Trump’s vague plan, his new vision for the Eastern Mediterranean has some supporters and some advantages. It is important to see the local context.

Historically if you start a war and you lose that war, you lose your land. If you’re lucky you escape with your life. There are so many instances of this it is fair to say human history is one long example of it and it still applies in many parts of the world.

Trump’s plan is vague but seems to involve removing either by bribe or force the entire population of Gaza temporarily or permanently.

Remember something that our girls-who-aren’t-doing-well protesters on US campuses evidently don’t: Palestine is unique. There is no other entity quite like it.

Invention of an Identity

Prior to the 1960s there was no Arab “Palestine”. That word described the British mandated area (remember: not a colony, a mandate for they are quite different) for Jews. “Palestinian” sports teams, newspapers and identity were Jewish.

Jordan, then Trans-Jordan which amusingly has nothing to do with rainbow unicorn trans, was reserved for the Arabs. Historically Jordan is “Palestine”. Further, the Gaza Strip was Egyptian until (the Arab initiated 1967) war.

Arabs – for an Arab “Palestinian” state wasn’t a thing until the 1960s – rejected their own half of what became Israel by four separate losing wars starting with rejection of the Peel Agreement in 1937. Sidenote: in the 1930s and 40s the Arab side rejected the generous British offer of the best land leaving the malarial swamps and pretty barren land to the Jews who said: “Yes! We’ll take it and buy more.” No Arabs were “expelled” ever, despite popular narratives and “Nakba” fantasies.

Some Arabs left “temporarily” on Arab promises they could return when the Jews were “thrown into the sea” – all their leaders’ and media’s words exactly. For more on this see my “What Pro-Palestine Students Get Wrong”.

In the mid 1960s to counter the US, East German and Soviet meddling invented many ultimately disastrous Third World liberation movements. They hired a (probably gay, strangely) Cario born Egyptian, with Egyptian parents and accent named Yassir Arafat to head the new Palestine Liberation Organization whose entire contribution to modernity was the invention of annoying airport security.

Since then … and here’s the most important part… every ounce of effort,  work, and Palestinian culture has been devoted to replacing the Jews and Israel. No other country is based on this type of exterminative ideology.

Gaza was already a Palestinian Statelet

There are many revanchist countries: they want to expand to either old or new boundaries beyond their current borders. Anytime you hear “Greater (insert country)”…you’ve got a revanchist. Greater Syria (ahem, on hold for now), Greater Serbia, Greater Somalia etc. There are dozens, each crazier and more arrogant than the last.

There are also independence movements (the Kurds) who want their own space at the expense of whoever owns their current residence. But not – ever – to destroy that party. Separatists want their own space – not the utter extermination of those currently holding that land. Catalonians don’t want to burn Madrid and kill all the people there, at least last I heard, and I doubt the Scottish nationalists would nuke London.

But Palestine is unique in that when offered their own state in real life they’ve rejected it five times. Most recently, as per President Clinton, they were offered nearly all (98%) of the “West Bank” (Judea and Samaria), all of Gaza and East Jerusalem as a capital.

They turned down offers every time because getting their own recognised state is secondary: they want the destruction of Israel more. They say it all the time in English and louder in Arabic. You can see many examples from normal, ordinary broadcast TV in the Arab world translated at MEMRI.org  An aside: don’t listen to anybody on Middle East politics who isn’t familiar with MEMRI.org or Arab media.

In practice they have already been given their very own nice little state. Few seem to know this but in 2005 – for “peace” believe it or not, in one of the most naive and sadly trusting moves ever, Israel left Gaza. Eight thousand Jews (abandoning their businesses – promptly burned to the ground) were pulled out from their homes, many actually kicking and screaming, and taken to Israel. So in 2005 Gaza became – like many Arab countries where hundreds of thousands of Jews once lived for centuries… Judenfrei: totally free of Jews.

In fact for 17 years not a single Jew dwelt in Gaza. The Palestinians made their totally independent statelet aided by more international charity – our tax dollars – than any other people – ever. It was never an “open air prison” – the US built them an airport and there has always been a Gaza border with Egypt. Until Oct. 7 they completely ran everything themselves unmolested save for (sadly ineffective it turns out) Israeli border control. And unless you count Israel paying for their water, gas, electricity and internet, no interference.

The Nature of the Conflict and the Role of Hamas

And that Peace? The Palestinians as well represented by Hamas built a terrorist state where, still even in the ruins, nearly everybody supports the Zionist elimination project right down to primary school level. See my light hearted “Kindergarten Jihad: Who Plays the Beheaded?”.

