"Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable … if people would focus on building up livelihoods" — Jared Kushner https://t.co/RkDjUKHh51
— Josh Kovensky (@JoshKovensky) March 19, 2024
Jared and his lady wife have insisted that they are out, out, never getting back together with a potential second Trump administration… and there’s no reason not to believe him (until, Murphy forbid, it actually happens), because Kushner’s found a new actually-super-wealthy sugar daddy in Saudi Arabia. The ‘beachfront condos in Gaza’ story is, IMO, further confirmation: If there were any communication between Kushner and TFG’s handlers, they’d have found *some* way to keep him from running his mouth about displacing two million Palestinians until after the election.
And once it’s being pigbladdered discussed in the Washington Post, it’s too late to cobble up some polite fantasy about ‘misspeaking’. Josh Rogin, “Kushner’s Gaza remarks are a dark signal for Trump’s second-term policy” [gift link]:
… In a Feb. 15 interview at Harvard University, videos of which have recently emerged, Kushner said several striking things about the Israel-Gaza crisis. “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable,” he said, lamenting that Palestinians had diverted resources away from economic development and toward weapons and tunnels. “It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but from Israel’s perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.”
This language prompted widespread criticism in Arab media as a call for giving Gazan land to Israelis — and as an evocation of ethnic cleansing. Kushner said on X on Tuesday his words were taken out of context. Reached on Thursday, he said he was proposing Gazans be moved only temporarily. “With regard to moving the people, if Israel is going to invade Rafah, there are options they should consider to protect the civilians,” he told me.
In fairness, Kushner did at first say during his Harvard interview that if he were in charge in Israel, he would create “a secure area” inside Israel’s Negev desert to house Palestinians while Israeli forces “finish the job,” in the absence of Arab countries willing to take them in as refugees. Tarek Masoud, his interviewer and faculty director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative, asked if this was something under actual consideration in Israel.
“I don’t know,” Kushner said. “I’m sitting in Miami Beach right now. And I’m looking at the situation, and I’m thinking: What would I do if I was there?”
But then, when Masoud pointed out that Palestinians don’t want to leave Gaza for fear Netanyahu might never let them return, Kushner quickly provided justifications for that outcome as well.
“Maybe [they won’t be able to return], but I’m not sure there’s much left of Gaza at this point,” he said. “If you think about even the construct, Gaza was not really a historical precedent, right? It was the result of a war. … So, you have another war. Usually, when wars happen, borders are changed, historically over time.”…
In our interview, Kushner told me he was just making historical observations about the subjective nature of borders. “Most of the modern Middle East, since [the 1916 agreement known as] Sykes-Picot, is based on arbitrary lines drawn by foreigners. There does seem to be a different standard being applied to Gaza than there was to Syria, Yemen and a lot of other places,” he told me…
I’m not a professional, but I read the narrative differently. As I said above, it seems to me an indicator that Kushner is not involved with the Trump campaign. More importantly, IMO: Any Palestinian supporters still cherishing some hope that Saudi Crown Prince / Prime Minister MBS might step in to help them out can ditch those dreams right now. Because if Mohammed Bone Saw had any complaints about Kushner’s proposal, Jared would’ve walked it back no later than 24 hours of the original speech, much less the current controversy.
And while Jared Kushner is under scrutiny…
So you telling me the dude who couldn’t get a clearance to work in the White House until his father-in-law intervened had access to classified info, which he shared with a dude who gave him $2 Billon when he left the WH. Hey @RepJamesComer you up bro?
— DeSanctimonious Jenkins (@EddieHustle7) March 20, 2024
Shalimar
On a positive note, at least Kushner didn’t personally approve any killings to free up his new blood-drenched development sites.
JPL
@Shalimar: And you know that how?
trollhattan
I just became aware of this today, although it occurred two weeks ago.
Optics, how the fuck do they work, anyway?
Betty
Well, Kushner is in line with Putin when he says wars can change boundaries. That’s Putin’s game plan.
Tony Jay
There’s nothing much to say about this, other than what we have here is the son-in-law of a former US President (who is currently seeking re-election) casually talking up the logic of ethnic cleansing, concentration camps, and military conquest while dismissing the historical existence of a city mentioned in the fucking Bible, and you can guarantee that the News Media will spend 0.001% of its coverage acknowledging how mind-blowingly obscene Air-Head’s opinions are and 99%+ explaining how he didn’t actually mean what he said because if he did he’d be a sociopathic loon, and that can’t possibly be the case.
People like Jared are what the Crown of Gold was designed for.
NotMax
The guy whose own metropolitan newspaper would not commit to about-to-be Dolt 45 for the general election.
Shalimar
@JPL: I meant the property in Serbia that was bombed in 1999 and also the property in Albania, not his verbal misadventure into Gaza.
SenyorDave
“My words were taken out of context”. The list of leaders who have probably said that include Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, Mao, etc. Jared, you are in excellent company!
John Revolta
It’s not personal. It’s just business!!
Gin & Tonic
@Shalimar: Yet.
NotMax
@John Revolta
Can’t resist linking. It’s a Business
:)
Scout211
Yeah, no. Not believing that for a second. They said the same thing the first time. Plus, Bone Saw would be at a great advantage if Jared could get his filthy hands on more US intelligence.
Joe Falco
Future Jared conversation:
“Ok, but have we thought about the job opportunities for those who will work at the beach resorts that will spring up after the end of the war?”
Reporter: “You mean the displaced Gazans?”
JK: “Oh I didn’t say that.”
Geminid
Israel won’t shelter Gazans inside its southern region, and early in the war US, French and UK leaders told Netanyahu they wouldn’t stand for Israel shifting Gazans into Egypt, so Kushner is just talking shit.
