“The US will take over the Gaza Strip”… “I envision a world — people living there, the world’s people.” Such are the exact words of the US President Trump, and they are shocking to everyone. Yet, here is why they shouldn’t be.
Trump is managing to peel off the liberal value coating the US realist policy has always had on. The sugar coating of aggressive foreign policy has gone up and down in recent US history based on the party in power yet was never removed.
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Bush, for one, claimed that he was invading Iraq to “free the Iraqi people” and that they would receive the US troops with flowers.
Obama posed as the president for change and claimed that the US built “an order based not just on military power or national affiliations but built on principles — the rule of law, human rights, freedom of religion, and speech, and assembly, and an independent press.” At the same time, he was the president who ordered tenfold more drone strikes than Bush.
What’s different about Trump is that he “cut[s] to the chase,” as Netanyahu told him. The Palestinian cause has gone from bad to worse under the US leadership as the “mediator”, with no clear peaceful resolution on the horizon.
Trump is proposing a solution: Kick Palestinians out, flatten what’s remaining of Gaza, remove the rubble, dig down to find the tunnels, and then rebuild a “world class” area for the “world’s people” to live in.
A Valueless World
This plan reflects his understanding of the world: a valueless world. Morals, rights, and values have no place in Trump’s mind. It’s all about striking “a deal” where money is the key determinant. This is how he built his career and reached the White House for two terms.
His statement on Gaza is just a change in rhetoric, being more clear about the US policy towards the Palestinian cause. He’s too vulgar for a president, which everyone admits.
What is shocking though is that he is managing to break down the foundations of the American democracy in an unprecedented pace.
American democracy has been great at protecting the rights of most Americans, yet almost never extended its value system beyond its borders. What Trump is doing now is breaking the foundations of the system internally with the flood of executive orders he signs and the unvetted billionaire who decided to access government data and send federal employees home.
Pulling the Right Thread
The American Muslim’s role towards Gaza should not be mere demonstrations or letters to the representatives, simply because Congress is paralyzed against Trump at this moment. American Muslims should use the language that Trump understands best: money.
In 2021, American Muslims paid $1.8 billion in Zakat alone. This amount is much more than all of what Trump raised in his 2024 campaign donations over two years.
Lobbying in DC is not about demonstrations, it is about who pulls the right threads in the right way. This is how Trump’s destruction can be stopped.
Yet this is now how America can be rebuilt.
America needs values to come to the center of its policy making. It needs values not as a coat to injustice, yet as the core for justice.
America needs Muslims to address its deepest problems. To build an economic system that puts the poor in the center; a political system that allows true representation and not to allow those who pay most to win the seats; a society where all of its members are equal, regardless of their color or ethnic background; and much more. America needs a cure.
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Beyond Trump: Muslims’ Obligation as Americans
