When President Donald Trump convened his Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, a key agenda item was his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s extravagant (and detached from reality) plan for a “New Gaza”. The scheme’s rendering depicts more of a luxury resort for tourists than the foundation of a just future for the Palestinian victims of Israel’s genocide. But since the raison d’être of the Board of Peace was addressing the aftermath of Israel’s war on Gaza, the conversation included the needs of hundreds of thousands of now-homeless Palestinians.

Thus, Kushner presented a proposal for a model community—the “New Rafah”—intended to house Palestinians in Gaza. The plans circulated since the meeting cover Gaza’s economy, educational and health systems to create a new generation of hale and non-ideological Palestinians, and “new city” layouts, functioning, and governance. Calculations indicate how many teachers, doctors, judges, religious leaders, and labourers are needed per capita in each community.

If Kushner were preparing an owner’s manual for complex machinery or instructions for installing new software, this plan might seem flawless. But........

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