By Samar Zughool, political scientist

Since Trump came to power, he has been vocally threatening to open the doors of hell in Gaza, as if they were not already open. In his capitalist imperial vision, he articulated the “Riviera of the Middle East” plan for Gaza, envisioning imperialistic, touristic resorts built on top of the dead bodies of Palestinians of all genders and ages. This is a typical whitewashing mechanism—first committing atrocities, then introducing economic aid and constructing resorts to erase the bloodshed of fellow human beings and innocents. The Trump imperial machine has repeatedly pressured the dictators in Jordan and Egypt to accept Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, threatening to cut U.S. aid to both regimes if they refuse.

However, the cessation of aid to dictatorships signifies the decline of the American Empire. The American terrorist empire extends beyond its colonial geographical borders, existing through its dictatorship-implanted regimes in Jordan and Egypt. The cut of the so-called U.S. aid is not a threat but an assist for people’s liberation from the Al-Sissi dictatorship regime in Egypt and the Hashemite kingdom of inferior imperialism in Jordan.

Both dictatorial regimes in Egypt and Jordan initially proclaimed their opposition to Trump’s orders. But, do you really believe that the useless regimes of Jordan and Egypt are resisting the imperial U.S. Trumpian orders? No, of course, this rejection or opposition is not serious. It is just a needed show. The dictatorships of Jordan and Egypt cannot publicly accept the Trump direct orders immediately, so a little bit of dramatic, pathetic resistance should appear on the surface.

This can be easily observed from the sequence of events that occurred in the past. In 1967, the Zionist state of Israel took over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan after the dramatic series of the “Six Days of War.” In this war, the regimes of Jordan, Syria, and Egypt supposedly entered a conflict with the Zionist state of Israel for six days in 1967. As a result, Israel took over the West Bank, Gaza, and parts of the Golan Heights.

Of course, the dictator of Jordan at that time needed some dramatic show to present himself as a person who tried in front of the people. The dramatic dictator’s fake resistance caused the loss of around 800 lives in Jordan during the “Six Days of War”. Followed by what is locally known as the “War of Dignity” in 1968. The war of dignity lasted only 15 hours between the Zionist forces and the Jordanian army and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1968.

But what dignity? Growing up in Jordan, I observed how the Hashemite tribal-imperial system instilled certain narratives in us. Every student was taught about the “Unknown Soldier” statue, commemorating a soldier who supposedly sacrificed his life in the so-called “War of Dignity.” This regime, established by the British Empire, has long been a tool for maintaining and enabling Zionist occupation. Since the 1950s, it has been continuously supported and sustained through U.S. aid. Given this history, how can it claim to resist the Zionist-American-backed occupation of Palestine in the 1960s?

It is time for people in Jordan to acknowledge that there is no dignity or liberation under dictatorships that serve only as tools and extensions of U.S. imperial greed. The Hashemite regime, born from colonial inferiority, was established by British Colonial Minister Winston Churchill, and has been sustained by U.S. neocolonial support.

Just one day ago, the king and his “handsome” son, as Trump called him, were in the White House. With his head bowed, nodding in approval at every imperialist falsehood Trump spewed, the so-called Jordanian royal family is nothing but a continuous actor for imperialism in the region—what imperial powers call the “Middle East.” Jordan was created by the British Empire, and nothing will change that until people in Jordan wake up and realize that dictatorships are merely tools of imperialism, and the Hashemite royal family is an instrument of subjugation.

Cutting U.S. aid is an opportunity—if people realize that U.S. imperialism and dictatorships are two sides of the same coin. A coin that we must stop worshiping. The aid we need to reject, as it has turned people in Jordan and Egypt into hostages of dictators and corrupt regimes. As U.S. aid and debt increase, our ambitions for liberation diminish.

Jordanian nationality was constructed on British imperialist inferiority, mixed with Islamic justifications. The royal family carries the Hashemite name—the same as the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad. The king, a mix of British and Jordanian heritage while claiming descent from the Prophet’s tribe, is a religious-imperial hybrid that must be dismantled for full liberation.

As dictators in Jordan and Egypt play the resistance card, this is a call for people in both countries not to fall for another fake “War of Dignity.” Understand that these dictatorships are nothing but tools of imperialism. These regimes are submissive to imperialism, but you are not. U.S. aid is for them, not for you. Burn your passports, and with them, burn U.S. debt and aid.

I will burn my passport, too—but I say this with the privilege of living abroad in Slovenia.