NoW UPDATE: GAZA 2.0?

 

    Awkward

I was going to write a post about AI technology and how it impacts/will impact our lives until I realized I didn’t know a damn thing about AI. So, I thought instead I would write a brief note about an equally daunting subject: Palestine, and the bat-shit crazy proposal the American president has for it.

On February 4, 2025, President Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu held a presser at the White House following several hours of consultations. Toward the end of the Q&A with reporters Trump stated that the United States would “take over” Gaza, would “own” it and turn it into the “Riveria” of the Middle East. He also stated that the Palestinian people would be relocated to other countries—he mentioned neighbouring Egypt and Jordon—and that he wants to “clean out” Gaza of Palestinians and, and besides, why would they want to return—their land is in ruins, there’s nothing there for them, anymore. And while he’s made similar statements in the following days when he said the United States would not pay for the reconstruction, nor would there be American ‘boots on the ground’ to facilitate the removal of 1.8-million^* Gazans to some other locale, it is interesting that he does not provide any comprehensive plan (or any plan at all) to accomplish what many in the international community are loudly condemning⁺ as the American president’s apparent call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, a war crime in anyone’s books.

  

“The secretary general, António Guterres, told a UN meeting on Wednesday [February 5] that ‘it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing’ after the US president said he wanted to ‘own’ Gaza and resettle its Palestinian residents elsewhere.

An unusually broad wave of international outrage and condemnation followed Trump’s shock announcement after a meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Germany warned that the plan violated international law and Brazil’s president described it as ‘incomprehensible’, with China stating it opposed ‘forced transfer’.” (The Guardian)

 

I'm not sure what's going to happen. Is Trump bluffing? Who knows? But here are some things to think about:

👉I did not get the sense that Netanyahu’s rapport with Trump was particularly warm during the Israeli PM’s visit to Washington last week, with smiles that seem more like grimaces on Trump’s face during last Wednesday’s press conference. It seems, Trump does not like “Bibi” Netanyahu.

👉While Netanyahu got more weapons and money—those 2,000 lbs. bombs he asked for, as well as a shipment of bulldozers—what I found interesting was the Israeli PM’s facial expression and body language [Think: deer in the headlights. Ed.] when Trump announced his Gaza ‘redevelopment’ plan would be under American ownership, whatever that might mean in practice. The Israeli PM seemed to be caught unawares by the proposal, and on the back foot, even though he would praise Trump’s initiative moments later.

👉But, Trump does not seem committed to the proposal, even though he doubled-down on it later in the week. The lack of any plan, with no timetables or logistics designed, or even hinted at, suggests this may be a distraction or a way to disrupt the decades-old thinking around resolving the Palestine-Israel conflict. It was a vulgar statement, disrespectful (to the Palestinians), cruel and, if carried out, would be a war crime. 

👉But remember: Trump is vulgar and disrespectful, he is a disruptor of the status quo—that’s how he rolls.

👉During Wednesday’s presser, Trump said he wants there to be peace in the Middle East. He wants to see Iran grow and develop, but not with nuclear weapons. There are preliminary discussions with Iranian officials around a new nuclear arms agreement with Iran. Such a treaty would put the skids on U.S. support for Israel to wage war against its biggest rival in the region.

 

👉Trump’s plan ain’t gonna happen. He’s not going to put boots on the ground in Gaza to remove Palestinians. Nor does there seem to be any country that would take them in any case, though Trump is meeting today (Jan. 11) with Jordon’s King Abdullah II), so we’ll see if arm-twisting and/or bribery will get the Hashemite king to open his borders to Palestinian refugees. Regardless, the Palestinians are going nowhere. this is their land, their home. Witness the march by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza, no matter that what's left is mostly rubble after fifteen months of Israeli bombing.

👉So, what is Trump doing? One commentator suggests his ‘out-of-the-box’ proposal might stir Saudi Arabia and the gulf states to make counter-proposals to resolve the situation between Palestine and Israel. Trump may be throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Stay Tuned.

 

    No High Five?

👉Trump does not want another war in the Middle East, let alone one that drags the U.S. into it. His conciliatory comments to Iran suggest he wants to deescalate the situation through negotiation rather than by armed conflict, which seems to put Israel, that does want war with Iran (so long as the U.S. participates), in a subordinate position, having to kowtow before the American president.

👉Netanyahu did not get everything he wanted in his week-long trip.

 

Finally, the Israeli prime minister is in ill-health, having just undergone surgery for prostate cancer. His week-long stay in the U.S. may have something to do with receiving medical treatment. Anyway, there will be increasing speculation as to what a post-Netanyahu Israel will look like and how it will function.  

 

Cheers, Jake.____________________________________

 

* Last time I checked there were 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. Is Trump making a mistake in the total, or does it suggest that half a million Gazans are unaccounted for? Time will tell. 

 

+ Needless to say, Canada’s disapproval has been muted, with Foreign Affairs minister, Mélanie Joly coming out with a ‘wishy-washy’ push-back while addressing a business group in Halifax last week:  "'We don't believe in the forced displacement of people, and we think that everything we do must be in accordance with international law,' Joly told the Halifax Chamber of Commerce on Friday." She also said that Canada supports the two-state solution for peace between Palestinians and Israelis, calling Trump’s proposal “abhorrent”, which is a step in the right direction, and while MPs make statements condemning Israel's actions in Gaza, there has been no official state condemnation of the Trump plan, nor any comment from Canada’s chief cuck Prime minister Trudeau. 

[Q: Does the rest of the world give a flying f**k what Canada says? A: Not for some time now. Ed.]