On the Gaza waterfront? Trump’s West Asia ‘solution’ may have a strategy, if not method, in its madness
Gaza becomes Gurgaon? Donald Trump is trying something different in the world's most devastated piece of real estate. He wants to uproot Gaza and create a real estate Palms Jumeirah or a West Asian version of the French Riviera. In effect, his plan is to junk the one- or two-state solution to the Palestine problem by proposing a real estate solution.
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There are a million problems with the proposition. But what we're seeing is the unfolding of the expansionist Trump, upending of the conventional understanding of the West Asia crisis. More troubling is that these 'initiatives' hold crazy implications for state sovereignty, and ethnic cleansing.
It was an extraordinary announcement — with Benjamin Netanyahu by his side. That was the first problem. Fantasy or imperial overreach? What about those whose ancestors called this their home? Or who have braved Hamas terror and Israeli bombardment but called it their land?
Trump wants neighbouring Arab states like Jordan and Egypt to take them. They, unsurprisingly, don't want them. He wants Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to bankroll the Gaza redevelopment project. But who owns the land? More importantly, who's the sovereign authority?
In one sense, Trump has a point. With the ceasefire in place, somebody has to begin rebuilding Gaza, clearing the devastation caused by incessant Israeli bombing, removing the terror infrastructure of Hamas. He is also right in saying that without external rebuilding, Gaza faces an unending cycle of death and
