Wanting to 'Own' Gaza Is Insane

This isn’t a legitimate policy proposal. It is a call for illegal aggression.

The president isn’t giving up on his insane expansionism:

President Trump again reiterated his proposal for the United States to take over Gaza, telling reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that the strip of land was “a big real estate site” that the United States was “going to own.”

Trump’s repeated threats to commit a massive crime against two million people are appalling and outrageous. The injustice and illegality of what he is proposing should be emphasized in all of the coverage of his remarks. There is nothing “bold” or “creative” or “original” in what he is doing. This isn’t a legitimate policy proposal. It is a call for illegal aggression. He is saying that the U.S. should commit war crimes and crimes against humanity against a population that has already endured more than a year of a U.S.-backed Israeli genocidal campaign.

The Palestinians in Gaza naturally want no part of his plan. They aren’t going to abandon their country, and they certainly aren’t going to sell it to a foreign government. No one there is interested in trading one occupier for another. Al-Monitor spoke to Abdel Aziz Amr, a resident of the Jabalia refugee camp, who said this, “After all of this suffering, do you think that I and these people will move to another country? Trump must realize that death itself could not get us out of here!” This is the normal, patriotic reaction that you would expect when a foreign power threatens to take over another people’s land and expel them.

The U.S. also stands to lose quite a lot from Trump’s interest in ethnic cleansing and illegal annexation. Whether he intends to follow through on these threats or not, he is fueling intense anti-Americanism throughout the region and beyond. Simply by expressing the desire to displace the Palestinian population from Gaza, Trump is boosting recruitment for terrorist organizations and increasing threats to Americans abroad:

Polymeropoulos highlighted the language Trump has used in recent days — that the United States would "take over" and "own" Gaza.

“These are triggering mechanisms for Islamic extremist groups,” he said, adding, “This kind of language only is going to galvanize groups that want to kill Americans."

If the U.S. actually tried seizing control of the territory, it would mean another unnecessary and unjust war, global condemnation, and then the ongoing burden of a costly, illegal occupation. The blowback would likely be severe. It would be every bit as criminal as the invasion of Iraq, it would put another indelible stain on our national reputation, and it would make Americans less secure.

In exchange for all these dangers and costs, the U.S. would get nothing. Trump is always whining about how our country is ripped off by others, but this would be the worst deal for America that any president has come up with in decades. It promises to saddle the U.S. with enormous burdens for many years to come while provoking the hatred of hundreds of millions of people around the world. It is a perfect example of Trump’s America Last foreign policy.

Americans should contact their representatives to let them know that they reject the president’s scheme. Congress should make clear that this idea is dead on arrival. Not one dollar should be spent in pursuit of Trump’s insane takeover “plan.”