Why not the voluntary departure of Israelis, instead of the Palestinians
Conclusions seem to naturally flow from the basic assumptions. Gaza is already “impossibly crowded,” he declared. From which the right to expel all its inhabitants flows inevitably. The logical equivalent are not the Palestinians, but the Israelis. Indeed, it is logical that four million Israelis would flee from here. To places where a different, more humane, logic operates.
By Rogel Alpher • Translated by Sol Salbe
“It makes a lot of sense,” Major General (res) Giora Eiland praised the Trumpsfer. In the Israeli discourse, Eiland represents an orderly penetrating logic, devoid of sentimentality, pretending to be apolitical. It pretends to look at reality in an impartial calculating way, not being swayed by wishful thinking, and to analyse it coldly. But being immoral and utilitarian, it serves a right-wing populist worldview. This is how Eiland went from a drab TV commentator before October 7 to a rock star of the TV studios expert panels.
He employs logic as a lethal weapon against the Palestinians, while radiating composure, credibility, authority, high intelligence and the necessary degree of nationalism, without which there is no entry into the mainstream. In the wake of the “Generals’ Plan” that led to the blockade of the northern Gaza Strip and the expulsion of its population, he became known as a paradigm shatterer. One who “thinks outside the box.” In the Trump era, that means being endowed with distinguished qualities. Someone fashioned in the image of Trump himself. It has the spark of aspiration to change the existing world order, which is essential for any right-wing media star.
But Eiland Logic is a cover for violence, a genre of refined populism. Conclusions seem to naturally flow from the basic assumptions. Gaza is already “impossibly crowded,” he declared. From which the right to expel all its inhabitants flows inevitably. As if population thinning is a common global practice in any region that is overcrowded. As if one would expect millions of Israelis would be required to evacuate abroad when the high birth rates will lead to unbearable overcrowding. It just sounds logical. But it’s actually delusionary.
“Where is the logic,” asked the Logic General, “in cramming all the Gazans into Gaza” when the vast expanses of the Sinai Desert are stretched right next to them? An effective illustration of a central characteristic of the “genius” sometimes attributed to Trump or Eiland: their logic applies only in an ideal world, whose ideal nature is congruent with theirs, but in reality that logic it is absurd, or involves committing immoral criminal acts (in an ideal world, logic always trumps moral considerations). “Gaza is uninhabitable and cannot be rehabilitated,” Eiland continued. Coning out of the mouth of The Generals-Plan’s own presenter, this is a shameless justification for ethnic cleansing. It is a clear case of what the prophet Elijah referred to when he spoke of the evil one murdering and then grabbing the booty. And why, he asked, “ four million people left Syria voluntarily,” so why do so many people argue that the Gazans must stay? Here he got confused. The Syrian refugees fled the civil war. The logical equivalent are not the Gazans, but the Israelis. Indeed, it is logical that four million Israelis would flee from here. To places where a different, more humane, logic operates.
