Trump’s Gaza

By: Sam Vaknin, Brussels Morning

Trump has just proposed to take over Gaza, transfer its denizens to Arab states, and convert it into a scintillating riviera.

I never support ethnic cleansing.

But the facts are important here: only 30% of the population of Gaza are local. More than 70% are refugees from the erstwhile territory of Palestine (now the State of Israel).

Both Israel and Egypt regard Gaza as a serious security threat and a cesspool of Islamic extremism. Gaza is economically dependent on handouts from Israel, Egypt, and Qatar.

In short: Gaza is not a viable geopolitical, political, or economic entity.

Having said that, emptying Gaza of its current population is unthinkable because the territory is and has always been widely perceived as an integral part of the Palestinian state in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Trump’s wild offer will undermine such an arrangement and will leave Israel as an occupying force in the West Bank indefinitely.

Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. is a former economic advisor to governments (Nigeria, Sierra Leone, North Macedonia), served as the editor in chief of “Global Politician” and as a columnist in various print and international media including “Central Europe Review” and United Press International (UPI). He taught psychology and finance in various academic institutions in several countries (http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/cv.html )