Behind Trump’s “Riviera of the Middle East” speech

Even by his own bombastic and grandiose standards, Donald Trump made a remarkable speech on February 4. Appearing at a Washington press conference with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump proposed that the United States take over Gaza. This extraordinary statement has generated a great deal of discussion and comment. The purpose of this article is to look at the real purpose of the speech.

What did Trump say?

Trump’s comments are worth quoting to get the full flavor of his intervention.

I also strongly believe that the Gaza Strip, which has been a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it, and especially those who live there and frankly who’s been really very unlucky. It’s been very unlucky. It’s been an unlucky place for a long time.

Being in its presence just has not been good and it should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there. Instead, we should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and frankly bad luck.

This can be paid for by neighboring countries of great wealth. It could be one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, twelve. It could be numerous sites, or it could be one large site. But the people will be able to live in comfort and peace and we’ll get – we’ll make sure something really spectacular is done.

They’re going to have peace; they’re not going to be shot at and killed and destroyed like this civilization of wonderful people has had to endure. The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative. It’s right now a demolition site. This is just a demolition site. Virtually every building is down.

They’re living under fallen concrete that’s very dangerous and very precarious. They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony instead of having to go back and do it again. The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too.

A few minutes later, Trump continued, “We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal. And I don’t want to be cute. I don’t want to be a wise guy. But the Riviera of the Middle East, this could be something that could be so – this could be so magnificent.”

There you have it. The Palestinians should be completely expelled from Gaza and the United States should become the ruler of the territory.

Why did he say it?

Someone once explained to me one of the principles of dream analysis in psychology. To understand a dream, you have to strip away all the specifics and details. Don’t focus on who the people are or where they are. Instead focus on the underlying theme, boil it down to its essentials. One has to do something similar with Trump’s speeches. Eliminate the rambling, the narcissism, and contemporaneously concocted “facts”. Instead, try to work out the real bottom line and intent of the speech.

Applying this method to the Riviera speech, the following becomes clear. Actual American occupation of Gaza is extraordinarily unlikely. It would clearly demand serious deployment of US troops and would destabilize the entire world situation. The real purpose of the speech was something else. It was to show the world the absolute and complete support of the US administration for the Netanyahu government and whatever actions that government takes. This represents a tactical modification for US imperialism.

The Palestine solidarity movement was 100 percent right to describe Biden as Genocide Joe. However, from time to time, Genocide Joe had somewhat different interests from his Israeli allies. He had other irons in the fire: alliances with the Arab regimes, the international image of US imperialism, seeking to have some stability in the oil producing region, etc. Biden tried rather half-heartedly to reign in Israeli “excesses”. Biden was totally on Israel’s side, but with some secondary differences here and there.

The Riviera speech shows that those days are over with, a thing of the past. This new situation was captured in a recent New York Times article. “All of the hoopla on the U.S. taking over Gaza caused us to miss the real story from the meeting,” said Aaron David Miller, a longtime Middle East peace negotiator now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Bibi leaves the White House among the happiest humans on the planet. If there ever was a demonstration of no daylight between Israel and the U.S., this was it.”

What will the results be?

There are five probable results from Trump’s statement. One, the whole idea of ethnic cleansing, of the forcible removal of the Palestinians has received a big shot in the arm. The most important bourgeois figure in the world has unambiguously endorsed it. The possibility of the complete eviction of the Palestinians is now being widely discussed. Trump’s speech helped propagate the idea of another Nakba.

Two, the speech has enthused Netanyahu and the Israeli far right. Many journalists have commented on Netanyahu’s joyous disposition during the press conference. Predictably, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have gone into maximum overdrive since Tuesday. The Israeli far right now correctly concludes that it has the most important power in the world at its side and is celebrating.

Three, the West Bank is probably where the effects of the new situation will be felt the most acutely. Having effectively destroyed Gaza, the Israeli war machine will next turn its attention to the West Bank. Settler lynch mobs and rampages increase each day. Trump has promised a statement on US West Bank policy within the next month.

Four, the ceasefire is already shaky. An emboldened Israel may well feel it can do whatever it wishes. This could either take the form of increased violations of the ceasefire or dispensing with it altogether. This danger will be particularly acute when all the hostages have been freed.

Five, the Riviera speech showed the world that US imperialism, in the form of the Trump administration, is reasserting its international power. Trump has made an outrageous intervention which could have had important military consequences in a crucial part of the world. By doing this, Trump is sending the message that the US can do whatever it wishes whenever it wishes. This statement of intent should be seen in the context of the increase in tariffs, threats over Greenland and Panama, and belligerence against China. Of course, this forms part of the long term inter-imperialist rivalry with China, which is one of the defining characteristics of the current period.

What should we do about this situation?

The obvious answer is to build the Palestine solidarity movement. However, this is not as straightforward as it seems. There’s no doubt that the movement has seen a decline in activity over the past months. There are a number of reasons for this. First and foremost, has been the draconian repression on college campuses. This will increase as the new administration draws up plans for the deportation of foreign-born activists.

We have also seen a general decline in movement activity since the election. There is a widespread sense of demoralization and defeat on the left. This has been helped by left organizations concentrating on “ploughing their own furrow” and concentrating on their own projects instead of building lively united fronts with the rest of the movement. Another response has been a seemingly endless cycle of self-contemplation and perpetual discussions. Hopefully, last week’s immigrant rights actions represent a resurgence of lively demonstrations and vigorous outreach activity.

Building the Palestine solidarity movement may be an uphill task, but it’s nevertheless a crucial one. A recent example from Chicago shows it’s not an impossible one. Israeli leader Yoav Gallant was in the city for a speaking engagement on February 6. A highly successful demonstration was held outside Gallant’s meeting. Some 350 people rallied at very short notice, on a bitterly cold night, at an obscure location. There was tremendous co-operation between Palestinians and Jewish antiwar groups. The demonstration was extremely efficiently organized and marshalled. Demonstrations like this show what is possible. They’re the way forward in the new situation following the Riviera speech.