One of the most striking features of the Trump-Kushner plan for Gaza is that it erases anything resembling Palestine. The ancient architecture, most of which has been reduced to rubble by Israel, is replaced by something more akin to Dubai. And this is no accident.

Like so many Americans, Kushner and Trump view the entire Middle-East region as a monolith. One people. One culture. No variations. No complexities. The clothing, language, food? All the same.

The only cities they are familiar with are from the Gulf monarchies. Gaza, whose history stretches back at least 5000 years, was filled with ancient souks, mosques, hammams, churches, Roman mosaics, alleyways and ports, is transformed into a glittering hyper-capitalist dystopia. One which could sit comfortably in any of the Gulf nations.

When one considers the notion that this city would be built over the mass graves of hundreds of thousands of people, it becomes obvious how odious it all is. But this is also the story of Israel.

The Zionists came into this region with the claim that it was a “land without a people, for a people without a land.” But this was always a lie. And they knew it.

This is why they destroyed so many villages and planted forests on top of the ruins with trees not indigenous to the Levant. The result has been wildfires every year, as these European pines ignite in the dry, hot climate.

The seaside Palestinian village of Tantura was referred by the ancient Greeks as Dor. During the Nakba, a Zionist death squad from the Haganah, which came under the command of one of Israel’s founding fathers David Ben-Gurion, murdered hundreds of the inhabitants and buried them in mass graves. A kibbutz was later erected on the site. Today, it is a popular beach for Israelis.

Kushner’s grotesque vision for Gaza is in keeping with the Zionist project, which never sat comfortably in the Levant. It attempted to import its European identity on to a land that already had a long and rich culture of its own.

Despite its glittering skyscrapers, casinos, hotels and 5-star restaurants, this “New Gaza” will forever be stained with the blood of thousands. Their bones will be in every foundational stone. Though they will try their hardest to whitewash its edifice, the genocide will never be forgotten, nor forgiven by the millions of people around the world who have witnessed its horror.

Kenn Maurice Orfanos, January 2026