Friday, March 07, 2025
Elder of Ziyon
.jpg) |
| An "Emirati village" in Gaza |
It would bring peace and prosperity to the residents there, security to Israel and Egypt, and a huge boon to the entire region.
The reasons it makes sense are:
* Only a Gulf country has the resources to rebuild Gaza and realize its dream of becoming a Singapore.
* Israel is at peace with the UAE and would eagerly cooperate with it in facilitating the new emirate.
* The problem of territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza would no longer be an issue.
* Gazans would become UAE citizens, get passports, and could freely move to other emirates if they want. If they prefer to hold on to the dream of an independent Palestinian state, they can move to the West Bank.
* For the first time, there would be optimism about Gaza's future that would encourage investment.
* One can foresee joint Israel-UAE economic projects that would employ thousands of Gazans.
* The UAE would not tolerate terror. There would be no rockets, no cross-border raids, no tunnels - no Hamas.
* It would help the Sinai prosper as well, as Egypt would be able to reap benefits of an Arab economic powerhouse next door.
What would the UAE get out of it?
* A port on the Mediterranean
* Access to natural gas and other fossil fuels off the coast
* Overland routes of trucking and shipping tying the Gulf to the Mediterranean, facilitating imports and exports
* An airport would bring an air bridge as well
* Increased influence in the region, which the UAE desires
* Gaza could become a tourist destination and a meeting hub between European and Arab political and business leaders
* Access to an educated Arab workforce in the UAE instead of the south Asians who are the bulk of UAE residents
One more point is that this is the only plan that gives positive incentives to everyone (except Hamas and its friends in Qatar and Turkey) to make it work. All the other ideas are based on "let's make Gaza less of a mess," this is "let's make Gaza a great place to be."
The main problem is that the plan must be done stealthily. If the UAE would publicly say it wants to take over Gaza it would never work.
So how could this be done to be a win-win for everyone?
Abu Dhabi’s already the heavyweight in Gaza’s humanitarian aid game—outspending every other Arab state. They need to leverage that cash into a governance foothold, starting as a “day after” fix that quietly turns permanent. Here’s how it could unfold.
The UAE creates a $700 million “Gaza Renewal Project” of building key infrastructure - a hospital, a university, a solar farm, a major desalination plant. It emphasizes that it will hire tens of thousands of Gazans.
A condition of the job is that the workers and their families would live in three “Emirati Villages”—gated compounds, 5,000 residents each, for workers and families displaced by war. Modern apartments, water, power: they would be a paradise next to Gaza’s ruins. It wouldn't be a hard sell.
Every resident and worker would be screened for Hamas ties (Israel can help here, behind the scenes.)
The UAE funds private guards to keep Hamas out of these projects under the guise of local security.
The communities will soon need mosques, markets, playgrounds - suddenly they become neighborhoods. Residents elect “village councils” (UAE-approved) to manage water, trash, disputes. Governance creeps in.
Gazans will clamor to get in, far more applicants than available slots. But over time, with success, more such communities could open.
Soon, the UAE would have a parallel Gaza government, and no non-Hamas Gazan would ever want to be under Hamas rule when they have this modern, gleaming alternative.
The UAE could strike a deal with Egypt to make their workers "VIPs" for easy travel to Abu Dhabi or Dubai - but not to move to Egypt. In exchange, perhaps a similar Emirati village in the Sinai too for Egyptians - not to take over Egypt but to build an economic zone that would benefit Gazans and Egyptians.
The top managers and local governance members can be rewarded with trips or temporary residency in the UAE to help with the planning and logistics and fundraising. Over time, some may be rewarded with citizenship.
In ten years, Gaza would become practically an emirate but without calling it that. The UAE is the landlord that everyone in Gaza wants. Eventually, it would be able to leverage this into the other things it would want to make this economically worthwhile - a port, an offshore gas field, all framed as generosity to help the Gazans.
Hamas gets squeezed out, and all it can offer is threats and bombs to derail this. Who would be on its side?
The advantage of this plan is that all of it is based on what people want to do to make their lives better,. It is all a positive vision as opposed to one that is only geared to avoiding bad things from happening. This would generate enthusiasm from Gazans and from sane Arab states.
It also broadly aligns with the Trump vision of what a future Middle East should look like.
Peace isn't the stated goal of this plan - it is the inevitable outcome.
|
"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
 |
Buy
