Could Casinos and Nightlife Revive Gaza? Farage and Dutton Back Trump's Wild Idea

_{Trump’s vision for a casino-fuelled Gaza revival sparks debate. (Image: dpa picture alliance / Alamy)}

Love him or loathe him Big Don, AKA the US President Trump, has big ideas. Some of them are ridiculed and parodied, but some are treated with a raised eyebrow, a Gallic shrug or a chat over a fag and a pint at the Dog and Duck.

The UK’s version of Trump is Nigel ‘stop the boats’ Farage. If all the reports in British media are to be believed, he can be found on or near the white cliffs of Dover sipping on a real ale and tugging on a Woodbine with a satellite phone link to Trump.

Praise for President’s ‘Big Ideas’ 

Despite our little jaunt into the world of make-believe, there is something brewing, as both Reform UK MP Nigel Farage and Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton have praised Donald Trump for being a “big thinker" regarding the possibility of land-based casinos and nightlife being the salvation of the decimated Gaza Strip.

Is this another insight into the myriad of ideas in the brain department of President Trump labelled ‘bonkers,’ or does he have something here that no one else would dare to float on the English—soon to become American—Channel?  

There may be some who are of the belief that if Trump said he was going to tow the UK to New England, Farage would be there with the rope. 

_{Nigel Farage backs the controversial Gaza casino plan reportedly calling it 'appealing.' (Image: PA Images / Alamy)}

No surprise then that the media reports Farage has responded to Trump’s controversial plans to turn Gaza into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ by saying the idea sounds “very appealing” to him. 

Palestinians Resettled and Walls to Come Down

Trump’s plans don’t really include the rank-and-file Palestinians who have been blitzed in an attack that resembled the raids on Britain during the Second World War (don’t mention the Germans).

Is it outrageous that the newest, shiniest president of the most powerful country on Earth has suggested that the besieged Middle Eastern territory should be “permanently resettled” in other countries to make way for luxurious property? 

When Germany was divided up after the war, there was a race to Berlin between the British, the Americans and the Russians. What emerged was something Trump is all too familiar with—a great big wall.

_{Current state of Gaza gives a stark contrast to Trump’s vision of a luxury casino destination. (Image: Associated Press / Alamy)}

It took until 1989 for that wall to come down and the end of the Cold War, which could now begin again. It’s not difficult imagining Moscow’s own Putin condemning a US ‘takeover’ of Gaza, declaring, “If casinos are going to be built, they will be Russian,” with vodka in hand, sporting a fur hat in the chic tourist casino destination of Siberia. 

Reality Wears a Coca-Cola Costume

Meanwhile, in the real world, the trusted world news service Reuters reports, “Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow's position that the only way to resolve the Middle East conflict was through the creation of a Palestinian state to exist side-by-side with Israel.

As easy as it is to to make politics sound like make-believe and a bit of a gas, there are still those who listen to messages coming from the White House, the Kremlin and number 22 Fag Ash Lane, Kent, where Farage said he agreed with Trump’s plans, “The thought of a wealthy, wonderful, thriving place with well-paid jobs, casinos, nightlife… It sounds very appealing to me.” 

As a journalist, I’ve been one of the first Westerners to fly into Romania when Ceausescu had been killed. I befriended a local newspaper editor who believed  the West would embrace Romania with open arms. 

"The first people we saw arriving at the airport were the teams from Coca-Cola and other major commercial brands," he said afterwards.

Before one can build, one has to have peace and stability. Given the degree of violence and destruction we’ve seen in the Middle East, it may be a very long time before the Las Vegas-style neon signs go up and people get to enjoy all that comes with freedom and peace, even if that is a Trump Tower.

For now, the president needs to stick to his day job.