Kushner made an obvious point, that Gazans will have have a better life when they give up the dream of reclaiming lands held before 1948. They are an educated people with as much potential as anyone. But Kushner is not contributing to that future with this scheme, but rather is undermining it.
AxelFoley
Is that similar to Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius?
Quadrillipede
If someone lies repeatedly and provably for years, then, outside of a legal proceeding, who even cares what they say? Why does “known liar says words” even constitute news?
IJDGI… 🫤
John Revolta
@NotMax: Damn, I never heard about this show! (I stopped following Broadway productions more or less when I moved out of NY in 2004.) Sounds like it’d be right up my alley…..
JoyceH
Of course he meant that the Palestinians would only be removed temporarily! After all, someone is going to have to clean all those hotels and casinos.
Geminid
@Geminid: Saudi Arabia and the UAE have said they will help rebuild Gaza, and they’ve got the money to do it. But they’ve said they won’t help if Hamas is in control, and think that Western countries were fools to let Hamas leaders convert billions of aid into personal fortunes. And they won’t help if Israel is in charge either. They intend to help a Gaza controlled by the Palestinian Authority, and they are already engineering a P.A. that could be up to the task.
Many Westerners think this cannot be. They’re like, “Alas! I once believed in a Two-State Solution to this terrible problem, but I see it is now impossible.”
The Saudis and the Emiratis are like, “We’ll git ‘er done.” They know this situation better than Westerners and have more at stake. They also have the resources and the backing of the U.S., so I do not discount their plans.
Jay
@Geminid:
Nope, Gaza will still remain the worlds largest open air Prison.
There will be no Two State.
Leto
@Tony Jay: Back in December and January there were posts on Imgur of Israeli real estate firms saying, “Come buy beach front property in Northern Gaza now” with pictures of beach homes. Doesn’t surprise me that Shitvanka is working with them to potentially move this forward. Settlements 2.0.
Jay
@Geminid:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/22/israel-seizes-800-hectares-of-palestinian-land-in-occupied-west-bank
Geminid
@Jay: Not sure why you are tagging me with this. I don’t represent anyone but myself.
But since you did, I’ll just say that Belazel Smotrich can claim that land all he wants, but that doesnt mean he can make good on that claim. He’s Treasury Minister for a government that is fast running out its tenure.
Leto
@Geminid:
The same “git’er done” attitude that led to 9/11. Fuck the bone saw Saudi’s forever.
ellie
What a fucking ghoul.
pluky
Well Jared, perhaps if the Israeli government hadn’t put a strangle hold on the Gazan economy such a development might have happened decades ago.
Skippy-san
Kushner is trying to cater to Likud and other right wingers in Israel who want to push the Palestinians out of Gaza permanently. Bezalel Smotrich has as much said so and that he does not care about them whatsoever.
It’s an example of how stupid Kushner really is, because he would understand that you can’t just build in the Negev. There is no water. Once you get south of Beersheba, settlement is problematic and Israelis know this.
Kushner is truly evil and he screwed things up badly in Israel the first time. I know, I was there. And don’t forget Trump’s abomination of an Ambassador too.
RSA
The first step in getting a clearance is filling out SF86 (Standard Form 86 – Questionnaire for National Security). It’s a lot, over 100 pages (with repetition) to fill in, but here are some sample question:
It’s pretty easy to see what the federal government considers potential risk factors, and it’s pretty easy to see why Jared wouldn’t have gotten a security clearance under normal circumstances. Donald as well, of course.
Geminid
@Leto: If you are waiting for people with clean hands to show up and solve this problem, you will have a long wait.
Jay
@Geminid:
Having Wahhabist Jihadi’s “rebuild” Gaza isn’t going to go well for the Gazan’s, the PA, Israel or The West.
R'Chard
@Joe Falco: To say nothing of Gaza’s coastal erosion problem, a few meters a year, like pretty much every sandy beach in the world. So (pretty much) Florida 2.0 is what he envisions. All the little people need to move, move, move…
Villago Delenda Est
As I mentioned the other day at Wonkette, I’m shocked that Kushner hasn’t scarfed up some old SS properties to redevelop into luxury resorts. “The Spa at Birkenau”, anyone?
Geminid
@Jay: Well, I have no problem with the Saudis and Emiratis playing a role in rebuilding Gaza. Beats having Hamas run the place, or the Israelis for that matter. Maybe you have a better way in mind. But you very confidently say Gaza will always be an open air prison, so maybe you don’t.
Tehanu
A real pascudnyik, Jared. My grandma’s 2nd husband, a really sweet man, was a Kushner — no relation, I hope! — and I’m embarrassed and disgusted on his behalf.
Mai Naem mobile
@Villago Delenda Est: Presenting the ‘The Trump Dachas at Dachau’ – TFG might be able to come up with the $500M selling units to Russian oligarchs.
Matt McIrvin
Here are the logically possible endpoints:
1 and 2 both seem like impossible dreams. 3 and 4 are both morally unacceptable. In addition, 4 isn’t actually going to happen, because of the power dynamics–some superpower would have to decide to eliminate Israel (which has nuclear weapons) and nobody currently on the planet is actually going to choose that.
But it seems to me like there are a lot of people out there who are insisting that 3 and 4 are the only alternatives available, because really they want either one or or the other (and it’s not very hard to tell which).
The Saudis and Emiratis, though? I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them. They do seem to want normalized relations with Israel because, at this point, it’s in their self-interest. But they’ve never been particularly good-faith partners.
Paul in KY
@Shalimar: He’s outsourced that to Bibi.