UAE plans to bankroll first ‘planned community’ in south Gaza

You say 'bodies' plural here, and 'was'. But previously you used the present tense and said body in the singular, ie what's happening now. That's what we're talking about.

The world is clearly not up in arms about that one body still being in Gaza and it's not preventing any of the plans, which the person's family are actually pretty fucked off about.

There are multiple factors that led to the end of Japanese imperialism, and yes the economic support is one of them. This is one of the reasons I'm in favour of giving the Gazan people better options.

I don't see anything to suggest this proposal would include the whole population of Gaza, and indeed the security requirements would suggest otherwise. But even if it did, we are still left with the unfortunate reality that nobody has yet identified a better reconstruction option that stands any chance of happening. If you think you'd prefer the tent festering, Rohingya treatment, that's up to you but presumably you understand that Gazans are not a hive mind and might disagree?

It is the fact that no one cares about the Palestinians that gets me. I thought that the days of Israel gaslighting the world into believing they were the good guys and the Palestinians were the bad guys was over but unfortunately it appears I’m wrong.

The world was up in arms about it and Israel used the delay in recovering the bodies as an excuse to break the ceasefire. The fact that it seems no one knows where the remaining body is is sad to say the least but at least there is/was an attempt to recover it. I believe there isn’t even going to be an attempt to recover and identify the Palestinian bodies.

Japanese imperialism ended because of the economic boom which they enjoyed which partly began as a result of the US pumping billions of dollars into the country in order to supply its troops in the Korean war. Jamming the entire population of Gaza into a secure labour camp and forcing them into indentured labour is not improving their lives.

There still is an Israeli's body left in Gaza, and I wouldn't say the world is particularly up in arms about that tbh. Don't hear anything much about it, and it evidently isn't functioning as a barrier to this planned community idea. His family think the world has forgotten them.

That is exactly why I’m saying it is hypocritically disgusting. If it were an Israeli body, or any other western nation, the world would be up in arms.

The unpalatable reality is it doesn't actually matter how willing the Gazan people are to accept that their lives are shittier now than they were pre 7th October, it's the truth either way. They do not have agency or any prospect of it in the near future.

As for whether getting rid of Hamas/similar groups is a solution, we can only guess. There are examples of movements who've been so badly militarily beaten that they stop being a threat, hence there's been no problem with Japanese imperialism for 80 years now. Equally there are some where you can't kill the idea.

I think most take the view that the best chance of change comes if you give people better options. That would definitely be my preference, my concerns are over how to do this in practice. But leaving the population to their tents is also one of the possibilities here.

If I were unfortunate enough to be born a Gazan, I would rather live in a tent for the time being and slowly try to rebuild myself than be put in a secure ghetto, having their kids brainwashed with Israeli propaganda trying to erase their history and be forced to work for the very people who put me there in order to survive. As well as food and shelter, people need dignity and self determination or it is no life at all.

For once we agree but how hypocritically disgusting is that.

So their life was shitty before but now they just have to accept it is going to be even shittier. They may be able to get rid of Hamas but that is not a solution. If you don’t get rid of the reason for Hamas, it will simply manifest itself again but in another form.

What’s going to happen to all the bodies buried under the rubble where these luxury resorts are going to be built. Are they going to be recovered and accounted for or simply swept up by the bulldozers clearing the rubble and simply dumped.

The last thing any of this will be is magnanimous. Any country or entity willing to invest in Gaza will be doing so because they think they can get enough out of it to make the risk worthwhile.

It’s not the UAE’s plan. It is all highlighted in the ‘new’ Gaza plan unveiled by Kushner the other day. It’s not about rebuilding Gaza. It’s about real estate development. Once again, Palestinian land has been stolen.

It’s unbelievable how some people are trying to paint this as some magnanimous solution. Gaza was already one of the most densely populated areas on earth. They’re now planning on jamming the entire population into less than half the land, away from the coast because that is where the luxury resorts are going to go. Gaza was always seen as an open air prison but this is something else now. The Palestinians formally recognised the State of Israel in 1993 giving up their claim to 78% of historical Palestine in order to reach a two state solution. Israel totally reneged on the deal and did not recognise Palestine. Israel has made it perfectly clear they will never recognise Palestine and will do everything in their power to block a two state solution. They brag about it ffs. Israel wants more land, not less. They don’t even try to hide the intention.

I do wonder what you think this would look like. How we'd go from attributing whatever level of Israeli responsibility you want, to a viable rebuilding plan.

Unfortunately, it's much easier to identify the obvious risks and downsides of this UAE plan than it is to come up with viable alternatives that anyone will volunteer to do. Important to stress that being left to fester in tents is very much one of the possibilities here. The world does that to refugees who've done nothing to deserve it all the time, it's just that more people have heard about the Gazans than, say, Dadaab or Kutupalong. There is no guarantee of reconstruction and nobody else is actually obliged to help.

Those praising it can only be those who are blind to or deliberately obscuring the Israeli hand in and responsibility for the tragedy of Gaza. Because that's where we have to start.

It sounds like a dystopian land stealing nightmare

Oh definitely, wanting a viable Palestinian and a viable Israeli state on the land is the opposite of genocidal.

I totally agree.

I think the genocidal strand is deeply rooted, not new, and pretty dominant. But it’s absolutely not inherent.

It does indeed. And I think that takes us back to the sort of framing a Hamas controlled education system is going to provide.

I trust Hamas to ensure full coverage of the likes of Smotrich in any schooling system they're in charge of. What they're not going to do is explain that there are multiple factions in Israeli society, that 7th October handed the lunatic fringe settlers in the West Bank a golden opportunity to steal more land, and that the attacks deliberately targeted the sort of Israeli who does want to work towards a fair two state solution. That the whole point of killing people like Vivian Silver and Shani Louk was to try and kybosh any peace process. But to move forward, Gazan children will need to understand both sides of this.