Samir Atallah: Gaza turned into real estate project

When US President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner spoke about a new “Riviera” project in Gaza, people thought the man was joking. But last February, the president himself spoke about the project. While Gaza was being crushed time after time, Donald Trump held a press conference in which he explained the importance of the tourism project, which would be under American administration. Again, the world thought that such talk was just talk, even if it was said by the President of US.

However, a momentous development soon took place thousands of miles from Gaza, when an American force kidnapped the president of Venezuela and his wife, and Trump announced that its oil would of course come under direct American administration.

 

The real estate element should not be overlooked.

The biggest surprise then followed: a Board of Peace headed by Donald Trump. But where are the United Nations, norms and international procedures?

Many missed a new expression introduced into the language of the White House: “The President and his team”, not “the President and his administration”. There is now something in American politics called “the team.”

This team is the one making the unusual decisions. When Trump announced the Board of Peace, The Guardian cried out in horror that this was a return to the era of colonialism. While Tony Blair was excluded from the board that he was supposed to chair, Kushner’s name remained present. The real estate element should not be overlooked. The project at hand is greater than can be imagined.

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Trump is turning international politics into facts and figures. In Ukraine, he demanded a deal on its rare mineral wealth. In Greenland, he wants to acquire what is under the ice sheets. This is realism in life, no matter how it is described.

At the head of US and at the head of the world is a man who came from the world of real estate, and he sees things through his long experience there. Good luck in Gaza and a beautiful Riviera in Rafah.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Maghrebi.org. Samir Atallah is a prominent Lebanese journalist and political analyst who writes for Asharq al-Awsat and An-Nahar.

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