Althouse: "President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed moving Gazans to a 'good, fresh, beautiful piece of land' in another country, offering a vision..."

February 4, 2025

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed moving Gazans to a 'good, fresh, beautiful piece of land' in another country, offering a vision..."

"... of mass displacement likely to inflame sentiments in the Arab world as he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. Trump’s proposal was likely to provoke a furious reaction from many Palestinians as well as their Arab allies in the region, since it suggested permanently removing Gaza’s 2.2 million residents from Palestinian territory and settling them outside of their land. In saying that the Palestinians would not return to Gaza, Trump did not specify who would ultimately control the territory. But an annexation of Gaza has long been a goal of Israel’s far right, which has sought to fully expel Palestinians from Palestinian territory...."

From "Trump proposes permanent displacement of Gazans as he welcomes Netanyahu to White House/The two leaders were set to focus on the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, relocating Palestinians, rebuilding Gaza and normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia" (WaPo).

87 comments:

Dave Begley said...: Greenland would be a good place for them. No Jews in the neighborhood for them to kill.; 2/4/25, 6:03 PM
Big Mike said...: That's the real estate developer in Trump -- the people of Gaza are sitting on land that could be developed into seaside resorts that would make everyone living there at least comfortable and possibly even affluent, but all they can do is think of terrorism. What a waste.; 2/4/25, 6:05 PM
JaimeRoberto said...: Nobody wants to take them though.; 2/4/25, 6:05 PM
Big Mike said...: @Dave Begley, that's a brilliant idea.; 2/4/25, 6:06 PM
Mr Wibble said...: The only land that the Gazans deserve is a hole in the ground.; 2/4/25, 6:06 PM
tommyesq said...: Historically, there is no such thing as "Palestinian land."; 2/4/25, 6:08 PM
n.n said...: Immigration reform is now Diversitist.

They could have had the second state solution in Jordan, if not for their leaders.; 2/4/25, 6:08 PM
Clyde said...: Ask the Germans of Danzig what happens when you lose a war.; 2/4/25, 6:09 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Trump spoke of Egypt and Jordan specifically, but also said there would be others.; 2/4/25, 6:10 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Problem is, NOBODY wants the Palis. Certainly not Egypt. Nor Jordan, the original Palestinian State in 1948 -- notice that the Pali flag is Jordan's, minus the star for the monarchy?? Heck, Kuwait expelled 300,000 of them in 1992 because they were such trouble-makers.; 2/4/25, 6:10 PM
n.n said...: Unincorporated territory and people that suddenly became a common cause of Arab interest, now Iranian.; 2/4/25, 6:10 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Look at the Jewish populations of Iran, Iraq, Syria, the Maghreb in 1960 vs. today. A lot of Jewish people moved.; 2/4/25, 6:14 PM
doctrev said...: The world continues to fail its main choice: do people actually intend to form a massive coalition to benefit the Palestinians, or are they going to chicken out? To ask the question is to answer it: maybe a quarter of the Israeli population has at least some Russian background, and Starmer/ Macron absolutely could not survive in office without diaspora money. Certainly most Muslim countries will put on a big show of defiance but quietly accept matters. No one else wants to go the way of Syria.

It would be nice for President Trump to develop an equitable solution, yet there is almost no incentive for him to do so.; 2/4/25, 6:15 PM
n.n said...: Normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Abraham Accords?

Perhaps transnational therapy to regentrify the Hamasiles.; 2/4/25, 6:16 PM
Iman said...: What do you have against the Greenlanders currently living there!?; 2/4/25, 6:17 PM
Ampersand said...: It's exciting that you have an idea for an equitable solution. What is it?; 2/4/25, 6:24 PM
Bart Hall (Kansas, USA) said...: Things became profoundly clear to me in 2005, when the Israelis left. Gaza was prosperous and flourishing. Because agriculture, especially horticulture has long been my profession, one vignette sticks with me.

There was a hugely successful greenhouse operation, employing hundred of Palis at very good wages. Wealthy American Jews raised millions of dollars, bought the operation, and gifted it to the workers with a full "employee-owned" legal structure, along with money for appropriate transition training to full Pali management within 6 months.

