Ethnic Cleansing

By now you probably have heard that Trump wants to send "peace keepers" to take over Gaza but you haven't heard as Paul Harvey used to say the "rest of the story."

With Gaza Plan, an Unbound Trump Pushes an Improbable Idea
Once a critic of nation building, the president now envisions taking over a Middle East enclave, driving out its Palestinian population and transforming it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

The New York Times

By Peter Baker
Feb. 5, 2025

 

 

President Trump basked as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel praised his “willingness to think outside the box.” But when it came to Gaza, Mr. Trump’s thinking on Tuesday was so far outside the box that it was not clear he even knew there was a box.

Mr. Trump’s announcement that he intends to seize control of Gaza, displace the Palestinian population and turn the coastal enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East” was the kind of thing he might have said to get a rise on “The Howard Stern Show” a decade or two ago. Provocative, intriguing, outlandish, outrageous — and not at all presidential.

But now in his sequel term in the White House, Mr. Trump is advancing ever-more brazen ideas about redrawing the map of the world in the tradition of 19th-century imperialism. First there was buying Greenland, then annexing Canada, reclaiming the Panama Canal and renaming the Gulf of Mexico. And now he envisions taking over a devastated war zone in the Middle East that no other American president would want.

 

[...]

 

 Then at a formal news conference with Mr. Netanyahu in the East Room on Tuesday evening, he took it the final step, declaring not just that Palestinians should leave but that “the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip” and rebuild it into a prosperous economic destination.

This was not a temporary takeover, but “a long-term ownership position” and he made clear that he had no intention of turning Gaza back over to the Palestinians but would make it a place “not for a specific group of people but for everybody.”

But it even gets crazier... 

“Is he talking in geopolitical terms, or does he simply see Gaza as a massive beachfront development project?” Mr. Elgindy asked. “And for whose benefit? Certainly not Palestinians, who are to be ‘relocated’ en masse. Will the U.S. be the new occupier in Gaza, replacing the Israelis? What U.S. interest could this possibly serve?”

As if it couldn't even get nuttier and we find out that it is not more than a land grab to build a playground for the rich and famous like Monte Carlo.

He seemed to be picking up an idea floated last year by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who noted in an interview that “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable” and suggested Israel “move the people out and then clean it up.” But Mr. Kushner did not seem to envision forcing Palestinians out permanently or an American takeover.

 Of course all the billionaires are lining up to get a piece of the action.

 

The Daily Mail writes...

Trump, who spent his career as a property developer, has long talked up Gaza's coastal location and pleasant climate as a perfect holiday vacation.

In his vision, US reconstruction would create thousands of jobs and spare Palestinians the pain and expense of rebuilding once again.

That would also mean relocating 1.8 million Palestinians to other regions.

However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the United Nations to 'protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,' saying that what Trump wanted to do would be 'a serious violation of international law.'

Hey it will not be the first time Trump thumbed his nose at the laws!

 

I wonder if there will be a new "Trump Towers" there?