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Trump’s policy on Palestine has long been incoherent, ill-considered, and illogical – much like his foreign policy elsewhere. Red flags were raised after his comments in a press conference with Israeli leader Netanyahu in early February, in which he stated that the US would “take over” and “own” the Gaza strip. Now it seems he has been empowered to conceptualise these ideas of creating “the Riviera of the Middle East”, in an AI generated video posted on Truth Social featuring bizarre, dystopian imagery of Gaza as a resort for the American elite.
There are no limits to Trump’s audacity, it seems, as the video depicts Palestinian children walking through rubble with a disembodied voice claiming, “Donald’s coming to set you free.” The fantasy continues with simultaneously bearded and bikini-clad belly dancers, skyscrapers, and uncomfortably lingering shots of Elon Musk eating hummus. It finally ends with a zoomed focus of Trump and Netanyahu sipping drinks on a beach. As expected, Trump is saying the quiet part out loud, reiterating that there will be no right of return for Palestinians, as their lives will be “much better” elsewhere. No matter the UN’s statement that any forced displacement of Palestinians is “tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.
The video has received backlash from supporters and critics alike. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Egypt would not participate in an injustice against the Palestinians, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II stated that the “unified Arab position” was against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Many Republicans have criticised Trump’s plans, with Senator Rand Paul saying the US has “no business” occupying Gaza.
Trump’s supposedly ‘humanitarian’ solutions regarding Gaza differ to the norm only in the sense that they are so explicit. The militarism-humanitarianism nexus that has emerged in recent years has been heavily criticised for prioritising profit gain and supporting the military industrial complex in countries like the US, at the expense of addressing any real humanitarian issues. A Hamas official described Trump’s remarks as demonstrating a “deep ignorance of Palestine and the region”, something which is often a hallmark of US interventionist policy. Time and time again, US foreign policy and humanitarianism disregards the interests, cultures, and even presence of the peoples who they are allegedly attempting to help.
Humanitarian crises have become a media phenomenon, a business investment, and an affirmation of US exceptionalism all in one. In the case of Gaza, it is the Palestinians that continue to suffer at the hands of US ambition and imperialism.
Edited by Ruby Fry
Gaza on Map by CHUTTERSNAP, 2020 // Unsplash Content License
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