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Why Do Arab States and Europe Refuse to Actually Help the Palestinian People?

Jordan King Abdullah II visits Trump at White House (Source: Reuters)

Jordan King Abdullah II visits Trump at White House (Source: Reuters)

US President Donald Trump’s February 6 proposal for the Gaza Strip shook the world, causing an earthquake in the international community. And the aftershocks continue to be felt.

Whether his proposals for relocating Palestinians and turning Gaza into a “Riviera” of the Middle East are realistic is almost beside the point. But Trump’s statements have once again highlighted the hypocrisy and triple standards applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Many voices insist that Palestinians must not be displaced or offered voluntary and even temporary departure  — and are using terms like “forced displacement” and “ethnic cleansing.” Yet, much of this concern for the plight of Palestinians has very little to do with Palestinians, and everything to do with Israel.

During the Syrian civil war, approximately 6.5 million refugees were forced to flee Syria. About 5.5 million of those went to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt, while another 85,0000 went to Germany. These refugees were managed by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) — the United Nations agency responsible for all the world’s refugees, except for Palestinians, who fall under the separate UNRWA agency, the only “refugee” group to receive that distinction.

These refugees fled Syria in the midst of a brutal civil war, and there were certainly no widespread accusations that this exodus must be prevented to stop “ethnic cleansing.” Rather, the exodus was understood as a natural human response to war.

Similarly, in February 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, around 6.8 million Ukrainians were also forced to flee their country. European countries predominantly gave them safe refuge, with Germany and Poland being the main providers of asylum, along with the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Once again, this was understood as necessary from a humanitarian viewpoint, and once again, the organization that looked after them was the UNHCR.

When it comes to Palestinians, however, any suggestion that they should be allowed to leave Gaza — a conflict zone which has been absolutely devastated by 16 months of war (started by the Palestinian leaders of Gaza) — is met with outrage and accusations of ethnic cleansing.

Jordan, where the population is predominantly Palestinian, says that it will not budge in its opposition to US President Donald Trump’s proposal of relocating Palestinians in Gaza to other countries, including Jordan and Egypt. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told Al Jazeera the Palestinians cannot be transferred to Egypt, Jordan, or any Arab state. He talked about the Palestinian “right for freedom” — just not the kind of freedom that allows them to actually leave an active war zone.

This makes sense, since the Arab community has refused to take in or help the Palestinians since 1948 (including when Jordan had control over areas like the West Bank).

Egypt has also refused to allow the Palestinians to leave, despite having an actual border with Gaza, and ample space where it could easily accommodate them.

Europe has also rejected the idea of relocating the Palestinians, even temporarily, during the conflict. The contrast appears staggering: Syrians and Ukrainians are embraced, while Palestinians are denied the same considerations.

What is the difference? Israel is involved, and when it comes to Israel, the rules change. Triple standards come into force — one rule for dictatorial states, one rule for democracies, and an entirely separate category for Israel.

Arab states frequently talk about the rights and freedoms of Palestinians, but their actions promote the complete opposite. They have the means to help needy Palestinians, but they simply refuse to. Instead, since 1948 and before, they have preferred to continually use the Palestinians as a political pawn to attack Israel’s legitimacy, keeping them in often squalid conditions in refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria, with few rights.

It is simply mind-boggling that more than 20 Arab states with vast resources, encompassing nearly 10% of the world’s total land area, cannot offer refugee status to their fellow Arab Palestinians. Yet the one and only tiny Jewish state is prepared to absorb all Jews worldwide.

This blatant hypocrisy and refusal to help their fellow Arabs should be rejected and condemned by all fair-minded countries. President Trump offered something different. It’s not fully fleshed out, and elements of it will have to change — his suggestion that Palestinians might be moved involuntarily must be a non-starter.

However, perhaps Trump’s plan offers ideas for a way out of this never-ending conflict. Maybe it could even offer hope for a population indoctrinated and historically used as a political tool by their fellow Arabs and the international community. But true to form, the international community seems to be demonstrating that it cares more about vilifying Israel than actually helping Palestinians.

Justin Amler is a policy analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).

The post Why Do Arab States and Europe Refuse to Actually Help the Palestinian People? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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