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Ruwaida Amer, Leo Erhadt, Belal Awad and Mahmoud Al Mashharawi.