Trump’s idea is reminiscent of the century-old colonial mindset shared by the British and the Political Zionist movement; both groups saw Palestine through the lens of their ambitions and viewed the indigenous Arabs of Palestine as mere pawns to be moved about without consideration for their needs or aspirations. 

…

Because what Palestinians want matters, especially after the nightmare they’ve endured, in the second half of last year, my polling firm, Zogby Research Services, conducted two separate polls of Palestinian opinion across the West Bank and Gaza. Our findings were quite revealing. 

But most importantly, 92 percent of Palestinians in Gaza told us that they want to remain in Gaza and go back to where their homes had been. They are Palestinians and want to stay on the land of Palestine. The last thing they want—after 18 months of constant displacement and uncertainty—is to be shunted off into exile, presumably by force, and abandoned to a murky fate in a largely unknown country. 

This stands in marked contrast to the views advanced by the Americans and Israelis. Of course, these Palestinian views must be developed further, but heeding them is the better path to take precisely because it recognizes that instead of continuing to impose “solutions” on Palestinians, the place to begin is to ask them what they want, listen to what they say, and then work with them to make their aspirations a reality. 

Palestinians should be permitted to decide their own futures. Part of the reason that we have arrived at such a bloody crossroads is because over the decades, the great powers have disposed of the Palestinians however they wished, without consideration for their views. 

The message to President Trump should be clear: Palestinians will not accept being forced to leave the land of Palestine, and any attempt to conduct a mass displacement would likely descend into yet another horrific spiral of violence and death. If President Trump wants to be remembered for a really “out of the box” idea, he should listen to those whose lives hang on his decisions—the war-battered 2 million Palestinians of Gaza. 

Mr. Trump: It’s Time to Listen to What Palestinians Want by James Zogby, The Nation, 2/27/2025

But I think a better way to think of it (recolonization) is as a negation of one of the great forces of geopolitics in the latter half of the 20th century: decolonization, the fundamental idea that peoples everywhere should have the right to self-determination and self-government.

The push for decolonization has been mostly very successful: When the United Nations was established in 1945, it had 51 member nations, many of whom governed vast colonial areas in Africa and Asia.

Today the UN has 193 member states — the latest being South Sudan, which joined in 2011 — as well as a number of other territories that aren’t full members (including, notably, the State of Palestine). In many ways the story of the last 70 years is the story of decolonization, as independence movements across the world fought for liberty and self-determination, and colonial nations withdrew — sometimes voluntarily, and sometimes with a great deal of blood.

Trump is calling for that progress not just to be rejected, but to be thrown in reverse. Call it a kind of recolonization — if not literally, then in spirit.

What makes the push for recolonization so striking is that, with some large exceptions and with a great deal of foot-dragging, major powers ultimately recognized that colonialism was fundamentally wrong. The original UN Charter states that relations between nations are meant to be based in part on the “self-determination of peoples,” and by 1960 the UN was declaring that colonialism was “a denial of fundamental human rights.”

What’s behind Trump’s colonial dreams? What Trump wants in Gaza and elsewhere is recolonization by Bryan Walsh, VOX, Feb 6, 2025