Palestinians living in Malta are outraged by Donald Trump’s plans to “take over” the Palestinian Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in neighbouring countries.
During a White House press conference, the US President announced plans for the US to assume control of the Gaza Strip, remove explosives and debris, and capitalize on the territory’s real estate potential.
Hanan Abunada, who was born in Malta to Gazan parents and still has family in Gaza, told Times of Malta that her family is "ready to die to stay in Gaza".
Abunada said that Trump was crossing a “red line” by suggesting sending Gazans to Jordan and Egypt.
“We will never leave our land, no matter what they do,” Abunada said as she was talking in the name of her family who are currently located in the north of Gaza.
“For anyone who thinks they can kick Gazans out, it will never happen. That’s what we believe. We are going to fight for this.
Lastly, she appealed to the Maltese government to support Palestinians.
23-year-old Samira Barack left Palestine and moved to Malta when she was 18 to study at the University of Malta, said that she was “shocked” by Trump’s plans.
Rather than intervening to ensure a ceasefire, Barack said that Trump is choosing to intervene to satisfy the US’s interests.
"When they want to intervene, they usually intervene to get something in return. This also benefits Israel as its partner,” she said.
32-year-old Palestinian Reem Totah moved to Malta in 2018 after growing up in Palestine’s West Bank.
"Is this really surprising that we’re hearing this from Trump? I don’t understand the weight people are putting on this, we knew exactly what they are after. Netanyahu has been saying this for years now,” Totah said.
Totah expressed her frustration over the attention that Trump’s comments have been receiving, which takes away from the genocide that is still taking place.
Although there has been a ceasefire, Totah noted how bombings have still been taking place up until recently.
“The flag on the uniform might be different but the weapons are the same… the US is one with Israel,” Totah said.
She appealed to Malta to speak up against this saying that “you cannot let criminal behaviour go on and on without impunity”. She also appealed for more boycotts and sanctions against Israel.
'Colonial settler mentality'
On behalf of NGO Ġustizzja Għall-Palestina Yana Mintoff said that after years of fighting for peace, “the colonial settler mentality has returned”.
She slammed Trump for standing next to Netanyahu who has been issued an international arrest warrant for genocide by the International Criminal Court.
She appealed to the Maltese government to look towards Palestine as a neighbour and recognise it as a state.
Moviment Graffiti’s Andre Callus called Trump’s plans “an organised ethnic cleansing on an industrial scale, akin to Nazi ideas and methods of the 20th century.”
“It would mean that people - wherever they live in the world - could be threatened with displacement by a foreign power that covets their land,” he said.
Left-wing political party Il-Progressivi called the government “hypocritical” for not following up on Malta’s promise to recognise Palestine as a state. It accused Malta of bowing “down to United States’ pressure and remains the only country that has failed to live up to its promise”.