Upon Israeli departure, the entire operation was utterly destroyed, beyond any possible repair or restoration, within 48 hours. They are a shit-hole people, and the entire Middle-east, Arabs and Jews alike, knows that. NOBODY wants them.; 2/4/25, 6:28 PM
Charlie Currie said...: Well, if none of the Arab states want them, make the Arab states disarm them and control them. Otherwise, Israel will. Now is the time for choosing. Choose wisely.; 2/4/25, 6:30 PM
JaimeRoberto said...: I have an acquaintance from Jordan who told me, "I shouldn't say this, but I'm happy with what Israel is doing." Probably because the PLO tried killing him and his family during their uprising in Jordan.; 2/4/25, 6:31 PM
Mark said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/4/25, 6:32 PM
J Melcher said...: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qattara_Depression; 2/4/25, 6:41 PM
Peachy said...: Nobody wants the Palestinians.; 2/4/25, 6:43 PM
Blair said...: OR we could move the Jews into their own state somewhere else, since this location is not working out for them, and give the Arabs who've lived there 1500 years their own country back? Just a thought.; 2/4/25, 6:43 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: There's not even a "P" in their language.; 2/4/25, 6:49 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: It matters not where they go. Within a decade it'll look just like gaza.; 2/4/25, 6:54 PM
n.n said...: Move the people from the unincorporated Palestinisn territory and recognize the state of the Jewish people who lived there for over 2000 years. Sure, why not.; 2/4/25, 6:55 PM
ChrisRet said...: As a Canadian, I’m deeply concerned that our current Liberal government is bringing Gaza refugees here, where they will continue to spread hate. The US should be worried about this as well, IMO; 2/4/25, 6:58 PM
Owen said...: Let's try a swap: Jews get Gaza, Palis get Israel. Good money says that in 30 years the Palis would be little better off than today and the Jews would be rockin' the Med shoreline. Go ahead: change my mnd.; 2/4/25, 6:59 PM
Bob Boyd said...: Trump's aspiration doesn't seem very Hitleresque.
Could Trump win over the American Jews who have been staunch Dems up to now? If that constituency became Republicans, it would be a huge disruption of the political status quo.; 2/4/25, 7:00 PM
Breezy said...: US would control Gaza. Outside the box thinking. A lot has to happen and be worked of course. I think breaking up the Palestinians into different pockets here and there may help break their fever about Israel, too. Literal divide and conquer.; 2/4/25, 7:00 PM
n.n said...: Just an unincorporated territory reestablished with a colonial judgment and label, and repatriation of Israeli natives by community organizers ("Zionists").; 2/4/25, 7:01 PM
rhhardin said...: Put Palestinians in a population where their fixations are disparaged. Like electing Trump to get rid of the popularity of wokeness.; 2/4/25, 7:02 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: This comment from Trump disappoints me. I want us out of that hideous arid bloodsoaked landfill, not getting further entrenched in a region that ought to be straight up nuked.; 2/4/25, 7:05 PM
Jim at said...: OR we could move the Jews into their own state somewhere else, since this location is not working out for them, and give the Arabs who've lived there 1500 years their own country back? Just a thought.

Good parody shouldn't be so obvious.; 2/4/25, 7:15 PM
D.D. Driver said...: Yes. How is any of this "America" first? This sounds like many more decades of interventionism. WTF?!; 2/4/25, 7:16 PM
Keith said...: "Blair said...

OR we could move the Jews into their own state somewhere else, since this location is not working out for them, and give the Arabs who've lived there 1500 years their own country back? Just a thought."
...
Blair - you know the Temple Mount? Al Aksa lies above it? To what Temple do you think it refers? It refers to the Jewish Temple first built by King Solomon in the Judean kingdom that stood until Babylon exiled the Jewish people, who then returned under Cyrus/Darius, the Persian empire, to build the second Temple. The Judean kingdom continued until Roman rule. The area was known as Judea but Rome, desiring to cleave the land from the Jewish people, renamed it Palestine, which is a generic term describing a military government (Palestine A, Palestine B, etc). At this point Islam was still centuries away from being founded by Mohammad. Until the recent past, up until 1948, Palestine referred to the Jewish homeland. When you read of the Palestine Orchestra it has a Jewish flag on it. Jewish representatives raised money in the diaspora for Palestine - which is the Jewish homeland. All reference to Palestine before 1948, the founding of the secular state of Israel, refer to a Jewish homeland. The idea of there being a people called "Palestinians" is an extremely recent phenomenon. There is no history of a "Palestinian" language, or "Palestinian" currency or "Palestinian" culture or literature. "Palestine" always referred specifically to the Jewish land, Roman renaming what was until then called "Judea" in order to split the people from the land.

