بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Board of Peace: Empire Rebranded, Gaza Exploited
News:
Trump says Board of Peace established to oversee reconstruction of Gaza ‘might’ replace the United Nations. (CNN)
Comment:
President Donald Trump’s suggestion on Tuesday that his “Board of Peace” might replace the United Nations has generated significant controversy. His so-called Board of Peace is an exclusive, pay-to-play structure, and an imperial body where wealth and access determine authority. It was originally established to oversee the “rebuilding” of Gaza, but now has a far broader mandate, including promoting global stability and conflict resolution around the world. Notably, many European powers, namely Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and even Canada are not part of this peace group. In this context, Gaza is no longer treated as the central concern but rather as a pretext to supplant the UN. Unsurprisingly, treacherous Muslim regimes including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, and the UAE joined this board as servants to further entrench America’s influence in Gaza’s future and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Gaza has been reduced to an administrative problem to be managed by foreign powers, investors, political elites and war criminals. This is the outsourcing of domination under humanitarian language.
From an Islamic perspective, capitalist colonial powers have no moral authority to determine the fate of Muslim lands, especially when those same powers have enabled, funded, and shielded the occupiers. Whether exercised through the United Nations or a so-called Board of Peace, both frameworks lack legitimacy. Islam commands the liberation of occupied lands, not “peace” imposed under an occupier. What is unfolding is a struggle within the West itself: the emergence of an institution where influence is bought, leadership is concentrated in the hands of self-appointed global elites, and the UN is discarded and undermined by the United States.
Trump made no attempt to hide his disregard for the UN when he stated: “The UN just hasn’t been very helpful. I’m a big fan of the UN’s potential, but it has never lived up to its potential. The UN should have settled every one of the wars that I settled. I never went to them. I never even thought to go to.”
The most consequential issue for Muslims is that capitalist frameworks cannot produce justice. Capitalism prioritizes colonial control of markets and strategic interests over the liberation of the oppressed. As long as Gaza is viewed through the lenses of “reconstruction funds,” “international oversight,” and “stakeholder buy-in,” our brothers and sisters will remain trapped in cycles of managed suffering. Muslim affairs must be decided according to the law of Allah (swt) and not negotiated in foreign courts that answer to wealth and power. Muslim lands must be liberated by Muslim armies, not surrendered to so-called “international stabilization forces.”
For Muslims, the answer is not reforming imperial boards but ending their relevance altogether. Justice for Gaza will not come from capitalist “peace” clubs, the UN, or billionaire-approved diplomacy. What is instead becoming evident is a fracture within the Western order itself and the erosion of its values and institutions. The so-called international rules-based order was always a lie, a “useful fiction” as Mark Carney, Canadian Prime Minister noted that benefited the West under American hegemony. He went on to state, “Let me be direct: we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”
This should fill our hearts with resolve and energy to work toward the unification of Muslim lands under a political authority that derives its legitimacy from Islam and an authority that defends life, land, and dignity as obligations before Allah (swt). Anything short of this represents the continuation of injustice under a polished name. This moment presents an opportunity for our Khilafah to emerge with strength amid a weakened and fractured global disorder, ushering in a new world order that will bring divine justice and peace.