‘We will build our own tourism industry’, Gazans’ strong message to Trump
Last Updated on February 8, 2025 6:57 am
Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip say they can build their own coastal tourism industry, including hotels and restaurants, and are determined to rebuild Gaza.
They have also rejected US President Donald Trump’s plan to turn Gaza into a “Middle Eastern Riviera” by depopulating it.
Gaza’s buildings have been reduced to rubble by the 15-month-long Israeli invasion. But Gazans once built their own local tourism industry despite the long siege.
Rejecting Trump’s plan, Gaza resident Asad Abu Haseira said, “Nothing is impossible to rebuild.” He also announced that he would start serving food from his restaurant before the reconstruction begins.
The Gaza resident warned, “Trump says he wants to change the restaurants in Gaza, change Gaza and create a new history for Gaza. But we will remain Arabs and the history of the Arabs will never be replaced by the history of foreigners.
Gaza’s resistance and promise
At the same time, restaurant owner Mohammed Abu Haseira expressed hope that his restaurant would return “in a better state than before.”
At that time, he raised the question, “Trump has decided that he wants to establish a luxurious hotel-restaurant here. But the restaurant was here, and the hotel was too! So what was the need to destroy them? And why is there a need to build a new one now?”
The entire Gaza Strip was once a popular destination for Israeli tourists, a tourist spot. Even after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, the restaurants and cafes across the strip were quite bustling.
But the occupying Israel did not tolerate it. At one point, in the continuation of the atrocities and torture, it increased its aggression against innocent Palestinians. In protest, the Palestinian independence movement Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Since then, the barbaric Israel has turned the entire Gaza Strip into ruins, killing more than 62,000 Palestinians in a continuous attack over the past 15 months. And now their instigator
America wants to take over the Gaza Strip by evicting the living Palestinians and expanding its business and commerce.
Global condemnation, Gazans’ rejection
It has been learned that Trump’s plan to free Gaza from Palestinians and turn it into an international tourist destination is essentially a repeat of an old proposal by his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The plan has also faced global condemnation. Critics say it amounts to ‘ethnic cleansing’ and violates international law.
Gazans have also directly rejected the plan. They have vowed that they will never leave their destroyed homes.
Such a proposal by the United States brings back memories of the ‘Nakba’ or catastrophe of 1948 for Palestinians. At that time, 700,000 Palestinians were displaced after the establishment of the state of Israel.
Source: Reuters