Just FYI. Thought you should know.; 2/4/25, 7:18 PM
AndrewV said...: After waging war on global shipping for Hamas you would think that the Houthis would welcome the Palestinians of Gaza to come to Yemen.; 2/4/25, 7:19 PM
n.n said...: If Trump can abort DEI, negotiate emigration reform at the border, recover 40 trillion dollars in redistributive change schemes, remove males who identify as the feminine gender from women's spaces, release CO2 to green the planet, curb the Green blight etc. perhaps he can do something with Abraham Accords 2.0 to emancipate the people in the Gaza territory from their Hamasidal leaders.; 2/4/25, 7:20 PM
D.D. Driver said...: He was sent to office to fix the Department of Education. Not to go fix Gaza. Fixing DOE is only slightly slightly tougher, but doable, and it will affect the lives of *Americans.*; 2/4/25, 7:20 PM
Keith said...: "D.D. Driver
Yes. How is any of this "America" first? This sounds like many more decades of interventionism. WTF?!"

I think it's more it's a dangerous part of town, controlling most of the petroleum necessary for prosperity, with a lot of bad guys looking to take over. In that case, like with Greenland, it's important we run the show. Would you rather have USA, Russia, or China running that part of the world? Additionally they all want to come here and kill us. Would you rather that we fight them there or we fight them here? It's a very important part of the world and we need USA making the decisions, not Russia or China.

And I'd rather not sacrifice American troops. If Israel is willing to do all thefighting and all we have to do is give them the bombs, that is an amazing deal. That is the cheapest way we can achieve our goals, bar none.; 2/4/25, 7:21 PM
Keith said...: DD Driver - embrace the power of "AND"! Not only can he take on Education but he's already secured the border, is in the middle of deporting a bunch of illegals, erased pronouns, removed men from women's bathrooms and sports, shut down USAID...

I don't want to use vulgar language but I find in this situation I cannot NOT use vulgar language.

