Gaza Strip: Trump proposes resettling inhabitants
Donald Trump has suggested resettling most of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip in Jordan and Egypt, where he said they could "live in peace for a change". Both countries immediately rejected the idea, while far-right circles in Israel have endorsed it. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned against the repercussions of a mass displacement of the ruined coastal strip's inhabitants.
Dangerous ignorance
Trump's proposal reveals his ignorance of the disastrous consequences of expelling the Palestinians, says The Independent:
“Lebanon and Jordan then faced decades of instability, civil war, and armed insurrection as Palestinian groups fought to dislodge Israel and return to their homes. ... Jordan and Egypt will be aghast at Trump's latest statements. They reveal no knowledge of recent history. Gaza and the West Bank have always been seen as the lands where a future Palestinian state may be established. By endorsing the concept that Palestinians could be rehomed, either temporarily or permanently, in Jordan or Egypt, Trump risks being accused of supporting a policy of 'ethnic cleansing'.”
The mindset of a building tycoon
For the Süddeutsche Zeitung Trump's ideas testify to a narrowminded view of complex problems:
“Even though he surprised the world with his commitment to a ceasefire, even though critics applauded him for his tougher stance vis-à-vis Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu - this does not make him a man who pursues something one could call a foreign policy guided by firm values and longer-term strategies. Even his plan for resolving the Middle East conflict in his first term of office was written with the eye of a real estate shark. And now too Trump views the coastal strip as a building tycoon would. The world is better off not relying on this man to settle the planet's major conflicts with quick and profitable deals.”
Best idea so far
Writing on Facebook, political scientist Abbas Gallyamov, who lives in Israel, considers the proposal to be an unconventional but productive approach:
“I'm not saying that this is a good solution, but I don't rule out the possibility that it could end up being better than others. Because everything that has been tried so far - Israeli occupation, segregation and Israel's complete withdrawal from the sector - has ended very badly. You only need look at the ruined state in which Gaza now lies to see this. Sometimes it is productive to exit the established paradigm and look at the situation from the outside - without blinkers. Thanks to Trump's victory, this is exactly what is happening to the political system in the US and the West.”