United States President Donald J. Trump claims that his idea of peace in Gaza is imminent and could have the final say on the Palestinian territory’s future. That is to say if Trump and his advisors carry through with the 20-point step peace plan they have created. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has welcomed the plan and the leadership of Hamas has agreed to release the twenty remaining hostages in their custody in accordance with the first phase. This follows months of negotiations brokered by Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye. Trump’s peace plan if it gets the full approval of all parties in the conflict will include an international “Board of Peace” to govern and reconstruct Gaza.
This board of peace will be made of technocrats and diplomats, both Palestinian and foreigners headed by none other that former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair alongside former United States President George W Bush is known to be a former war criminal due to the illegal US led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
- Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair. This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza.
This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.
This committee – or board of peace – will be answerable to Trump, his allies and their advisors. It is still unclear, why Blair himself was chosen to be at the helm. Details on the make up of this committee are underway. How it will be “apolitical” in the most divisive post conflict area of the world? remains the paramount question. The Gaza strip is in complete and total ruin with local government and law enforcement completely crippled by the destruction of infrastructure. Trump’s peace plan includes rebuilding that infrastructure along the lines of artificial intelligence upgrades with electronic surveillance. This will include mass surveillance through facial recognition. Gaza will become a police state. The idea of the Palestinian Authority (PA) assuming the governance of Gaza under President Mahmoud Abbas’ leadership is a pipe dream. It is still unclear how a reformed PA will look like or who is going to succeed the eighty-nine-year-old Abbas as President.
The idea that Washington and its allies can be trusted to create a modern and efficient governance for Gaza, means enforcing some form of servitude or slavery on the people. No stone will be left unturned in this “reconstruction” of a futuristic police state.
- A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energise Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East. Many thoughtful investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by well-meaning international groups, and will be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs, opportunity, and hope for future Gaza.
Trump in his own words is setting up plans for a surveillance fiefdom under his and future US administrations’ scrutiny. It will be the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that will determine the future of Gaza’s people as well as screen all those eligible for leadership positions. This could be extended to the West Bank. This is going to be a peace without any true freedom. This talk of creating a “modern miracle city” in Gaza similar to Saudi Arabia’s Neom and Egypt’s “New Administrative Capital” implies the creation of another “prison metropolis”. Any hope for a free Palestine from the River to the Sea will remain in the wood work.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
