The Shift: Trump proposes the ethnic cleansing of Gaza

Shortly after Trump took power, an internal State Department memo stated that “No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved … as consistent with President Trump’s agenda.”

This shift came with an anticipated caveat. The administration would be cutting a lot of foreign aid, but weapons shipments to Israel and Egypt would not be impacted by the move. Egypt gets around $1.3 billion. People consistently say that Israel gets $3.8 billion, but figuring out how much it actually gets has been quite a challenge since the October 7 attack.

A Wall Street Journal report reveals that the Trump administration is on the verge of asking Congress for another $1 billion in weapons for Israel as part of a new package that includes 4,700 1,000-pound bombs along with well-armored bulldozers built by the U.S. company Caterpillar. Trump recently lifted a temporary hold on 2,000 pound bombs to Israel, which has been implemented under the Biden.

The news came just a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House to discuss ceasefire developments with Trump.

“Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are expected to press Trump to move forward with a separate set of arms transfers that were initially requested by the Biden administration, totaling more than $8 billion in new bombs, missiles and artillery rounds,” noted the Journal.

Trump is pushing the massive weapons deal during the ongoing negotiation process of a fragile ceasefire, which he himself says might not actually hold up. On the same day as the WSJ report, the head of the Gaza Government Information Office updated their estimated death toll to nearly 62,000.

The administration also issued an executive order removing the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council and cutting off further funding to UNRWA, the main agency providing humanitarian aid to Gaza. According to a recent UNRWA report, Israeli forces killed 272 of its staff members during its genocidal assault.

“As of 19 January, only three out of 22 UNRWA health centres and four additional UNRWA-rented facilities used as temporary health centres were operational in Gaza. Health services are also provided through 89 mobile medical teams working in 52 medical points inside and outside shelters in the middle area, Khan Younis, Al Mawasi and Gaza City,” the report notes. “UNRWA health facilities provide primary health care, including outpatient services, non-communicable disease care, giving out medications, vaccination, antenatal and postnatal health care, laboratory and dental services, physiotherapy and dressings for the injured. The number of operational health facilities changes constantly based on demand, access and security.”

This week Trump also made reference to Gaza being ethnically cleansed again, telling reporters that Palestinians could potentially be moved to Jordan and Egypt.

“The Gaza thing doesn’t work — it’s never worked,” said Trump. “It’s a disaster. I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land, and we get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable.”

Trump reiterated these sentiments after his meeting with Netanyahu, but he added a shocking twist.

Not only should Palestinians be removed from their homeland, the United States should take over the Gaza Strip.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip,” said the President. “We’ll own it … We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal … the Riviera of the Middle East.”

“We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this, and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and, frankly, bad luck,” he continued.

Trump’s suggestion was immediately condemned by human rights groups, analysts, and political leaders across the world. Even Republican lawmakers expressed skepticism over the idea.

“I think that would be an interesting proposal,” the normally hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told a reporter. “We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that. I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza. It might be problematic.”

White House officials have already started to walk back elements of Trump’s comments and right-wing pundits are claiming that the proposal was a calculated move meant to push Arab leaders to the table.

However, the reality is potentially much simpler. Trump thinks in terms of deals and condos. Many initially speculated that his comments might mean that the U.S. military force would occupy Gaza, but he went on to clarify his vision in a social media post.

“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,” he explained. “No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”

You don’t have to be a political expert to determine the inspiration for this. Trump’s son-in-law and former political adviser, Jared Kushner, has made very similar comments about the area last year.

“Gaza’s waterfront property, it could be very valuable if people would focus on kind of building up livelihoods,” said Kushner in February 2024. “I think that it’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there but I think from Israel’s perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.”

There is a specific sheen of grift reflecting off nearly every part of Trump’s policy agenda and it should never be entirely disregarded. However, “Condos in Gaza” could end up being the new “China is going to pay for a wall on the Mexican border.” It’s outlandish and predictably generates a lot of attention, but these declarations could be seen as part of the administration’s wider “Flood the Zone” strategy, purposely implemented to keep political opponents reeling and unable to focus.

While mainstream pundits analyze Trump’s Gaza comments, they pay little attention to his repeated references to West Bank annexation, which is a more immediate concern. They also overlook the historical context of these comments, as experts have pointed out that the West Bank has been going through a process of annexation for decades.

 “I’ve long advocated and believed that the West Bank has already been annexed. The only thing that remains is just very small things,” Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and Middle East analyst Diana Buttu told Mondoweiss in an interview this week. “One is the existence of the Palestinian Authority, and two is that they haven’t yet passed the laws fully expelling Palestinians. That’s all that really hasn’t been done. But everything else, it’s already annexed.”

In this sense, Trump’s Middle East policies can be seen as a continuation of the previous administration. All modern Presidents have viewed Israel as a means for the U.S. to control the Middle East. Trump’s strategies might be different, but his objectives remain largely the same.

