Thomas Friedman: This is the most terrifying thing about Trump's Gaza rant

Prominent American writer Thomas Friedman warned that President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is the most foolish and dangerous in history, and considered it a recipe for chaos inside and outside the United States.

Trump's plan to seize Gaza, expel two million Palestinians and turn the coastal desert strip into a resort town proves one thing only: how short the distance is between "thinking outside the box and thinking outside the mind," Friedman wrote in his weekly column in The New York Times.

He went further, saying, "I can state with confidence that Trump's proposal is the most dangerous and foolish 'peace' initiative ever proposed by an American president."

But he seemed uncertain when he spoke about what scared him most about the US president’s proposal for Gaza: the fact that it seemed to change day by day, or the speed with which his aides and cabinet members agreed to the idea? “Almost none of them were briefed on the plan in advance,” he said, describing them as “a bunch of puppets that kept nodding their heads.”

He said the plan was not just about the Middle East, but a microcosm of what the United States now faces as a country. Trump was surrounded in his first term by aides, cabinet ministers and generals who often deflected and reined in his worst impulses, he added.

Trump was surrounded in his first term by aides, cabinet ministers and generals who often countered and curbed his worst impulses.

Now, according to Friedman’s article, the president is surrounded by aides, cabinet members, and senators and representatives who tremble in fear of his wrath or of being attacked by the “mob” on the Internet that his billionaire ally Elon Musk unleashes if they stray from the path and act inappropriately.

The writer considered this combination of Trump and Musk giving free rein to the world, and many government agencies and business circles living in fear, a recipe for chaos at home and abroad.

Trump has been described as more of a godfather than a president, as evidenced by his demands to annex the Danish island of Greenland and the Panama Canal, and to seize the Gaza Strip and displace its population to Egypt and Jordan.

Trump is more like a godfather than a president, as evidenced by his demands to annex the Danish island of Greenland and the Panama Canal, and to seize the Gaza Strip and displace its population to Egypt and Jordan.

He mocked Trump's recent ideas, saying that while they may work in the movies, his administration's attempt - in practice - to force Jordan, Egypt or any other Arab country to accept Palestinians living in Gaza and have the Israeli army arrest them and hand them over to those countries, will upset the demographic balance in Jordan between the East Bankers and the Palestinians, and undermine the stability of both Egypt and Israel.

Friedman expected that Trump's plan would provoke violent responses against US embassies and interests in the Arab and Islamic world, warning that Muslims in Europe, the Middle East and Asia would take to the streets to resist the displacement of Palestinians from their land, as Trump vowed to take over the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinians would not have the right to return to it.

He noted that this would be the “greatest gift” Trump could give Iran to return to the Middle East by embarrassing all the Sunni regimes loyal to America, and American companies - such as McDonald's and Starbucks - that have already faced a boycott as a result of America arming Israel in the war on the Gaza Strip would be dealt a major blow.

But Friedman, an American Jewish writer, believes that Trump is right in considering the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) a “sick and deviant” organization, and that Gaza has now become hell as a result of its actions.

However, he believes that resuming any kind of peace process will not be easy, but to say that ethnic cleansing is the only option left, after trying all alternatives, is a misconception.

One of the biggest problems with the Trump team is that it views the Middle East through the lens of the Israeli far right and evangelical Christians.

One of the biggest problems with the Trump team, he believes, is that it views the Middle East through the lens of the Israeli far right and evangelical Christians, and that all it knows about the Arab world is through the Gulf Arab investor community. Perhaps for this reason, Friedman says, they are “absolutely in love” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The author goes on to say that if Trump really wants to make a radical shift and take advantage of some of the fear he is instilling in people, it will not be through this “childish” proposal in Gaza, but by calling on all parties publicly to challenge each other to actually do, in good faith, the hard things required to get out of this hell.

Friedman offered an alternative proposal: reform the Palestinian Authority, appoint a new, uncorrupt leader and prime minister—such as Salam Fayyad—form a technocratic government that would invite an Arab peacekeeping force to take over the Gaza Strip from Israel, complete the “eviction” of the Hamas leadership, and seek the international assistance needed to rebuild Gaza.3:12

He added that the Arab force would have to commit to training Palestinian Authority security personnel, and divide the Gaza Strip into areas A and B, with the Palestinian Authority and the Arab peacekeeping force controlling all population centers in the first area, while the Israeli army could remain in the entire perimeter of the second area.

After that, Friedman continues to explain his proposal, the Palestinians would engage in organizing elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and negotiating a two-state solution with Israel in both areas. As for the plan to transfer the people of Gaza, it would destabilize Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, in his opinion.

Source: New York Times