US President Donald J. Trump has announced his ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza. As blatant exploitation and land grab in the wake of the tragedy which has led to the Genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza, the Board, with Trump as Chairman, is carving out the real estate for their personal profiteering.

Keeping it in the family Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner, a real estate developer, outlined the plans for 100,000 residential properties in Rafah, and the establishment of ‘New Gaza’.

High rise coastal communities – not for Gazans. Not for Palestinians. The UK will not be participating – although ex Labour PM Tony Blair will. He is joined by others on the Board with histories of oppression and war crimes. Israel is there too – the country responsible for the Genocide in Gaza – where they continue to bombard communities and kill civilians (despite a ‘ceasefire’).

The Israeli military has destroyed 92% of homes in Gaza and unexploded ordnance remains a constant threat. Bodies still lie beneath the shattered remnants of homes. People shelter in flimsy tents and the remains of buildings. The freezing temperatures have resulted in some, including babies, freezing to death. Israel has banned 37 International Aid agencies from delivering Humanitarian supplies and working in Gaza. The United Nation’s Relief Organisation – UNRWA – has had its buildings in East Jerusalem bulldozed by Israel.

“Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed over 500 humanitarian workers and at least 1,500 health workers and intimidated, harassed and conducted smear campaigns targeting humanitarians. UNRWA has been the most visible target, but it is far from the only one.” OHCHR

“These measures must be seen in legal and factual context: as a strategy to create conditions in Gaza that force Palestinians into chronic deprivation, threatening their survival as a group and further violating the Genocide Convention.”

For Trump it’s a real estate bonanza. Slaughter the people, obliterate their once beautiful and historic buildings, and take their lands to put up high rise expensive tasteless tat.

Then there are the natural resources to be exploited in Gaza’s coastal waters. Maggie Chapman, the Scottish Green MSP for North East Scotland, launched Motion S6M-20480 on Thursday 22 January in the Scottish Parliament:

That the Parliament calls on Dana Petroleum, which is headquartered in Aberdeen and has been granted licences by Israel to explore the sea bed off the coast of Gaza, to follow Italian energy company ENI’s example, in light of reports that ENI has stated that it does not plan to be involved in any future activities in the area; believes that no Scottish companies should be involved in resource extraction from what it considers are internationally recognised Palestinian waters; further believes that profiting from Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, and what it considers is ongoing genocide in Gaza, is incompatible with human rights and international humanitarian law, and urges the Scottish Government to issue a call encouraging all companies based in Scotland to cease business with Israel, as, it believes, it rightly did with Russia following the illegal invasion of Ukraine, in light of the Scottish Government’s acknowledgement that it believes that a genocide is taking place in Palestine, and the Scottish Parliament’s agreement to a motion on 3 September 2025, calling for a package of boycotts, divestment and sanctions targeted at the State of Israel.

The Orkney News will keep our readers updated as to the progress of the Motion through the Scottish Parliament.

Trump is a convicted felon and therefore is the most appropriate choice to run his grifting ‘Board of Peace’, which will go down in History as one of the most appalling acts of exploitation and profiteering from the Genocide of a people.  There is no Palestinian representative on the Board of Peace.

Islanders in Orkney will be out in Vigil on the Kirk Green, Broad Street, Kirkwall between 1 and 2pm in support of the people of Gaza.

Fiona Grahame