The television said if my erection lasts over 6 hours I should go to the emergency department. My erection started a week ago and there's no sign it's going down!; 2/4/25, 7:23 PM
n.n said...: He's also working to repatriate Americans to their respective nations in the South, Central, and North Americas. Hope and change.; 2/4/25, 7:25 PM
D.D. Driver said...: Getting entrenched in the Middle East is the furthest thing in the world from "out of the box" thinking. Out of the box thinking would be letting them handle their own bullshit.; 2/4/25, 7:27 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Set up a reservation and legalize casinos.; 2/4/25, 7:28 PM
Quaestor said...: Attu. We own it, and it's green.; 2/4/25, 7:29 PM
n.n said...: Yes, the carbon resources from that neck of the woods is critical to Green ambitions, Sino manufacturing to support liberal fiscal policies, emerging economies on the dark continent, and keeping viable lives warm at cold latitudes.; 2/4/25, 7:30 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Let’s entrench ourselves even further in this part of the world — what could possibly go wrong?; 2/4/25, 7:32 PM
Gospace said...: Going back a little further in history- the Carthaginians.; 2/4/25, 7:34 PM
policraticus said...: The Sudeten Germans and the East Prussians were unavailable for comment.; 2/4/25, 7:35 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: What is a country?; 2/4/25, 7:45 PM
Breezy said...: I agree staying away is also out of the box thinking. There can be more than one new idea here. I’ve no opinion on either or any, but welcome new ideas, ie things not considered before.; 2/4/25, 7:50 PM
Iman said...: DD must be beside himself with disappointment at the rapid pace of mitigation.; 2/4/25, 7:58 PM
Mark said...: Aren't we trying NOT to waste money overseas on boondoggles?; 2/4/25, 8:00 PM
Mark said...: Send Elon there to fix it.; 2/4/25, 8:01 PM
Jersey Fled said...: Maybe Elon can arrange for transit to Mars.; 2/4/25, 8:05 PM
Breezy said...: Since Ukraine, you mean? Or since all the USAID ideology bs?; 2/4/25, 8:11 PM
Dude1394 said...: Washington post serving up garbage. Un named sources. They were probably outside protesting with Maxine waters. No one thought the Abraham accords(?) would happen either. At this point settling the Palestinian s into Jordan, Egypt would remove the biggest problem there. And then the rest of the Arab world could get on with their lives without this s***show horror show ongoing. The Palestinians are not serious people. They are sheep controlled by Hamas organized crime. Move them out, clean the place out. Then rebuild it.; 2/4/25, 8:13 PM
Witness said...: how about here?; 2/4/25, 8:19 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Bart Hall, damn you and your facts.; 2/4/25, 8:23 PM
JAORE said...: "What is a country? " I don't know, I'm not a cartographer...; 2/4/25, 8:24 PM
Paul said...: Not bad... not bad at all!!! Yea Greenland. But how about Disko Island... only a bit over 800 people there.. Still part of Greenland!; 2/4/25, 8:49 PM
Peachy said...: why? The Iranian Ayatollahs hate the Jews - not the land.; 2/4/25, 8:50 PM
pacwest said...: I'm with RSM on this. Also like DDD my first reaction is WTF? But its not my first WTF regarding Trump and he seems to find a way. The Abraham Accords worked because he bypassed the Gaza problem. This would be entirely different. Russia/Ukraine is a peace of cake comparatively.; 2/4/25, 8:50 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Uganda. Not a new idea I know, but...; 2/4/25, 9:03 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Oh, we are.; 2/4/25, 9:07 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Drill, baby drill. And walk away from that whole disaster.; 2/4/25, 9:09 PM
Marty said...: What pap. You push the fallicy that all the rest of the world needs to do is pursue new efforts to benefit the the so-called Palestinians, when we all know all such efforts have failed and will fail because of their unrelenting desire to kill all jews. And why is it it up to the "world" instead of up to the Palistinians themselves? Can you be that naive or are you lacking any ability to face unpleasant truths that they will gladly take whatever money and anything else you are willing to give them, and then, when it's convenient to them, turn around and kill you and your children?; 2/4/25, 9:16 PM
James K said...: Some "moved" but a lot ran for their lives and lost everything they couldn't cary with them. Baghdad was something like 40% Jewish before WWII.; 2/4/25, 9:33 PM
Joe Bar said...: As Adam Carolla suggested, move them to Baja California. It's empty, has sea shore, and similar climate.; 2/4/25, 9:34 PM
Aggie said...: Talk about moving past the sale, everybody's talking about 'where', not 'if'. Trump just told the Palestinians that if they keep insisting that they cannot coexist, then it won't be coming out of the Israeli's hide, it'll be coming out of theirs. I don't doubt that they've heard the message, but being Palestinians......; 2/4/25, 9:40 PM
Drago said...: D.D. Driver: "Yes. How is any of this "America" first? This sounds like many more decades of interventionism. WTF?!"

Settle down Francis.

Give this time to "mature" and become more clear. Or dont. Just keep reacting to every single syllable of every single statement uttered all day everyday.

Do you suffer from whiplash?; 2/4/25, 9:40 PM
wildswan said...: I guess Trump is trying to answer: what comes after? The Gazans are trying to go back home now but home is gone. Hamas built tunnels under the homes of the Gazans and planted IEDs everywhere. The IDF blew up the tunnels and that meant they blew up the homes. They detonated thousands of the IEDs by scraping with bulldozers - but they did not detonate all of them by any means. So - who's going to rebuild on the wreckage? Trump is just saying: no one will. No one is going in there to get shot by Hamas while they try to build houses for Gazans. Everyone knows that is what will happen. And the Gazans can't or won't stop Hamas from shooting. What does it matter whether they can't or won't? No one will go there. Yet because of the destruction there's no way for the Gazans to live there right now. There's no way to have an economy. And no way to leave.

