Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Washington, D.C., February 04, 2025 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

EA on UK and Indian Outlets: Damage and Disinformation of Trump’s Tariffs

David Dunn and I joined UK and Irish outlets on Wednesday to analyze Donald Trump’s call for the ethnic cleansing of the entire population — more than 2.2 million people — of Gaza.

We review Trump’s declaration, alongside Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, for the removal of all Gazans from the “very unlucky” Strip — never once referring to how they were “very unlucky” to be slain or internally displaced during 15 months of Israel’s mass killings. We critique his assurance that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip”.

We examine both the wider effect of Trump’s advocacy of a crime against humanity and the immediate effects: an almost-certain end to hopes of a Phase 2 of the Israel-Gaza ceasefire, with war to resume at the end of February; denial of any chance of a Palestinian state; and obliteration of Trump’s project for closer tiesDbetween Israel and Arab states.

Listen to BBC Radio Scotland from 1:14.08

I review Trump’s motives and the inhumanity of his ethnic cleansing:

This is illegal. It is tantamount to a crime against humanity.

It was a crime when it was done to Jewish people in the 20th century. It was a crime when it was done to Armenians. It was a crime when it was done in the Balkans. And it is a crime now.

Listen to BBC Ulster from 5:14

David Dunn of EA and the University of Birmingham joins a panel discussion with Davy MacAuley of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and Trumpist spokesperson Greg Swenson, who “loves the idea” of the US taking over the Gaza Strip and praises Trump doing “extraordinary things”.

America has no legal status in Gaza whatsoever. There is no legal right or justification for taking over and declaring ownership of the area.

It is illegal in international law to forcibly remove a population.

Watch David Dunn on GB News

David Dunn takes apart Trump’s declaration on the hard-right, pro-Trump outlet GB News:

It’s massively ill-considered. It’s ethnic cleansing — that’s illegal. It’s unworkable in the practical aspects. And it’s destablizing to the fragile peace in the Middle East.

Listen to Dublin NewsTalk from 5:14

Following up on remarks from The Guardian’s Washington correspondent David Smith, I chat with NewsTalk Breakfast’s Ciara Kelly about the inhumanity and destruction of Trump’s thoughts.

I begin with Trump’s demolition of the Israel-Gaza ceasefire talks and continue to his crude motive: a businessman’s hope to exploit development of Gaza’s property while erasing its residents.

Even if Trump does not think of this as ethnic cleansing, he has bolstered Israeli ministers who *do* think this way and have called for this.

They now have support for their position, and Benjamin Netanyahu is boxed in by the hard right who want a return to war.

Listen to BBC 5 Live from 2:18.56

Just after the press conference, at around 12:30 a.m., I was awoken by BBC 5 Live’s Tony Livesey for a snap analysis.

I reviewed the statements by Trump and Netanyahu and, fighting back anger, was forthright about the damaging consequences.

I am going to ask the media to cover this story from the starting point, before they are led by Trump’s thought bubble.

We are in the middle of a Phase 1 of a ceasefire to end an open-ended Israeli mass killing, following Hamas’ mass killing. We have seen Israeli hostages freed to return to Israel. We have seen some Palestinian detainees released to go back to Gaza.

But we don’t know if there will be a Phase 2. That phase depends on Gazans being able to return to a peaceful life in their area.

There is no prospect of a Phase 2 with either an Israeli occupation or a US occupation.