“Peace – an easy word to say, but a hard word to produce,” said President Trump within the opening minutes of the Board of Peace meeting. The existence of the committee itself proves his statement is true.
This board is going to create more problems than peace. Established on Jan. 22, a new group has formed under President Trump’s demand: The Board of Peace, a group claiming to oversee the United Nations (UN). During the meeting, the board’s views on the UN were made apparent with members claiming that they ‘did nothing’ besides host ‘useless’ and ‘empty’ speeches.
The UN, a strong peacekeeping force, was organized after the tragedies in World War II, whereas the Board of Peace was created as a means to watch over the UN. The Board of Peace hosts 59 representatives, compared to the UN which hosts 193 countries.
Members include Israel, Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other, mainly Middle-Eastern, countries.
Within a month of the first meeting, the U.S. and Israeli military joined together without the input of the board to strike Iran in a successful attempt to remove the Ayatollah, Iran’s supreme leader, and its nuclear capability In return, this has created mass panic and war all across the Middle East. In an ironic contrast to the board’s name, the Board of Peace seems to be a way of supporting death, destruction, and making the rich richer. These strikes have killed over 1200 people, across at least ten countries hit by Iran.
Trump’s plans for the board seem to be about militarization and rebuilding a fallen state into a paradise for the ultra-wealthy. Trump, through the Board of Peace, has taken military action against Iran, as well as planted 20,000 International Stabilization Force (ISF) in five different sectors of Gaza.
Iran – a country that has continuously funded terrorist organization Hezbollah – has embezzled over $700 million towards the group since Jan. 2025, according to the American Jewish Committee. Currently, Iran is a war zone, with constant strikes from Israel and the U.S. Due to Iran’s unpredictable strikes toward neighboring countries, this has created mass destruction across the region. These mass strikes started after the death of the Ayatollah, the supreme leader.
“The Board of Peace was the invention of the American President and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, [and] several other aides who know little of the Middle East,” said Joel Gordon, Professor of History and Middle East Studies, University of Arkansas.
Contrary to the support from the middle-east, many European powers, from France to Pope Leo himself, representing the Vatican City, have rejected the board and its legitimacy.
“None of our traditional European allies consented to participate and those, like Canada, who expressed reservations, were un-invited,” Gordon said.
Since the inauguration of President Trump’s second term, the United States has pulled out of 31 agencies under the United Nations (UN), including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“[T]he United Nations (UN) has been sidelined. This is truly significant. As with the current war on Iran, the U.S. is acting alone, and this has rendered the UN essentially irrelevant,” Gordon said.
The current administration, on the other hand, still claims to value the UN while almost constantly contradicting statements by their actions.
“They need help money-wise; we are going to help them money-wise,” said President Trump, who cut nearly $400 million dollars from the U.N.’s funding, contradicting the supposed support.
‘Many rich people here,’ said President Trump, referring to representatives, while claiming others had “the hardest-to-pronounce names in the world.” During the televised Board of Peace meeting, President Trump elaborated on wealth and appearances of the attendees, stating that Alkalifia of Bahrain was ¨so rich he can sit wherever the [redacted] he wants.¨ President Trump then joked that 25% of the building would be worth $6 billion dollars. This unimaginable amount of money could fund Rogers High School for nearly 200 years, at 2,500 students a year.
President Trump promised $10 billion to the board, but it is unknown where this large donation from the U.S. is going to come from: taxpayer dollars, budget cuts from federal funding, or President Trump’s personal funds. Other countries that have donated include Egypt, Hungary, Turkey, and 24 others, with a combined $7 billion contribution. Members are allotted a three-year term, unless they contribute a minimum of $1 billion to the board, which will guarantee a permanent spot.
While promising billions to the Board of Peace, the Trump administration has heavily cut funding for federal programs such as SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, as well as Medicaid. These programs, by 2034, are expected to have cuts of over $180 billion.
The initial funds will be used to rebuild the Gaza Strip, according to the Board of Peace. The Gaza Strip, or Gaza City, was once a Palestinian piece of land governed by Israel, now turned into a warzone where families have been separated and over 70,000 people have been killed. Steve Witkoff, executive Board of Peace member, offered exclusive thanks to Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, for both bringing the board together, and helping the ‘peace’ he had created.
“The primary purpose of this group is to figure out what to do with the Gaza Strip, which has been rendered uninhabitable since October 2023. The Israeli attacks, however limited they now are compared to the so-called cease-fire, continue. So no resolution, planning and certainly no peace is in sight,” Gordon said.
Although the land is currently inhabited by Palestinians, thousands of tents now sit on top of former homes, businesses and restaurants, turned into rubble due to Israeli occupation. President Trump stated during the Board of Peace meeting Feb. 19 that rebuilding the strip would be in an effort “to end decades of suffering, stop generations of hatred and bloodshed, and forge a beautiful, everlasting, and glorious peace for that region.”
The Gaza Strip is not a piece of land for sale, it is home to over half a million Palestinians, who have been in constant war since 2023.
“A group of much more powerful countries is getting together and deciding what to do with another nation’s territory that does not belong to them,” said John Raybourn, AP Government teacher.
The board pictured this massive donation as providing support towards Gaza, while its actions convey the opposite.
“Humanitarian aid has absolutely surged since the end of the Gaza war,” said Milk Walz, UN ambassador, while in reality, the Trump administration cut roughly $240 million dollars to Palestinian aid.
Terms such as “competitive pricing” were used to describe the housing that will be provided for future tourism, not for the people. Housing for those who are displaced is to be “built by the local population,” said Lyen Tnaman, Board of Peace member, not with the billions of dollars donated by the committee. The rebuilding of Gaza is not for the citizens, but for the construction of man-made islands, 200 hotels, and other projects aimed at turning Gaza into the next ‘Mediterranean Riviera.’ The Gaza Strip’s land is worth $50 billion, and this ‘promising’ future is worth an estimated $110 billion. With hundreds of hotels, luxury resorts and Michelin star restaurants, that price is only going to increase.
“Where are the Palestinians going to actually live? Who will govern the territory, and under what system of government? We are talking about a nation’s homeland, not just some unoccupied piece of real estate, which seems to be getting forgotten,” Raybourn said.
Iran and Gaza now have eerily similar situations, in that the people are left in the rubble and uncertain of what party, or government, will take control of their land. For Gaza, Israel has put extreme pressure on Palestine in the last few years, fighting for what they believe is their land. The Board of Peace claims to now have a ‘solution’ for Gaza. Iran, now with their supreme leader taken out in war strikes, is at the will of the people, with President Trump urging the Iranian people to “take over their government.” However, an overthrow of the Iranian regime is extremely unlikely when citizens were previously killed in protests against the regime, by both Hezbollah and the Iranian government.
This board had already taken over 1,000 casualties, American, Israeli, Iranian and more, with the death count rising with each strike, and each hour. All within a month of its first meeting . . . where is the peace?
“I suspect the Board of Peace will be forgotten for the near future as the Middle East region plunges into what may become a widening war without a clear ending envisioned,” Gordon said.
