The crazy and compelling Trump plan for Gaza ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Tuesday, February 04, 2025

The crazy and compelling Trump plan for Gaza

Donald Trump dropped a bombshell during his press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu:

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” he said. “We’ll own it, and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area."

Sometimes it is hard to parse out what Trump means. he started off saying that there will be other countries that would invest in rebuilding Gaza. But did he really mean the US would "own" it?

During the Q&A, he made clear that is exactly what he meant.

"As far as Gaza is concerned, we'll do what is necessary...We're going to take over that piece we're going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs and it'll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of."

And he seemed to contradict himself by saying that Palestinians would live in this new Gaza, but also "the world people" will live there: "I envision a world people living there, the world's people. I think you'll make that into an international unbelievable place. I think.... world representatives from all over the world will be there. Palestinians also, Palestinians will live there, many people will live there."

Normally, a plan like this would be researched, planned, refined, given to the players for opinions and agreed upon before being publicized.

This is not how Trump works. He does not know details nor does he care. He works in broad brush strokes. This plan sounds like it was hatched that afternoon. Yet he has a very good instinct for cutting through the bull and trying to solve the root of the problem, rather than get stuck on the minutia that the experts love to argue about.

So what is Trump's vision, really?

It sounds like he wants Gazans to leave to other Arab countries, but not necessarily permanently unless they want to. He wants it to become an American territory or protectorate, perhaps similar to the US Virgin Islands. He wants to look at Gaza as an investment opportunity, not a money sink, and he wants the US to profit from it. A Mediterranean paradise where tourists can visit, where Western capitalists and oil sheikhs can rub shoulders and make deals.

The Palestinian Authority is utterly absent from this vision. So is Palestinian rule.

Would this be legal? Almost no one would say so, but creative legal minds could find a way. Gaza was never a part of any nation that has a current legal claim on it. A (strained) case could be made that Gaza - especially postwar Gaza - is terra nullius, and therefore the US can occupy it legally. In the end, international law is what the major powers want it to be and they find justifications afterwards. Israel's critics have been doing this for decades. This is no more creative than saying that Gaza between 2007-2023 was occupied by Israel, or the "apartheid" and "genocide" slurs.

Why shouldn't the US slant its own vision of international law in the other direction for once? To Trump, legality isn't an absolute - it is a political tool that is used subjectively, therefore the US can do the same thing.

An occupation would require troops. Trump has been reluctant to involve the US in foreign adventures; I do not know what he has in mind for the army. But this seems to be consistent with his desire to "clean out" Gaza - which means to only allow back in the Gazans who are not likely terrorists.

One thing is for sure: Israel and America haters will despise this plan, and claim that it violates human rights and international law. And this plan, if done properly, would save more lives than anything the "human rights" posers could possibly imagine as being "justice." Which is what makes this so compelling: if you care about the value of human life, you can have the fake "justice" of a Gaza terror state or you can have peace, but you cannot have both. Trump's plan is more pro-peace than all the "ceasefire" protestors ever could be.