By Liam Noble
Trump’s Plan for the “Gaza Enclave”
On Feb. 9, aboard Air Force One, Trump laid out his plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, in a manner both cryptic and sinister:
“As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it… but we’re committed to owning it, taking it, …the only reason they’re talking about returning to Gaza is they don’t have an alternative. When they have an alternative, they don’t want to return to Gaza.”
What this means: Trump imagines the US taking direct control of Gaza, expelling the Palestinians, and creating some sort of “Gaza Riviera,” for the purpose of accomplishing Zionist aims while lessening the anticipated costs for Israel.
But, this is based on magical thinking— the establishment of resort property upon mass graves requires actually controlling the area and ‘evicting the population’— which Israel attempted and failed to achieve the past sixteen months. Palestinians defeated the extermination effort of the ‘western world’ through a strategy of armed national resistance.
Trump’s statements also betray a fundamental misunderstanding of Palestinian nationalism, which includes a devotion to the land itself, that which lies between “the river and the sea”.
The US President, thinking in terms of real estate, is aesthetically disturbed by the endless rubble fields of Gaza, and perhaps genuinely believes the Palestinians would take the opportunity to leave if presented with a place to go (especially if coercion is applied— much like the Cherokee Removal). This is envisioned as a dangling carrot (the stick alone not having worked).
To this effect, Trump called on Arab and Islamic states to “take in” Palestinians from Gaza, so that the area could be ‘empty’, and thus the US would ‘obtain’ it, ‘for free’, and develop it in concert with Israel. This appears to be the logic that the US President is operating from.
Well, what happens when a fickle object (Trump), meets an unstoppable force (Palestinian nationalism)? Trump can do nothing about that, except change his demands.
What is the regional response?
This announcement provoked outrage and disbelief among Arab leaders, who are scrambling to form a response to the new demand for human-removal. Egypt declared an Arab Emergency Summit, scheduled for 27 February, perhaps to attempt a united front against the US/Israeli Axis.
Egypt’s El-Sisi cancelled a planned meeting with the new US President after Trump ambushed Jordan’s King Abdullah during his White House audience, attempting to make him party to Trump’s “plan”, and teasing to cut off foreign aid to Amman (Jordan receives $1.72B in aid (now temporarily frozen), likely as a quid pro quo for absorbing 2 million Palestinian refugees in a population of 11 million).
The central problem in the Arab world is that the nation-state leadership is more or less US-aligned, while their populations are radicalized against the Israeli and American genocide of Arabs. Going along with the Trump plan is a nonstarter for existential reasons; Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, cannot freely acquiesce to US demands without seriously destabilizing their own nations.
What about the ceasefire?
After a tense and uncertain week, wherein Netanyahu threatened to end the ceasefire if all prisoners of war were not released by Hamas by Saturday (thus surrendering their leverage against Israel), Hamas spokesman Abu Obieda said there would be no more releases until Israel upheld its ceasefire terms. This maneuver paid off, and Netanyahu’s bluff was called. The ceasefire continues. By applying pressure to the negotiators, Hamas has forced Israel to enter a political peace process and meet its ceasefire obligations (allowance of aid into Gaza).
Since the start of the ceasefire on January 19, 93 Palestinians have been murdered by direct-fire, and over 800 injured.
Israel cannot afford to go back to war. It can only fight with bombs dropped by airplanes. The ground army of the IDF has virtually disintegrated and needs time to regain strength. It has lost the propaganda war and the ground war; air war alone cannot enforce political goals.
The US/Israeli problem remains that they can wield fantastic potential for death-dealing, but can accomplish nothing— a recipe for imperial frustration.
In Massachusetts
Jewish leaders in the United States have signed opposition to the announced ‘plan,’ saying “NO to ethnic cleansing.” Senior rabbi Toba Spitzer of a Congregation Dorshei Tzedek in Newton, MA, called it a “sinister plan,” and compared it to Hitler’s dream of cleaning Germany of Jews.
Conclusions
One wonders when this “Resort Gaza” plan will be abandoned… surely once the ‘going gets tough’ it will be dropped, as goes the Trump Modus Operandi.
The presence of US mercenaries guarding checkpoints in Gaza is a sign that the US is already more involved with ‘boots-on-the-ground’ than is conventionally understood. The US appears to be directly eating the cost for Israeli dominance over Palestine (what else is new?).
This ‘expulsion plan’ was the goal the past 15 month war, and only resulted in a resounding Palestinian victory at preventing their own removal from Gaza. It seems that if it’s attempted again, it will be by direct US involvement (while the IDF licks its wounds)… at least until the Americans get tired of dying and go home.
This entire situation seems untenable, and too costly for any side to wage successfully. Peaceful and political solutions remain the only viable path forward.
Liam Noble is a student at the University of Massachusetts – Boston