{"id":8646,"date":"2025-10-20T10:57:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T10:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationaldiplomat.com\/?p=8646"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:57:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T10:57:56","slug":"criminal-diplomacy-negotiating-over-what-you-dont-own-by-marianne-rothmann","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/?p=8646","title":{"rendered":"Criminal Diplomacy: Negotiating Over What You Don\u2019t Own by Marianne Rothmann"},"content":{"rendered":"

Criminal Diplomacy: Negotiating Over What You Don\u2019t Own by Marianne Rothmann<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Land Without Its People<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Once again, the world\u2019s most powerful leaders are sitting around tables discussing the future of Palestine \u2014 without the Palestinians. As the rubble of Gaza still smolders and families search for the remains of their homes, foreign officials and investors are debating how to \u201credevelop\u201d what remains.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is something profoundly unjust \u2014 even criminal \u2014 in the notion of negotiating over land that you do not own. Palestine is not a vacant plot waiting to be claimed; it is a living homeland, rooted in generations of memory, belonging, and resilience.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Politics of Exclusion<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Before Gaza\u2019s devastation, Palestinians held titles, deeds, and ancestral claims to their land. Yet now, the same soil is being treated as a bargaining chip. President Donald Trump and his allies have reportedly discussed Gaza\u2019s \u201cfuture\u201d with Israel, Egypt, and certain Gulf nations \u2014 while Palestinians themselves are excluded.<\/span><\/p>\n

This exclusion is not an accident; it is the continuation of a long history of dispossession disguised as diplomacy. When outsiders decide who will control Palestinian land, rebuild its infrastructure, or profit from reconstruction contracts, they are not pursuing peace \u2014 they are perpetuating occupation by other means.<\/span><\/p>\n

Profit in the Ruins<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

President Trump\u2019s stated ambition to \u201credevelop\u201d Gaza through American and Israeli business interests exposes a deeper moral failure. Turning human suffering into an investment opportunity is the ultimate act of exploitation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rebuilding Gaza should mean restoring dignity, homes, and self-determination \u2014 not creating economic zones that enrich foreign corporations. To trade in the pain of others is not policy; it is profiteering.<\/span><\/p>\n

To negotiate over a land that you do not own is not diplomacy \u2014 it is theft wrapped in political language.<\/span><\/p>\n

No nation has the moral or legal authority to negotiate over land it does not own, especially when the rightful inhabitants are displaced or silenced. This is colonialism repackaged in the language of progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Law They Choose to Ignore<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

International law is clear. The United Nations recognizes the right of Palestinians to self-determination. The Geneva Conventions forbid the annexation or transfer of occupied land. Yet these laws are routinely ignored when they inconvenience those in power.<\/span><\/p>\n

When international law becomes optional and human dignity becomes negotiable, peace loses all meaning. Justice cannot be imposed by those who benefit from the imbalance. You cannot rebuild peace on a foundation of theft.<\/span><\/p>\n

Resilience Amid the Ruins<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite all this, Palestinians continue to celebrate small moments of liberation \u2014 the release of prisoners, the return of families to their neighborhoods, even the fragile silences between bombings. These are not mere celebrations; they are declarations of existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their joy is not na\u00efve. It is defiance. It is proof that while their land may be occupied, their spirit remains free.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Call for Accountability<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To negotiate over a nation that you do not own is not diplomacy \u2014 it is a crime of arrogance. Every future discussion about Palestine must begin with Palestinians at the table. Their consent is not optional; it is the foundation of any just peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Palestinians do not seek sympathy; they seek sovereignty. They do not want investors; they want inclusion. They do not ask for charity; they demand justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Until the world accepts this truth, peace will remain a word spoken in conferences but never lived by the people who deserve it most.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Unheard Truth<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The injustice is not only in the loss of land, but in the presumption that others can own it. To negotiate over Palestine without Palestinians is to erase them twice \u2014 first from their homes, and then from history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Real peace will come only when the world stops treating Palestine as a project and begins to recognize it as what it has always been: a homeland.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marianne Rothmann is a writer and cultural communicator whose work focuses on diversity, justice, and human connection. She explores resilience and belonging in the context of global inequality and social transformation.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Criminal Diplomacy: Negotiating Over What You Don\u2019t Own by Marianne Rothmann A Land Without Its People Once again, the world\u2019s most powerful leaders are sitting around tables discussing the future of Palestine \u2014 without the Palestinians. As the rubble of Gaza still smolders and families search for the remains of their homes, foreign officials and
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