Monday, February 10, 2025

Riviera or hell?

"Donald Trump has shocked the world by suggesting the US could 'take over' and 'own' Gaza, resettling its population in the process." "Trump believes that in their absence, an idyllic, American-owned 'Riviera of the Middle East' will rise from the ashes, providing thousands of jobs, opportunities for investment and, ultimately, a place for 'the world's people to live'." BBC. Yesterday, Trump added, "the two million Palestinian who would be resettled in neighboring countries under his plan to take over and rebuild the Gaza strip would have no right of return." BBC. Logical. If Palestinians return, Hamas will come disguised among them and soon the Riviera will turn into rubble. Is it possible to sustain a Riviera in Gaza? The answer is Dubai. Dubai has a GDP of USD 116.779 billion which, as part of the United Arab Emirates, gives it a nominal GDP per Capita of $51,290 (IMF), comparable to Belgium, Canada and Germany (World Bank). Dubai has little natural resources so, "In 2018, wholesale and retail trade represented 26% of the total GDP; transport and logistics, 12%; insurance activities and capital markets, 10%; real estate 7% and tourism 5%." "More than 90% of the population are foreigners." wikipedia. Dubai is on the Persian Gulf facing Iran (Britannica) but it thrives because it has no depraved villains like Hamas. Gaza faces the Mediterranean Sea (wikipedia) which borders southern European and northern African countries and would be an ideal tourist resort. However, there are problems with Mr Trump's plan. First, no Arab country wants Palestinians. In September 1970, known as Black September, King Hussein of Jordan attacked the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat after they started calling for the overthrow of his regime. PLO Fedayeen (guerrillas), based in camps in Jordan, were attacking Israel and, on 6 September 1970, hijacked three passenger planes "forcing their landing in the Jordanian city of Zarqa, where they took foreign nationals as hostages and blew up the planes in front of international press." wikipedia. Driven out of Jordan, Palestinians settled in Lebanon where they continued with terrorist activities, including the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Middle East Eye.That led to Israeli reprisals resulting in the Lebanese civil war lasting 15 years which killed over 100,000 people (Britannica) and a takeover by the Iran proxy Hezbollah. Secondly, Hamas can never allow Palestinians to be dispersed in several Arab countries as it will not be able to control the economy and use them as human shields. Most likely, any other country will disarm them and keep them under strict control. Israel will pick them off one by one. Not surprisingly, "Hamas...announced it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice (ET), to which Trump responded that "Hamas should release all hostages held by the militant group in Gaza by midday Saturday or he would propose canceling the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and let 'all hell break out' (Reuters)." Hamas has two choices: release all hostages and hide or face an all out assault by Israel with US help. Reminiscent of the devil and the deep blue sea. An end of Hamas? We hope.    

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