I now realize exactly how much Trump has changed the world and our perceptions of the rights of humans, rights that have been established in law for a century. That newspapers and other media can have lengthy coverage of his crazed plan to annex Gaza for a real estate project, displacing all its citizens, without clearly stating how violative this is of all the norms of a civilized, codified world order is beyond belief. One country does not seize the territory of another country by force of arms or coercion.
Gaza is now considered by the United Nations and all of the nations of the world as an occupied country illegally seized by Israel. International law technically considers it to be governed by the Palestinian Authority, but Hamas generally exerts power over the territory now, with Israel exerting control of its borders and other aspects of its security and foreign affairs. (Egypt has control of its borders with Gaza.) Israel does not claim ownership of Gaza.
Trump’s proposal is pure colonialism by a failed builder with a total disregard of established norms of behavior. It was alluded to by Trump’s son-law (another incompetent landlord) a few years ago and reflects the arrogance of the rich property owner to evict anyone if it is possible to make more money with a new tenant or by the reconstruction of the property.
This proposal would not only be plain theft, it would violate every modern concept of human rights as enshrined in the UN charter and international treaties of which the United States is a signatory and by which it is therefore bound. It would reward Israel for its leveling of Gaza and give the Netanyahu government exactly what it wants: the removal of the citizens of Gaza so that it can be, effectively, cleansed of Palestinians and retaken, thus achieving the mandate of the Israeli right to take over the ancient land it claims as solely its own. It would make the United States a pariah in the civilized world and embroil it as an active participant in the current conflict, an area that no other nation, outside of the Israelis and the Palestinians, wishes to touch with a 10-foot pole.
The proposal is an attempt at ethnic cleansing enabled by the physical destruction of Gaza by Israel’s bombing campaign. It would be laughable on its face if it wasn’t so tragic that it has been proposed by a nation that postures itself as a beacon for the rights of men and women. That Trump is ignorant of law and of the concepts of democracy is a given, but I can’t believe he never thought, even perhaps for a second, that he was telling the legal owners and residents of Gaza that they had to leave their country on his dictate.
Trump also has immediately achieved the exact opposite of what he and his prior administration wanted to bring about: the recognition by Saudi Arabia of Israel. The Saudis immediately reasserted that they would never recognize Israel without a second state for the Palestinian residents of the area. They have no choice but to reassert and strengthen their resolve, since to do otherwise would be to accept the American proposal of a new colonization of the Middle East, a sin considered most grievous by nations in the area.
The displacement suggested by Trump hasn’t even the cosmetic gloss of Hitler’s claims in seizing land. Trump’s reasons are allegedly based solely in economics: that the country is so destroyed that no one can live there now, and he has decided that the population should be kicked out so that Gaza can be rebuilt as a new Monte Carlo and Palestinians will be able to return to work in the hotels.
I cannot believe Trump has not thought about the cosmic political changes that his proposal, if implemented, would engender in the area, but then again, he is impulsive and stupid enough that I could be wrong. We have seen he has the attention span of a newt, and he seemingly surprised his new government ministers with his plan, so much so that they immediately rushed to the media to try to explain that his statements were misconstrued or that they were merely said to push negotiations along. It is hard to keep up in explaining the musings of your boss when he doesn’t share them with you before he blurts them out to the world.
If before a few weeks ago anyone suggested that a signature element of the foreign policy of the United Sates was the hostile seizure of friendly or neutral sovereign states through armed intervention or political sanctions, you would have considered them deranged. Maybe that is the explanation, and my guess is it will only get worse as he ages in office.
I guess that Gaza will become the 54th state, after Canada, Panama, and Greenland. He is still musing about sending troops into Mexico, but he may not want the whole country—we will see. I can understand that the people who elected him may have wanted changes in our government and were upset over the economy, but I wonder if they realized what exactly they were getting. They should have been, but maybe they have some remorse now.
