Gaza as the New Riviera--But Not for Palestinians
Trump's Fantastical "Takeover" Vision
Now it's take and take and takeover, takeover
It's all take and never give
All these trumped up towers
They're just golden showers
Where are people supposed to live?
Don Henley, “Gimme What You Got” (1989)
Yesterday, President Trump said the U.S. would take over the redevelopment of the devastated Gaza Strip (destroyed mostly by bombs, shells, and bullets made in the USA), turning it into a “new Riviera,” not for the Palestinians, obviously, but for Israelis.
To borrow from Don Henley, Where are the Palestinians supposed to live? Not in Gaza, where their presence would interfere with Zionism as well as Israeli desires to control profits from offshore gas fields. Roughly 1.8 million Palestinians are simply supposed to leave the Gaza “hellhole” (Trump’s descriptor), after which a lot of men with briefcases (and bulldozers) will move in to turn Gaza into a paradise on earth, free of Palestinian “savages” (a word I’ve seen employed often online, and obviously one that echoes how the white man saw Native Americans, whose land was ruthlessly stolen from them as well).
So, where will be the Palestinian “reservation”? Trump has floated Egypt and Jordan, but both countries have expressed no enthusiasm for this scheme. Greenland, maybe?
Trump has the virtue of saying the quiet part out loud. There will be no Palestinian state, no two-state solution. There will be one state, Greater Israel, with Palestinians either killed or ethnically cleansed from their lands. This was the policy of the Biden administration, even if that administration gave lip service to a two-state solution. Trump just states it plainly, like a mafia don intoning: “It’s nothing personal—it’s strictly business.”
Congress, which is owned by AIPAC, may grouse a bit about Trump’s terminology, but look for most members to rubber-stamp this plan, if one can call it that.
I suppose Trump’s admirers might say he’s cut the Gordian knot here—that peace in the region will only be attained when Israel is completely dominant and Palestinians are simply gone for good—but something tells me the fantastical new Riviera in Gaza is another manifestation of “trumped up towers.”
So Trump is going to turn Gaza into a “new Riviera”. But, as you say, it won't be for the Palestinians, obviously. However, it won't be for the average Israeli, either. Or any other average person. It will become the Mar-a-Lago on the Mediterranean - the playground of only the very, very, very rich. $1B minimum cover charge.
Just think. A 141 square mile seaside country club for the privileged class.
Have been following Trump only vaguely before he came down the escalator. thought him absurd.
Then he won the presidency and became the most evil guy ever. My big takeaway about the man was that he was unpredictable, much of what he said was for effect.
The total Gaza ethnic cleansing thing has no chance and Trump knows it. So why did he say it? Don't know, but I hope it was to give Bibi a hard time.
No Arab state can agree to this without the absolute disaffection of the people. Non-Arab muslims will attack it.
Maybe Trump, the lame duck, is just saying something for effect and to get some time and run out a clock.
Nothing ever goes right for the US in the Middle East and if Trump realizes it, he gets reality which is rare in American politics.
Just a guess, I stand behind none of it.