Trump's imaginary riviera

There is no doubt that what the foolish thug Donald Trump said in his press conference with the indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked a lot of controversy. It is unbelievable that a US president could say explicitly that his country will seize the Gaza Strip and own it while turning it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”. It was unforgiveable, not least for saying this in front of the smirking terrorist leader of the Zionist state which has been engaged in genocide in Gaza since October 2023, even if Trump claimed people from all over the world could live in his imaginary riviera, including the Palestinians.

According to Trump, after 2.2 million Palestinians are transferred to Egypt, Jordan and any other number of countries that would take them they can live in safety and comfort, and have a much better and more secure life than in Gaza. He went as far as to express his willingness to send American troops to Gaza to achieve his vision. The reality is that US troops are already there, helping the Israeli regime, and Washington has been complicit in genocide by sending the apartheid state as much arms and ammunition as it wants.

Trump knows that his crazy idea is impossible to implement. It was a calculated, strategic manipulation that relies on creating an imaginary reality so that impossible ideas become open to discussion and unimplementable projects appear as if they are perfectly reasonable scenarios. Just presenting them to the media and discussing their repercussions has contributed to the involuntary formation of the collective consciousness where displacement is discussed as a reality, an acceptable reality, rather than being rejected as the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from Gaza, which would be a crime against the entire Palestinian population. Indeed, a crime against humanity.

This is a deliberate policy inspired by political and media theories that aim to reshape public consciousness and push opponents onto the defensive all the time.

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The Israeli regime and its bought-and-paid-for politicians in Washington were shocked by the return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians walking back to their homes, despite the destruction, as they were by Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. The Zionists could not believe that anyone could live in such a place that their bombs have rendered apparently uninhabitable.

What are these Palestinians made of? I’ll tell you:

They are the salt of the earth, and they are deeply rooted in the soil of Palestine, like just like their beloved olive trees.

There is no doubt that the march to northern Gaza was unprecedented, and caught the Zionists off guard, just as Al-Aqsa Flood did on 7 October, 2023. It was another slap in the face for them and a confirmation of the Palestinians’ victory over the Zionist enemy in the genocide, despite the pain, wounds and long suffering. It is the victory of the Palestinians over US-made “bunker buster bombs”, missiles and artillery. It was the triumphant return, with pride and dignity intact, while the cowards known collectively as the Israel “Defence” Forces — who were stupid enough to film and share their war crimes on social media — slunk away in disgrace.

The heroic men, women and children of Gaza were not exhausted by fatigue or weakened by hunger. They longed to meet their loved ones back home, even if they were martyrs. They were driven to pitch tents over the ruins of their homes, taking shelter in the shade of the flag of the wounded homeland.

The leaders of the Zionist entity were astonished by the scene of the return, and knew in their anger that this was the beginning of the end of their colonial project and the failure of their plans. They see this return to the geographical area in which they settled and established their bogus entity as a confirmation of the legitimacy of the Palestinian people’s right to return their land, and that the Zionist occupation was always going to be temporary.

This was the strongest message sent by the Palestinians in Gaza to Trump and the leaders of the Zionist entity, which is why he and his co-conspirators needed to drown the Palestinians with the illusion of the “Riviera of the Middle East” in order to divert attention from the victory. They needed to make the discussion about displacement and where the Palestinians will go, as if ethnic cleansing and displacement are inevitable and the only disagreement is the final destination.

They talk about displacement as a legitimate idea, despite it being a serious crime dreamt up by a sick imagination.

Trump and Netanyahu want to turn the impossible into the possible, and make people treat ethnic cleansing as a real estate deal that could and should happen for the benefit of everyone, including the victims. This must be fought, not only by rejecting the idea at source, but also rejecting talk of it as a political option that could save the region from war.

The Palestinian people have had their say on the matter and expressed it with their march of return to their land. The old-new plan for “voluntary” displacement and Trump’s “Riviera of the Middle East” are both non-starters.

READ: Over 20,000 Palestinians displaced by Israeli assault on Jenin refugee camp in West Bank: Official

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.