Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za
3-minute read | 03 October 2025 | 18:00 CAT

📸 Protesters rally in solidarity with Gaza, demanding an end to Israeli occupation and the inclusion of Palestinian voices in peace negotiations.

Mounting criticism has followed the recently unveiled U.S.-backed 20-point proposal for Gaza, jointly championed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian analyst Faten Elwan, speaking on Radio Islam International’s Daily Roundup, condemned the plan as “a blueprint for recolonisation rather than reconciliation,” warning that it sidelines Palestinian voices and deepens the crisis rather than resolving it.

“This is a total colonial system repeating nicely and gently the Nakba,” Elwan told the presenter, arguing that the proposal “is blackmailing under one title”: an immediate end to the bloodshed but with preconditions that strip Palestinians of meaningful control. She criticised the proposal’s insistence on disarmament as an unfair precondition, saying simply, “Nothing and nothing is fair in it.”

Elwan highlighted the absence of any clear timeline for Israeli withdrawal and the lack of Palestinian representation at the table. “We have not one single point, but a good, nice business deal run by businessmen, rich people and thieves from the Arab world,” she said, accusing the plan of aiming to turn Gaza into a commercial playground — the “Trump Riviera” — at the expense of Palestinian lives and livelihoods.

The host pressed on legal implications, asking how it squares with international rulings that deem occupation unlawful. Elwan was unequivocal: “Gaza is being ethnic cleansed. There’s a genocide happening over there,” she said, calling for decisive international action rather than piecemeal deals crafted without Palestinian consent.

The host framed the debate around the central question of voice and agency, noting that meaningful peace requires local participation. “The future of Palestine cannot be shaped without the Palestinian voices at the center,” the presenter asserted, urging listeners to remember the primacy of Palestinian self-determination when evaluating external initiatives.

Elwan warned that the plan’s vague guarantees and external governance proposals risk perpetuating cycles of displacement and violence. She described the proposal as offering Palestinians the choice of exile or a hollowed-out administration with foreign overseers — a scenario she said would amount to “finishing the business”.

The programme exposed a stark choice: an immediate halt to the bloodshed that may come at the price of long-term dispossession, or a principled international intervention that halts the war while preserving Palestinian rights. Elwan urged international bodies to apply law and humanitarian principle, insisting any peace must restore rights, dignity, self-determination, and justice.

Listen to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up with Annisa Essack and Faten Elwan.