My idea is: allow emigration from Gaza but in a controlled way. 2700 a day emigrate if they agree to become citizens of another state. Not to a refugee camp. Those who want to stay in Gaza, stay. But don't expect American "aid." Our "aid" went to Hamas and tunnels and rockets and IEDs and rape and torture and kidnapping. Some want to do it again but I feel it's all done.; 2/4/25, 10:26 PM
Mark said...: So, ethnic cleansing is Trump's final solution to the Palestinian question.

And people act like this is the norm. Life as usual. Move along.

You people disgust me.; 2/4/25, 11:28 PM
Jim Gust said...: The Palestinians belong in Yemen or in Iran. They forfeited any claim to Gaza, it was their choice, now they get to live with it.; 2/5/25, 12:09 AM
Quaestor said...: Wherever they go, the so-called Palestinians need to be settled on an island. No borders, just the ocean. Anybody who has the misfortune to share a border with the Palis will regret it.; 2/5/25, 1:06 AM
Blair said...: Hi Keith, the Temple you mentioned is the Temple of Jesus Christ, the descendent of Judah. Modern Judaism has never had either a Temple, or blood sacrifices. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This means that the rightful inheritors of the Holy Land are, in fact, the Palestinian Christians, and we should remove the State of Israel from their control of the area. Thanks for your help!; 2/5/25, 2:53 AM
Amexpat said...: Aside from the ethical and practical issues of moving two million people from what they view as their homeland (however bad that might be) this is a not a good idea for the US because it's means direct entanglement in the hornets nest of Mid East politics. This from a President that partially ran on not getting the US involved in unnecessary foreign wars.; 2/5/25, 3:03 AM
Amexpat said...: The Palestians as a people are not better or worse than other humans. They, like lots of other other groups, have been screwed over by the forces of history. They've been doubly screwed over by horrendous leadership. It's wrong to blame a people on their leaders. Punish the leaders not the people.; 2/5/25, 3:07 AM
Tom Hunter said...: My suggestion is we pay Palestinian families to leave Gaza. Crazy I know but:

- current estimates for the rebuilding of Gaza are roughly $US 50 billion, and that is probably lowballing it (that’s about $25,000 per Gazan).
- Much of that money will be stolen by Hamas to re-build.
- Twenty years later an Oct 7 will happen again.

The war has already cost some $50 billion as well, so we're rapidly approaching Egypt's debt of $160 billion, which could be paid off if they took the Gazans (roughly $80k per Gazan).; 2/5/25, 4:35 AM
Ralph L said...: I think we should resettle the Gazans in the Donbas as an obnoxious buffer state between Ukraine and Russia.; 2/5/25, 5:25 AM
Joe Bar said...: I guess it makes sense, as they're surrounded by people that hate them. Or by people they hate, either way. Let's find them more people to hate.; 2/5/25, 5:31 AM
Jaq said...: We bought the Great Plains from Napoleon, and wiped out the vast bulk of the native inhabitants and forced the surviving remainder onto reservations. It's a proven formula. Some of those Indians did nasty things trying to protect what they thought was "their land" and way of life when everybody full well knows that no European king or Pope ever gave them title.; 2/5/25, 5:49 AM
Kakistocracy said...: “It’s a great location, right on the Mediterranean, great weather..”. ~ Donald Trump

He’s not proposing any form of nation building. He’s proposing a resort. Maybe his son-in-law Jared Kushner would be available to consult on this project? 🤣; 2/5/25, 6:14 AM
mindnumbrobot said...: Iran deserves them, but nobody wants them.; 2/5/25, 6:30 AM
boatbuilder said...: The alternatives, as any sane observer knows, are endless war, the elimination of Israel, or the elimination of Gaza.

Anybody else have any good ideas?; 2/5/25, 7:42 AM
Cappy said...: I recommend the Mindanao Deep.; 2/5/25, 7:43 AM
Cappy said...: Ireland seems to like them.; 2/5/25, 7:43 AM