We see what Trump was trying to do. That doesn’t make it OK

Palestinians learnt this week their true worth in the eyes of Donald Trump. They reside on the margins. Their right to having a say in their existence is negligible. If geography is destiny, they have none. Trump threw reality out the window. He barely blinked. This is disturbing, deeply so.

At a news conference in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most powerful people in the world described the war-blasted rubble of Gaza in terms of its real estate potential. He spoke of a demolition site, of redevelopment, of opportunities, of a glorious rebuilt land perhaps to be known as the Riviera of the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump at the White House since his return as president.Credit: AP

He was defining Gaza, its 47,000 dead, 100,000 injured, bombed beyond recognition, not as a pitying scene of devastation and heartbreak, but as prime real estate replete with ocean views, ripe for redevelopment.

There are many unsettling aspects to this. The predominant one, however, is this: Trump’s redevelopment model, “one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on earth”, requires the removal of Gazans.

Two million Palestinians would have to be sent to neighbouring countries. Permanently or temporarily was not mentioned. This is ethnic cleansing. The US does not have the authority to do it and any forced removal would be unconscionable.

At first, Trump saw his proposal as “a long-term ownership position. I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East and maybe the entire Middle East. Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent.”

Since that pronouncement, the White House and Trump have gone back and forth, clarifying and then muddying the waters. Trump really meant temporary displacement, the White House said, and besides the US did not have the funds to rebuild Gaza. Troops being used? Yes, then no, then maybe.

Then Trump took to social media, upping the ante and the unreality, for his latest salvo: “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting. The Palestinians ... would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region.”

The world – allies and adversaries and the Arab world alike – have been aghast in their denunciation. Except, notably and shamefully, Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could say only he would not give a “running commentary” on every Trump pronouncement, citing the changes in the tariff wars over the past week.

This is not good enough. This was not a moment for quiet diplomacy. Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s words have been inadequate, simply reiterating Australia’s stance towards a two-state solution or claiming that the uncertainty from Washington in the fallout points to the prudence of keeping quiet.

Palestinians walk in the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip this week. Credit: AP

It was said, it was done. Even ardent supporters of Israel’s campaign were troubled by it enough to condemn it.

Was this the strength of our conviction? Our politicians’ comments were no comments at all. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, likely unintentionally, damned the plan with faint praise. Trump was a big thinker and dealmaker, he said.

Trump’s plan is both against international law and common humanity. It reduces a people to chattels. It is perturbing that it is similar to what Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner suggested last year – to remove Palestinians so as to develop Gaza’s “very valuable” waterfront.

Israel’s army is preparing a plan to help Gazans “voluntarily” leave. In the context of war the concept of “voluntarily” is somewhat warped.

In international law, the US cannot implement a takeover, and Israel cannot play a part in it.

There is some comfort to be taken in the response of the international community, and indeed the White House. Trump’s plan is unlikely to ever be realised in the form he described. It was an ambit claim from a man who fancies himself a master negotiator. He wants to bring people to the table and in that he may succeed. He will change the conversation. He will promote different thinking.

But that is not the point. If such casual suggestions of ethnic cleansing ever become a normalised or acceptable means to engineer an outcome, then there is a problem with the conversation. It is beyond opprobrium that such an outcome would be contemplated.

Palestinians continue to return to their homes after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.Credit: Getty Images

At heart is the question of homeland. The Gaza Strip is considered home by many Palestinians.

There is no doubt Trump has a firm grasp of real estate, but home is not real estate. The images of a Palestinians returning, walking through a destroyed landscape, to their houses, or where there houses once stood, after the ceasefire had been announced was testament to the power of home.

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