Is President Trump's Gaza Plan Workable?

CGTN Europe

Mary Kaldor, Professor Emeritus of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict Research Programme at The London School of Economics and Political Science spoke to CGTN Europe about Trump’s Gaza plan.

Transcript

00:00Well, staying with Gaza, Professor Mary Calder is from the London School of Economics and

00:06Political Science. Professor Calder, thank you for joining us. What do you make of President

00:11Trump's proposals for Gaza, then?

00:13Well, I think they're completely mad. First of all, it's completely unacceptable and contrary

00:21to international law. And secondly, it's impractical. Why should people move? Who is

00:29going to provide them with these wonderful homes he's talking about? And thirdly, if

00:35it happens, it will be another Nagorno-Karabakh war. That's what happened to the Palestinians

00:41in 1948 and will be the source of endless future war.

00:47Now you say completely mad, but we are talking about here the most powerful man in the world.

00:52Donald Trump has seen an outcry internationally, but can he go ahead anyway and do what he

00:56likes?

00:57I don't think so. I think it's quite alarming that he is the most powerful person in the

01:06world. But I think, and there don't seem to be very strong and powerful domestic constraints

01:13operating in the United States, which there should be. But of course, he is the Commander-in-Chief.

01:19But on the other hand, within the Republican parties, there are a lot of differences. He

01:26got elected on an America First platform, which seemed to imply that he was not keen

01:34on interfering in the rest of the world and he wanted to focus on American problems. But

01:40instead what he's doing is making threats, not just against Gaza, but also Greenland

01:48and Panama. And I think for many on his own side, that may be quite alarming. But on this

01:56particular issue, I think the rest of the world is more or less united in opposition.

02:02And I find it very difficult to imagine how he could possibly succeed. The only people

02:07who can support him are a small group on the right wing of Israeli politics.

02:15And what Donald Trump has said is, some of it is practically factual, that Gaza is in

02:20ruins. It's uninhabitable, most of it. So what should happen to it now, in your opinion?

02:27Well, I think we need to recognize a Palestinian state and find a two-state solution for the

02:39area. I'd actually prefer a single Palestine for both Jews and Palestinians. But at the

02:45moment, what's on the table is a two-state solution. And I think there needs to be a

02:53huge investment from the rest of the world in the reconstruction of Gaza. I think one

03:00of the most terrible things that's happened has been the closure of UN Refugee Agency

03:06that has been responsible in the past for Gaza and is the most experienced agency to

03:12be able to manage reconstruction. But clearly, there needs to be a huge investment in reconstruction

03:19and helping those people who have suffered horrendously. And of course, the other thing

03:25to say is, is this going to threaten the ceasefire? How do we maintain the ceasefire?

03:33Because to go back to war after all this for those people would be such a tragedy.

03:38Yeah, absolutely. Professor Mary Calder from the London School of Economics and Political

03:43Science, we thank you for your expertise. Thank you.

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