Gaza on the Rocks
As he expounded on his plans for the “magnificent” region, Trump said that:
As he expounded on his plans for the “magnificent” region, Trump said that:
“I envision world people living there. The world’s people. I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place. I think the potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable. And I think the entire world, representatives from all over the world, will be there, and they’ll live there. Palestinians, also, Palestinians will live there. Many people will live there.”
This statement contains a number of clues about what the president actually wants to achieve. Here are some potential scenarios.
The Warning Shot: On the most basic level, Trump could be sending a message that unless stability returns to the region, any hopes of Palestinians leading the state or even having a presence in it will be taken off the table. Decades of negotiation from third-party brokers have resulted in the rubble-strewn devastation that is unfit for living.
This is the equivalent of parents telling unruly children that if they can’t play nicely, the toy is going in the trash. If the wayward protagonists fall into line, they get to keep playing – if not, it’s game over.
An Outreach: Alternatively, when Trump says “representatives from all over the world” will be there, he could be signaling that regional partners have an opportunity to get involved in cooling temperatures in a neighboring hot zone and ultimately gain access to a Mediterranean port. For countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, the UAE, and Oman, this opens up a potential trade route that doesn’t involve shipping around the coastline of South Africa or navigating the Suez Canal (which can cost an additional half a million dollars in fees per ship).
No lasting peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians is ever likely to be reached without the cooperation of the surrounding Arab nations. By hinting at access and involvement in rebuilding, Trump might be suggesting that these crucial partners could gain far more than just keeping the neighbors quiet.
A Second Chance for Palestinians: Before the meeting with Netanyahu, Trump spoke about how badly Gaza is doing. “Look, the Gaza thing has not worked. It’s never worked,” Trump said. “I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land, and we get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable.”
He later added:
“You take certain areas and you build really good-quality housing, like a beautiful town, like some place where they can live and not die, because Gaza is a guarantee that they’re going to end up dying. The same thing is going to happen again.”
He further suggested that Gaza’s residents would “love to leave Gaza if they had an option. Right now, they don’t have an option.” But is this true?
When Hamas won the election in 2006, it was the first step in Palestinians gaining control over how they are governed. Unfortunately, Hamas was true to its founding charter and dragged the people into a protracted conflict that culminated in the devastation of October 7 – and chose never to hold elections again.
While there is a significant element within the Palestinian population who want to destroy Israel regardless of the cost, there are also families: real people caught in the middle of a war with no way out and no safe future on the horizon. Currently, these people have little choice but to keep their heads down. But what if Hamas was removed and forbidden to return?
A Calculated Distraction: There is always the possibility that the president was actually just throwing bones at the media in an effort to distract news outlets from the major overhaul underway in DC’s federal bureaucracy. The main news dailies have all taken their eyes off USAID and are filling their digital pages with fire and fury at Trump’s Gaza idea. All the while, Elon Musk and his six-man audit team can continue their DOGE efforts.
Only His Hairdresser Knows
Donald Trump has a habit of making bold statements in order to achieve his goal. In “The Art of the Deal,” he said, “My style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after. Sometimes I settle for less than I sought, but in most cases I still end up with what I want.”
When the president says he wants to flatten Gaza and rebuild it as a jewel of the Mediterranean, he may be serious. Then again, he may just be developing a strategy to bring everyone to the table. After covering Trump’s first term, the Fourth Estate should know by now that nothing is ever quite what it seems – especially when they are writing the headlines.
Mark Angelides is Editor-in-Chief of Liberty Nation. Having served as Managing Editor of Liberty Nation for four years, Mark is steeped in US Conservative policy and politics. This article was first published HERE
7 comments:
Trump thinks everyone around the world thinks like New York businessmen. He tried to make a "deal" with the Taliban, and that inevitably turned to custard. He thinks Greenland is for sale. Now he reckons he can just turn Gaza into a big American style retail and housing development and further reckons that everyone loves the idea. Trump's handlers need to keep him on a tighter leash. America have swapped a senile president for one who is completely bonkers.
One must not forget, it is Palestinian land which has been stolen by the zionists. Give back to the Palestians what is rightfully theirs.
This article sounds like 1930s Nazi propaganda - let's get all the European countries together and move the troublemaking Jews out then everyone will be happy and prosper in peace.
The author refuses to acknowledge that all the problems in Gaza have been caused by Israel stealing Palestinian land for 100 years.
Instead of pushing the people out of Gaza, how about dividing Israel equally among the Israelis and Palestinians.
Imagine thinking you could claim rights to someone else's territory having just funded its decimation at the hands of your so-called "best friend." If Trump is serious, this is quite astounding.
Obviously, the intention is to assist Israel in its scheme to annex Gaza into their Greater Israel project - after all, they've been signaling their intentions to do it for 50 years or more. It won't be "the world's people" occupying Gaza, unless by "the world's people" Trump means Israeli Jews.
Why are we surprised that an American leader favours massive ethnic cleansing? History shows Americans are very good at that sort of thing. Ask any native American about their people's experience in the nineteenth century for a case study.
Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, recently gushed over the prospect of developing Gaza’s “very valuable” “waterfront property” from which you can discern the obvious intention of the Trump family is to grab a part of any Gazan redevelopment action for themselves. Indescribable corruption if it proceeds. But even if it doesn't proceed (and it won't), it graphically illustrates Trump's moral bankruptcy that he has even raised the matter as an option, regardless of his motives.
It's not much "an American leader [who] favours massive ethnic cleansing" it's an American leader beholden to the state of Israel that favours ethnic cleansing. Big difference.
You then correctly point out that "Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, recently gushed over the prospect of developing Gaza’s “very valuable” “waterfront property”" but don't mention the very important fact that Kushner is a Jew, a staunch Zionist, and a friend of Benjamin Netanyahu. Another very big difference here too, because it's completely misleading to simply claim that its just one of Trump's relative who wants this too.
Kushner clearly thought up the idea first. Trump probably couldn't point to Gaza on a map. But as many have observed Trump always agrees with the last person who advises him, and you can bet Kushner advises him a lot. And what property developer can resist endless profits with no comebacks. Gaza: the new Monopoly - a game the whole family can play.
It's not going to happen of course because first the people have to be moved somewhere
but there's actually nowhere for them to go and the Muslim world have made it clear they refuse to co-operate.
But here's an idea. Rebuilding has been done before by the Americans, and very profitable it was too. It was called the Marshall Plan and it put Europe back on its feet after WW2. A President with vision could make quite a name for himself by dreaming up a new Marshall Plan for Gaza. But I guess vision doesn't fit the mould of a transactional President, particularly a man who only sees the Presidency as a vehicle for his own enrichment. Oh well, back to the drawing board!
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