WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump was to sign an executive order on Wednesday to combat antisemitism and pledge to deport non-citizen college students and other resident aliens who took part in pro-Palestinian protests, a White House official said. A fact sheet on the order said Trump would order the Justice Department to “aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews”.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: Come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said in the fact sheet. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said Wednesday that forced displacement of Gazans is an “injustice that we cannot take part in”, while Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Palestinians must remain on their land, after Trump floated a plan to move Palestinians from the territory to Egypt and Jordan.
“The deportation and displacement of the Palestinian people from their land is an injustice that we cannot take part in,” Sisi said during a news conference in Cairo with Kenyan President William Ruto. Sisi added that Egypt’s historic position on the Palestinian cause “can never be compromised”. Sisi said Egypt supported “the establishment of a Palestinian state” and was “determined to work with President Trump, who seeks to achieve the desired peace based on the two-state solution”. “We believe that President Trump is capable of fulfilling this long-awaited goal of establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” he said.
After the Zionist-Hamas ceasefire came into force on Jan 19, Trump touted a plan to “clean out” the Gaza Strip, reiterating the idea on Monday as he called for Palestinians to move to “safer” locations such as Egypt or Jordan. Speaking to reporters on Monday evening, Trump said that he hoped Sisi “would take some” Gazans. “We helped them a lot, and I’m sure he’d help us,” he said. “As they say, it’s a rough neighborhood, but I think he would do it, and I think the king
of Jordan would do it too.” Jordan too rejected the idea, saying: “Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians.”
Since the start of the Zionist-Hamas war in October 2023, both countries have warned of plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza into neighboring Egypt and from the West Bank into Jordan. Sisi has repeatedly warned that such a displacement would “eradicate the case for Palestinian statehood”. Egypt is a key Arab ally of the United States and was the only country besides the Zionist entity to receive an exemption from Trump’s foreign aid freeze this week.
King Abdullah stressed during meetings in Brussels “Jordan’s firm position on the need to keep the Palestinians on their land and to guarantee their legitimate rights, in accordance with the (Zionist) and Palestinian two-state solution”, the royal palace said in a statement. Amman has also been rattled after Trump floated the idea of moving Gazans to Egypt or Jordan. Amman has rejected the proposal and other regional and European powers have poured cold water on any plan to move Gazans out of their territory. Almost all of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the war.
The European Union on Wednesday promised €3 billion ($3.1 billion) of financing and investments for Jordan as part of a new “strategic” partnership with the key Middle East ally. “With the current geopolitical shifts and growing crises in the region, strengthening the EU-Jordan partnership is the right decision at the right time,” European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said.
King Abdullah was in Brussels to oversee the signing of the agreement that runs from 2025 through 2027. His country, which hosts millions of refugees from around neighboring countries, has long been seen by Europe as a vital bulwark of stability in a region wracked by conflict. That status has become even more important in the face of the war in Gaza and as Syria undergoes an uncertain transition after the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad.
“Jordan is playing a critical role to consolidate the ceasefire in Gaza and the EU acknowledges the importance of Jordan as a regional hub for humanitarian assistance,” von der Leyen said. “Jordan’s leadership in supporting Syria’s transition highlights its pivotal role in shaping the region’s future.”
Brussels said the package for Jordan would be made up of €640 million of grants, one billion euros of grants and €1.4 billion of investments. “The EU is showing its commitment to support Jordan in navigating the current geopolitical challenges, pursuing reforms that drive growth and societal progress,” said von der Leyen. - Agencies