February 7 2025 10:00
Donald Trump lives in a movie or maybe in an episode of a reality show, and it’s not The Apprentice. He enjoys saying controversial things to rile people, businesses, and often countries up. He’s a felon but also a cheat at golf and a liar. You just can’t believe much of what he says. However, you kind of have to pay attention to what comes out of his mouth because he’s powerful and dangerous. This week his bullshit was at its maximum. Unfortunately, Joel Pollak, a South African born American political commentator, writer, radio host and attorney, seemed to agree with him about his latest comment concerning the conflict in Gaza, Israel (not Gaza, a province of Mozambique).
The President said he felt that the US should take control of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it into a “Riviera of the Middle East”. He made this bizarre comment at a Tuesday press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Gaza has been ruined by war. It has been bombed to bits, largely by Israel in that country’s response to attacks by Hamas and the capture of hostages on October 7 2023. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed or displaced with families living in ruin. Trump suggested that those people remaining should just be relocated to neighbouring states such as Egypt and Jordan, and that these states would be happy to bring refugees in. His embarrassing suggestions must be condemned.
Any forcible transportation or deportation of people from an occupied territory is against international humanitarian law and is a moral abomination in 2025. Human rights organisations have at least said his proposal is a form of ethnic cleansing and that forced displacement violates international law.
Embarrassingly again, Pollak then on Thursday evening told the South African Jewish Report (SAJR) that he thought Trump’s idea held clout. Pollak was a guest on a webinar arranged by the newspaper. He said the Gaza Strip was a “hell hole” and Trump had come with a creative idea. He didn’t seem to show concern about displacing around 2-million people. He said the area had been mismanaged and not well-governed which is fair enough for a disputed area which has been the centre of a conflict for decades. New leadership may help bring dignity to people living there, post the current ceasefire. Apparently if people come and show what can be done with the land and how it can realise commercial real estate value people will want to live there. That’s true but the Palestinians best be living in a Gaza enjoying redevelopment then and not be forcibly removed from their homes.
Pollak is rumoured to be Trump’s first choice for the US ambassador to South Africa. He currently serves as the senior editor at large for Breitbart News, an American far-right syndicated news, opinion and commentary website founded in mid-2007 by Andrew Breitbart, a conservative commentator.
alistair@propertyflash.co.za
