Dem
47
GOP
53
In yesterday's wild and crazy press conference, the subject of Gaza did come up. That said, it was because Elon Musk was forced to admit that he was in error when he claimed that the Biden administration had earmarked $50 million for condoms to be sent to Gaza. It turns out that figure was only off by... $50 million. Probably a good reason to insist on hard evidence whenever Musk or Trump make grandiose claims about government waste that the DOGEys have uncovered.
Despite the setback, Trump has thus far stuck with his plan to turn Gaza into a luxury resort. Over the weekend, presumably after a sleepless night, the budding imperialist got on his grossly overvalued social media platform to lay out his plan of action:
The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting. The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free. The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!
We have no idea what the "Chuck Schumer" bit is about. Yes, he is Jewish. But the Palestinians, with only a few exceptions, are not. Maybe the idea is that they are all "bad people," regardless of religious background.
Trump followed that with a declaration, during his pre-Super Bowl interview, that the Palestinians would not be allowed to return to a rebuilt Gaza. So that makes it official that we're talking about an ethnic cleansing scheme. On Monday, Trump added that if Jordan and Egypt do not agree to accept the Palestinians, he might withhold foreign aid to those nations.
Notice that these plans, while both absurd and insane, are far more concrete than anything Trump has said about annexing Canada or acquiring Greenland. It remains a strong possibility that he really means it. And others in, and around, his orbit, are behaving as if he's serious. The right-wing media is celebrating the plan, of course. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has also climbed on board, up to and including some political theater, presenting Trump with a bomb-inspired "golden pager." Jordan's King Abdullah II is nervous enough about Trump's threats that he met with the Co-President in the White House yesterday, and spent much time buttering The Donald up.
And even if this is all political theater, or some sort of negotiating tactic, it's having real consequences. Hamas thinks Israel is not abiding by the terms of the ceasefire agreement. More important, at least for our current purposes, is that Hamas also thinks that the guarantees offered by the U.S.—which were a critical part of the agreement—can no longer be counted on. Fair enough, when the leader of the U.S. is talking about turning your territory into Las Vegas East. Anyhow, for these reasons, Hamas has suspended hostage releases, putting the whole ceasefire in danger of collapse.
Once Hamas made its move, Trump made his. As is so often the case, his response appears to have been poorly thought out, and half-cocked. He decreed that if Hamas does not fall into line, they should be wiped out:
As far as I'm concerned, if all of the hostages aren't returned by Saturday at 12 o'clock—I think it's an appropriate time—I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out. I'd say they ought to be returned by 12 o'clock on Saturday. And if they're not returned—all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two—Saturday at 12 o'clock. And after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.
Maybe Hamas will be cowed, and will back down. However, that would not be terribly consistent with their past behavior. Assuming they remain defiant, then it would seem that there are only two possible outcomes: (1) Nothing happens, and Trump is shown to be a paper tiger, or (2) all hell does break out, and the ceasefire goes up in flames. Most presidents would see #2 as a disastrous outcome, and #1 as not so great either, which is why they would not make such threats. From Trump's vantage point, though, #2 is probably a pretty good outcome. He disdains Muslims, and killing a bunch of people is ultimately easier than removing them, if you're trying to clear land for a luxury resort. It is not easy for us to write something that assumes such callousness and such cruelty, but the track record here suggests this line of thinking is a real possibility.
Now that Trump is openly flirting with approaches to Gaza that sound a lot like ethnic cleansing and/or genocide, you might be wondering if those folks who voted against Joe Biden because of his Israel policy are having second thoughts. If so, reporters from Politico, CNN and Slate, among others, have you covered.
Dearborn, MI, of course, has the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the country. The residents normally vote Democratic, but last November they made an exception and voted heavily for Donald Trump to punish "Genocide Joe," even though he wasn't on the ballot. At the same time, the city also went for now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a Jewish woman.
During the campaign, two of the region's mayors, Dearborn Heights mayor Bill Bazzi and Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib, actively campaigned for Trump, arguing that Trump would bring peace to the Middle East. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud did not campaign for Trump but was a leader of the "uncommitted" movement and was active in the "Abandon Harris" movement.
Now that Trump has revealed his plan to relocate all the Gazans somewhere else (Greenland?) and rebuild Gaza as the "Riviera of the Middle East," the Arab American community is shocked. Shocked! One leader, who was granted anonymity by Politico to speak honestly, said there is a sense of remorse in the community now. He said that people think "we screwed up but we're not going to admit it." Turns out, elections have consequences. They are not like demonstrations on college campuses, which generally do not. Who knew?
Sam Baydoun, an Arab-American Wayne County commissioner from Dearborn said: "Gaza will always be part of a future Palestinian state, not a casino resort." Last week, Hammoud tweeted: "Deploying U.S. troops and using taxpayer dollars to invade Gaza is morally indefensible." He seemed surprised, even though on Oct. 8, 2024, a month before the election, Trump talked about Gaza as the "Riviera of the Middle East" and answered radio host Hugh Hewitt's question about the future of Gaza with: "It could be better than Monaco as it has the best location in the Middle East."
Baydoun isn't alone. Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said: "Any forced displacement of Palestinians in their land would be ethnic cleansing." But then he added: "Perhaps some people right now in our community are second guessing their vote for Trump."
Those votes for Trump, no matter how much some people might regret them, are a done deal. However, the story in Gaza is still being written. And we are now about 72 hours from the start of what could be a new, important, and possibly very ugly chapter in that story. For all the poor people who have been victimized by this war, we hope that cooler heads prevail. But we have to admit that we are not optimistic. (Z & V)