Martin Oliner

A Trump-appointed member of the United States Holocaust Memorial has published an Op-Ed calling Palestinians “fundamentally evil” and not worthy of “any mercy.”

Martin Oliner, who joined the council shortly before the January 6 insurrection, is also chairman of the Religious Zionists of America and president of the pro-Israel Culture for Peace Institute.

In a February 1 editorial in the Jerusalem Post titled “Let Donald Trump make Gaza great again,” Oliner wrote that Palestinians were “collectively guilty” for the Hamas attack of October 7.

“The actions of the Gazan people prove they need detoxifying education before the reconstruction should even be able to begin,” said Oliner. “They are fundamentally evil, and they must pay a price for their actions.”

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council is a governing body established by Congress in 1980. The 55-member organization leads observation of Holocaust Remembrance and oversees the official Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Those appointed to the body serve five-year terms.

Oliner’s views have been condemned by a number of organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who called for him to be removed from the organization.

“We strongly condemn pro-Israel activist and U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council board member Martin Oliner for reportedly declaring every single man, woman and child in Gaza ‘fundamentally evil’ and ‘collectively guilty’ people who are not ‘worthy of any mercy,’ said the group in a statement. “We also condemn The Jerusalem Post for printing this unhinged, racist, and genocidal rant.”

“President Trump should immediately remove Oliner from his seat on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council,” it continued. “It is unacceptable for anyone who believes that all children and everyone else in a population are ‘fundamentally evil’ and unworthy of mercy to hold a position with any organization, whether a private or public entity. It is exactly these types of racist, hate-filled views that lead to crimes against humanity, including the genocide in Gaza.”

Odds & Ends

🇺🇸 Coming soon: Trump plan for Israeli annexation of the West Bank

📄 Trump reiterates plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza following Netanyahu meeting at White House

🚨 Trump’s impossible Gaza plan can still do a great deal of harm

🗺️ Trump’s Plan: Ethnic cleansing as fascist ambition

🪧 Students sue Columbia over suspensions for Palestine protest

🎤 U.S. officials react to Trump plan to ‘take over’ Gaza

🏫 The Encampment Movement leads the way under Trump

🎓 Statement from Jewish Rutgers union members: Zionist hegemony must end

🍉 Electronic Intifada: Gaza is not a “thing,” Mr. President

🇮🇱 CNN: Netanyahu blows past ceasefire talks deadline to confer with Trump

🪖 Responsible Statecraft: New neocon manifesto: Keep US troops in the Middle East forever

🖊️ ABC: Trump DOJ launches antisemitism task force targeting US colleges

🛂 In These Times: Trump’s Executive Order Targets Pro-Palestine Students And Free Speech on Campuses

🐘 Jewish Insider: Republican Jewish Coalition backs Elbridge Colby for top Pentagon post

🟧 Washington Post: Trump proposes permanent displacement of Gazans as he welcomes Netanyahu to White House

🇮🇷 The Nation: Can Trump Make a Deal With Iran?

🇵🇸 Common Dreams: Shock, Awe, and Ethnic Cleansing: Trump’s Policy in Gaza

🇺🇳 Jerusalem Post: Trump signs executive order withdrawing US from UN Human Rights Council and UNRWA

🐺 Fight Back! News: Minneapolis protest looks beyond Gaza ceasefire, calls for full Palestinian liberation

💬 Amnesty International on Twitter: “The Biden administration flouted any efforts at international justice for Palestine. Now, by not arresting Netanyahu or subjecting him to U.S. investigations, President Trump is doubling down welcoming him as the first foreign leader to visit the White House since the inauguration”

🤝 Responsible Statecraft: Netanyahu at the White House: Can he read the new room?

⚖️ Drop Site News: Columbia students just sued the university for attacks on pro-Palestine activism

👨‍⚖️ Truthout: HRW Warns US Complicit in Israeli Crimes Ahead of Trump Meeting With Netanyah

✊ Electronic Intifada: How to protect ourselves from Trump’s Palestine advocacy crackdown

🇮🇷 Jewish Insider: Netanyahu and Trump ‘see eye to eye on Iranian threat’ — Israeli official

🗣️ JVP Political Director Beth Miller: “Netanyahu’s itinerary while in D.C. — including his meetings with Elon Musk and right-wing Christian nationalists — should make it crystal clear that the Israeli government’s policies are not only a threat to Palestinians, but a threat to Jewish people and all people who value peace and democracy. These men are bigots, authoritarians, and oligarchs who seek to claim power at the expense of people all over the world. We are part of an international movement grounded in justice for all to oppose their power.”

🫏 Ken Martin was elected  Democratic National Committee chair. Here he is in October 2023, condemning a Twin Cities DSA Statement of Solidarity with Palestine: “‘From the river to the sea’ is a chant used by extremists to support the destruction of Israel. It is appalling to embrace this rhetoric in this statement, which also doesn’t even acknowledge the slaughter of Israeli & American civilians. This is disgusting.”

Stay safe out there,