moon
Satire for Sanity
The forever wars may be over, but Trump is no peacemaker
The new guard of kleptocrats are seeking quick deals on Gaza and Ukraine, not because they want peace but because they've found a better way to make themselves even richer
Jonathan Cook
Mar 14
[First published by Middle East Eye]
Anyone trying to make sense of the Trump administration's policy towards Gaza should have a thumping headache by now.
Initially, US President Donald Trump called for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from the tiny territory wrecked by Israel over the past year and a half, so that he could build the "Riviera of the Middle East" on the crushed bodies of Gaza's children.
He followed up last week with an explicitly genocidal threat addressed to "the people of Gaza" – all two million-plus of them. They would be "DEAD" if the Israeli hostages held by Hamas were not quickly released – a decision over which Gaza's population has precisely no control.
To make this extermination threat more credible, his administration has expedited the transfer of an extra $4bn worth of US weapons to Israel, bypassing Congressional approval.
Those arms include more of the 2,000lb bombs sent by the Biden administration, which turned Gaza into a "demolition site", as Trump himself called it.
The White House also nodded through Israel's reimposition of a blockade that has once again choked off food, water and fuel to the enclave – further evidence of Israel's genocidal intent.
But while all this was going on, Trump also dispatched to the region a special envoy, Adam Boehler, to negotiate the release of the few dozen Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
He was given permission to break with more than 30 years of US foreign policy and meet directly with Hamas, long designated a terrorist organisation by Washington.
'Pretty nice guys'
The meeting reportedly took place without Israel's knowledge.
One Israeli official observed: "You can't announce that this organisation [Hamas] needs to be eliminated and destroyed, and give Israel full backing to do it, and at the same time conduct secret and intimate contacts with the group."
In an interview with CNN at the weekend, Boehler remarked of Hamas: "They don't have horns growing out of their head. They're actually guys like us. They're pretty nice guys."
Then, in another unprecedented move, Boehler gave interviews to Israeli TV channels to speak directly to the Israeli public – apparently to prevent Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, from misrepresenting the content of his talks with Hamas.
In one interview, Boehler said Hamas had proposed a five to 10-year truce with Israel. During that period, Hamas would be expected to "lay down its arms" and forgo political power in Gaza. He described the proposal as "not a bad first offer".
In another, he referred to Palestinian prisoners as "hostages".
His approach left Israel quietly seething but unable to say much for fear of antagonising Trump.
www.middleeasteye.net
The new guard of kleptocrats are seeking quick deals on Gaza and Ukraine, not because they want peace but because they've found a better way to make themselves even richer
Jonathan Cook
Mar 14
[First published by Middle East Eye]
Anyone trying to make sense of the Trump administration's policy towards Gaza should have a thumping headache by now.
Initially, US President Donald Trump called for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from the tiny territory wrecked by Israel over the past year and a half, so that he could build the "Riviera of the Middle East" on the crushed bodies of Gaza's children.
He followed up last week with an explicitly genocidal threat addressed to "the people of Gaza" – all two million-plus of them. They would be "DEAD" if the Israeli hostages held by Hamas were not quickly released – a decision over which Gaza's population has precisely no control.
To make this extermination threat more credible, his administration has expedited the transfer of an extra $4bn worth of US weapons to Israel, bypassing Congressional approval.
Those arms include more of the 2,000lb bombs sent by the Biden administration, which turned Gaza into a "demolition site", as Trump himself called it.
The White House also nodded through Israel's reimposition of a blockade that has once again choked off food, water and fuel to the enclave – further evidence of Israel's genocidal intent.
But while all this was going on, Trump also dispatched to the region a special envoy, Adam Boehler, to negotiate the release of the few dozen Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
He was given permission to break with more than 30 years of US foreign policy and meet directly with Hamas, long designated a terrorist organisation by Washington.
'Pretty nice guys'
The meeting reportedly took place without Israel's knowledge.
One Israeli official observed: "You can't announce that this organisation [Hamas] needs to be eliminated and destroyed, and give Israel full backing to do it, and at the same time conduct secret and intimate contacts with the group."
In an interview with CNN at the weekend, Boehler remarked of Hamas: "They don't have horns growing out of their head. They're actually guys like us. They're pretty nice guys."
Then, in another unprecedented move, Boehler gave interviews to Israeli TV channels to speak directly to the Israeli public – apparently to prevent Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, from misrepresenting the content of his talks with Hamas.
In one interview, Boehler said Hamas had proposed a five to 10-year truce with Israel. During that period, Hamas would be expected to "lay down its arms" and forgo political power in Gaza. He described the proposal as "not a bad first offer".
In another, he referred to Palestinian prisoners as "hostages".
His approach left Israel quietly seething but unable to say much for fear of antagonising Trump.
The forever wars may be over, but Trump is no peacemaker
The new guard of kleptocrats are seeking quick deals on Gaza and Ukraine not because they want peace but because they have found a better way to make themselves even richer
www.middleeasteye.net