Free Palestine, or Free Palestinians?
By the early 20th century, my family had left everything behind to build a new life in America. The lasting effects of the Irish potato famine likely forced my mother’s grandparents to abandon all they had in search of stability. Carrying little more than hope, my father’s grandfather boarded a ship from Poland to America, where he found work in Pennsylvania’s coal and steel industries.
I am an American citizen because my great-grandparents took a leap of faith. They left behind the only world they had ever known and set sail toward the unknown—toward freedom.
So when I hear people chant “Free Palestine,” I can’t help but wonder—what does freedom truly mean? Shouldn’t it mean giving Palestinians the same choice my family had—the chance to leave behind suffering and seek a better life?
Progressive activists and Islamist groups claim to advocate for the Palestinians’ well-being. Yet, when Palestinians receive real opportunities to build new lives elsewhere, those same groups object. They want these people to stay put in Gaza because, according to them, that’s where they belong.
President Donald Trump recently proposed offering Gazans opportunities to relocate and build new lives elsewhere, breaking the cycle of dependency and conflict that has defined their existence for generations. U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff suggested some could settle in Indonesia when the rebuilding process begins. More recently, Trump has pressured Jordan and Egypt to accept Gazan refugees, only to be met with opposition.
Anyone who champions Palestinian rights should celebrate these efforts. If their goal is improving Palestinian lives, why not give these people the freedom to escape corrupt leadership and seek new opportunities? Yet, instead of embracing real change, these progressives reject it. They use these Arabs as political pawns, weaponizing their suffering rather than fixing their crisis.
America’s radical Left exploits the Palestinian cause to attack Israel, while many Muslim nations use it to further anti-Israel and anti-Western agendas. Instead of pushing for economic opportunities, education, and integration into stable societies like Jordan and Egypt, they insist these families remain locked in Gaza, stuck in a perpetual conflict with Israel—regardless of the cost in human lives.
More than 20 wealthy Arab nations that share cultural and linguistic ties could house Gaza’s population. Yet, they refuse. For generations, Lebanon has forced Palestinians into refugee camps, barred them from many professions, and denied them basic rights. Jordan, a state created for the Arabs that boasts the largest Palestinian population, historically has stripped many of citizenship and restricted their ability to work. Egypt, despite neighboring Gaza, has kept the Rafah Border Crossing largely sealed to fellow Arab immigrants.
If the world wants to “free Palestine,” it must free Palestinians to make their own choices. Some might choose to stay and fight for political reform, but others might want to leave—just as my great-grandparents did. Why should these people be denied that choice? Because many Arab leaders and their global allies don’t actually want peace, economic mobility, prosperity, or freedom for Palestinians. They want Israel to vanish.
True freedom is the power to choose, to trade war and destruction for a better future. It means that Palestinians—like all people—deserve the right to determine their own destiny.
To “free Palestine,” Israel’s critics must abandon the illusion that the tiny Jewish state will absorb the Palestinian plight and disappear overnight. Instead, the Palestinians must be liberated from political exploitation, radicalization, and the endless cycle of war perpetuated by their own leadership and welcomed into the sea of countries surrounding them.
I am forever grateful that my great-grandparents had the opportunity to choose a better future. The world must allow Gazans that same choice. Anything less isn’t freedom. It’s oppression disguised as activism.
