‘Pandemonium’: Palestinian Americans React to Trump’s Gaza Takeover Plan

Palestinians in the United States could not believe what they were hearing.

As President Trump proposed an American “takeover” of the Gaza Strip and the removal of its Palestinian population on Tuesday night, a sense of bemused horror took hold in living rooms, dorm lounges and the group chats of Palestinian families across the country.

“Honestly, it was pandemonium,” said Thaer Ahmed, 38, a physician outside Chicago. “Everyone was texting each other. There were mixed emotions — some people thought it was hilarious, some people were furious. But nobody saw this coming.”

Mr. Trump made his proposal during a White House news conference as he stood beside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The idea was met with immediate opposition from world leaders, who called it a breach of international law and a threat to regional stability in the Middle East. On Wednesday, the administration tried to walk back elements of the proposal, saying that Mr. Trump had not committed to sending U.S. troops to Gaza and that any relocation of Palestinians would be temporary.

In interviews, many Palestinian Americans said the idea of expelling millions of people from the Gaza Strip and placing it under American control was horrifying and absurd, and also unsurprising, given the broader context of Middle Eastern history.

“There’s a long list of adjectives we could run through,” said Yousef Munayyer, the head of the Palestine-Israel Program at the Arab Center Washington D.C., a think tank, when asked for his thoughts on the proposal. “Outrageous, criminal, harebrained. How much time do you have?”