By Dr. Sabir Abu Maryam
Secretary General, Palestine Foundation Pakistan
On October 13, 2025, a grand stage was set in Sharm al-Sheikh under the banner of a so-called “Peace Conference.” The event was led by U.S. President Donald Trump and attended by the heads of states from Western, European, Arab, and several Muslim countries a total of 20 nations were represented, along with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Ironically, the very task that should have been led by the U.N. Secretary-General was instead carried out under the leadership of the U.S. President. The world was made to believe once again that America still commands power and dictates global order. Yet, this is the same U.S. administration that has vetoed six U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. How can such a power now speak of “peace”? This question continues to shake the conscience of every thinking person around the world.
Before attending the conference, President Trump visited occupied Palestine, specifically Yafa (Tel Aviv), and even addressed the Israeli Knesset. In his speech, he openly admitted complicity in the genocide in Gaza, boasting that, “Netanyahu keeps asking me for more weapons, and I have provided him $21 billion worth of arms, which he has used effectively.” In simple terms, Trump confessed that it was his administration that armed Israel to slaughter over 70,000 innocent Palestinians in just two years — and he felt no shame in saying so. Yet, the same Trump arrived in Sharm al-Sheikh singing songs of peace.
The world also hasn’t forgotten that just a few months earlier, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike on the sovereign state of Iran, violating all international laws. This is the same Trump who has threatened Russia with sanctions, challenged Afghanistan’s sovereignty by declaring that the U.S. would take over Bagram Air Base, and under his approval, Israel has continued its bombing campaigns in Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria. The U.S. itself has bombed Yemen directly. How then can such a man preach peace?
When it comes to the so-called Gaza Peace Conference, Trump once again tried to project the illusion that America and Israel are not trapped in a political quagmire. But the truth is quite the opposite. The $21 billion worth of weaponry has yielded no strategic gains in Gaza, and instead, global sympathy for Palestine has surged, exposing the ugly faces of both the U.S. and Israel.
This reality dragged Trump and the Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu into a diplomatic swamp from which escape seemed impossible. Their only remaining option was to negotiate ironically with the same Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, which they had long branded as “terrorists.” Ultimately, they were forced to accept Hamas’s terms in revising the truce agreement.
The Sharm al-Sheikh Conference, therefore, was nothing more than a “Trump Theater Show”, staged to mask this defeat. The invited leaders served merely as applauding spectators, with some like Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif going to extremes of flattery and servility. The entire exercise aimed to portray Trump as a peace-seeker rather than a warmonger. Yet, how can a man who has launched wars in Iran and Yemen, and supported Israeli aggression across the region, ever be called a “President of Peace”? If anything, Trump deserves only the title of “President of War.”
Now, let us briefly review the proceedings of the Sharm al-Sheikh Conference itself. In reality, the entire event was dictated by the U.S. President, leaving no room for genuine participation. The attendees were merely told to watch, sign the prewritten documents, and return home.
What a shameful and tragic spectacle it was a peace conference that never mentioned the 65,000 civilians killed, most of them women and children. The same powers that once launched the Nuremberg Trials against Nazi war criminals after World War II, this time granted a clean chit to the perpetrators of genocide in Gaza. Deliberately, the summit avoided any discussion on the Palestinian right to establish an independent state.
Hence, this gathering was less a “peace summit” and more a diplomatic theater, orchestrated by Trump in blatant violation of international norms ,with the participants reduced to silent spectators. The U.S. President attempted, yet again, to impose his outdated imperial ambitions on the Middle East. Even the language of humanitarian concern was completely absent; no one spoke of the mothers of Gaza, the children in refugee camps, or the bombed-out cities. And then, under the guise of peace, everyone was told to remain silent.
In conclusion, the Sharm al-Sheikh Conference ended, but one moral question remains:
What kind of peace is built upon the ruins of justice?
What happened in Sharm al-Sheikh can be summed up in a single line:
A peace without justice is no peace at all, and a conference without Palestine is merely a show.
And so, as the curtains fell, the Trump Theater Show came to an end with his final words echoing:
“The show is over. Everyone may go home.”
