Trump’s Gaza Plan: Impractical and unacceptable, Says Expert

CGTN Europe

Donald Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza is facing widespread criticism, with many calling it impractical and unacceptable. The plan has drawn opposition from the international community and even members of the Republican Party. LSE Professor Mary Kaldor joins the discussion.

Transcript

00:00Well, I think they're completely mad. First of all, it's completely unacceptable and contrary

00:07to international law. And secondly, it's impractical. Why should people move? Who is going to provide

00:16them with these wonderful homes he's talking about? And thirdly, if it happens, it will

00:22be another Nakba. That's what happened to the Palestinians in 1948 and will be the source

00:29of endless future war.

00:32Now, you say completely mad, but we are talking about here the most powerful man in the world.

00:38Donald Trump has seen an outcry internationally, but can he go ahead anyway and do what he

00:42likes?

00:43I don't think so. I think it's quite alarming that he is the most powerful person in the

00:52world. But I think, and there don't seem to be very strong and powerful domestic constraints

00:59operating in the United States, which there should be. But of course, he is the commander

01:05in chief. But on the other hand, within the Republican parties, there are a lot of differences.

01:12He got elected on an America first platform, which seemed to imply that he was not keen

01:20on interfering in the rest of the world and he wanted to focus on American problems. But

01:26instead, what he's doing is making threats not just against Gaza, but also Greenland

01:34and Panama. And I think for many on his own side, that may be quite alarming.

01:41But on this particular issue, I think the rest of the world is more or less united in

01:47opposition. And I find it very difficult to imagine how he could possibly succeed.

01:52The only people who support him are a small group on the right wing of Israeli politics.

02:01And what Donald Trump has said is some of it is practically factual, that Gaza is in

02:06ruins. It's uninhabitable, most of it. So what should happen to it now, in your opinion?

02:13Well, I think we need to recognize a Palestinian state and find a two-state solution for the

02:25area. I'd actually prefer a single Palestine for both Jews and Palestinians. But at the

02:31moment, what's on the table is a two-state solution. And I think there needs to be a

02:39huge investment from the rest of the world in the reconstruction of Gaza. I think one

02:46of the most terrible things that's happened has been the Tosha Abandonment, the UN refugee

02:51agency that has been responsible in the past for Gaza and is the most experienced agency

02:57to be able to manage reconstruction. But clearly, there needs to be a huge investment in reconstruction

03:05in helping those people who have suffered horrendously. And of course, the other thing

03:11to say is, is this going to threaten the ceasefire? How do we maintain the ceasefire?

03:18Because to go back to war after all this for those people would be such a tragedy.

03:24Yeah, absolutely. Professor Mary Calder from the London School of Economics and

03:29Political Science, we thank you for your expertise. Thank you.

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