If you want to think “Not all Gazans…” that’s lovely for you, but wrong. As per Arab surveys the very few who dont support Hamas prefer Islamic Jihad: think Hamas but even more violent and criminally crazy. These are apocalyptic, deeply religious parties almost indistinguishable from ISIS, the Taliban and Al Qaida in their larger goals and methods. They’re not your grandad’s PLO: murderous, communist frequent hijackers. These people are entirely paradise-martyrdom focused.

The Double Standards in Global Reactions

For nearly all of human history and in many places still today a stunt like Oct. 7th would result in the utter destruction of the offending population and area. We tend to telescope in on this problem, viewing it in the western context of the behavior of a democratic, civilized Israel. But the context is the wider world, the Islamosphere and the Middle East particularly.

Israel’s treatment of Gaza we hold to western standards, not the standards of the other side here: the standards of a terrorist state which routinely executes gays, where women can’t go out alone (as of about five years ago, a law) and where retribution is final (see the Syrian or Lebanese wars or Turkey’s behavior towards the Kurds right now). Why this double standard? Because we falsely think Israel is a “white” country?

Israel wouldn’t have it any other way than be the kind of liberal democracy people actually want to live in, with recognisable justice and freedom. But for our moral reconing if Israel ever fails to live up to those lofty ideals, just compare its behavior to pretty much any non-western country or any Muslim one.

Or you could ask how we westerners would behave with a similar power asymmetry (10 million vs. 1.8 billion) wherein a large sub-population and all neighbors near and far are baying for our annihilation? Consider 3,000 deaths a few miles from my home in Manhattan some time ago resulted in two trillion dollar, two decade long wars.

The Question of Palestinian Relocation

So with Trump’s plan where could Gazans go? Perhaps the more than fifty Arab and Muslim countries who constantly sing and ululate the praises of Palestine, vote to spank Israel at the UN at every opportunity and make kissy-kissy noises at Jew massacres …maybe they might take some?

Those in the neighborhood who have experienced “Palestine” close up might not, of course, mainly because as I wrote in an article lately when they travel as a group Palestinians are the Worst Houseguests Ever. Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon all learned the hard way and this is why Egypt “will shoot” Gazans trying to bust into Egypt and Jordan (50% Palestinian already!) is going mental at the thought. They know.

In the west, idiot friends of Palestine seem in no short supply though! Ireland has been particularly vociferous in its criticism of Israel. Norway, Spain and Turkey rarely shut up about the sufferring of their sacred ewok Palestinian buddies they have morally adopted. Open your embassies folks, I’m pretty sure most Gazans would like to start anew with you all! I’d add the UK but they seem to have some Muslim disquiet of their own right now, particularly the young girls.

Why is it that the world community sees it fit that other people in war torn countries should be allowed to leave but the Gazans must stay put? Nobody even murmurs when Somalis exit Somalia en masse, when Ukranians flee Ukraine or when Afghans fly, run and if they could swim as far from home as they can manage. And they didn’t even start their wars themselves – unlike the Palestinians who can morally lay the entirety of their suffering on their own damn actions?

The Plan for “When We Win”

And this applies not just to the lumpenproles of Gaza, not just to the 9/11 celebrating mobs of the West Bank (remember? ), or the Oct. 7th party in Gaza, but the elite of Palestine. There is proof of this. And it also answers the question of:“Well what would they do if they had the chance?” although Oct. 7th partly answered this at least in terms of instrumentality.

The answer was in September 2021 at the Commodore Hotel in Gaza City where the entire leadership, the big wigs of Palestine had a conference called The Promise of the Hereafter, detailed variously, in full here.

In essence the plan is for “when we win” and its first imperative is to kill any Israeli citizen (Jew or Arab) who has served in the IDF ever. Israel has compulsory conscription for men and women so that’d kill about 80% of the population.

Survivors of this aspirational cull would be given the offer of exile. Except…. for those with sufficient tech, scientific or military skill and value who will be forbidden from leaving until they repay their debt/reparations to Palestine.

The conference wasn’t some propaganda LARP, indeed it was barely reported. But Sinwar et al went to considerable effort to analyse and define new land uses, names of roads and towns, new legal codes (all Sharia all the time) and diplomatic relations for the grand victory plan.

Make no mistake this is exactly what they’ve been murdering, hijacking and self-exploding for for over 70 years. Are our low-mate-value campus chicks on board with the execution of millions of Jews and their Arab “collaborators”? You know, I bet they are. Is Ireland? Norway? The DNC?

The Moral Reckoning Ahead

If you stand with “Resistance” and “Palestine” at least know their arguments and well publicised intentions. Or you’re worse than a damn fool you are an enabler.

Because Israel treasures life more than the Palestinians love death (both quite a lot!), as soon as the hostages are returned dead or alive, the wider war against this moral squalor masquerading as “Liberation” will begin. Many Gazans want to leave, nearly half before Oct. 7th, probably more now: let them.