7 February 2025
In a world where displacement is treated like a logistical problem—just a matter of packing up and starting over—people forget what home really means. Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu openly talk about turning Gaza into a “luxury Riviera” after forcing Palestinians to “go somewhere else.” As if centuries of history, culture, and identity can be swapped for beachfront resorts. But that’s not how the Middle East works. What they meant was forcible displacement and ethnic cleansing.
The ceasefire came, and what was the first thing Palestinians did? They went back. Even to the ruins of North Gaza—where there were no roads, no homes, and no guarantees of safety. Just the instinct to return.
Because home isn’t just about comfort. It’s about identity.
A Connection That Can’t Be Replaced.
Palestinians aren’t just “Arabs” who can be relocated to another country as if they were interchangeable pieces on a chessboard. Their ancestors have lived on that land for thousands of years—Canaanites, ancient Hebrews, the first civilisations of the region.
People don’t seem to grasp this:
• Arabic spread as a language.
• But the people? They’ve always been there.
• They’re not from Arabia.
DNA studies confirm it. The indigenous people of Palestine didn’t just appear out of nowhere; they have deep roots in the land, shaped by millennia of history.
The Middle East was never a monolithic entity. It has always been a mosaic of cultures, faiths, and traditions. But colonialism redrew borders, divided communities, and weaponised identity to force displacement.
Iraq: A Case Study in Forced Displacement
Iraq is another example of what happens when people are told to “just move somewhere else.”
Long before nation-states, this land was the beating heart of civilisation.
• Ur, where the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) once walked.
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world.
• The Tigris and Euphrates, where writing, law, and astronomy were born.
For over 2,600 years, Iraq was home to one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities. They didn’t want to leave. They were part of Iraq’s fabric. They were anti-Zionist, because Iraq was home. But in the early 1950s, a series of bombings targeted the Jewish community in Baghdad. Years later, it was revealed that Zionist agents planted those bombs—to terrify Iraqi Jews into fleeing to Israel.
It wasn’t just the Jewish community. Assyrians, Chaldeans, Mandaeans, Yazidis, Kurds—all deeply tied to the land—have faced displacement, violence, and erasure.
Iraq was once one of the most diverse places in the world. Until outsiders turned its people against each other.