Violence in the USA by Fred Foote

 (This is a piece written by Frederick Foote, a prolific short story writer and contributor to these pages. There are good statistics and comments in this piece.)

If you have been following the news, you can see the escalating violence in the ICE/protester confrontations.

This reminds me a little of the Vietnam anti-war protesters who repeatedly came under violence from law enforcement.

That made me think about our history of violence and write the attached

I encourage and appreciate your comments.

Stay safe,

Frederick

_{Author of the short story collections, For the Sake of Soul and Crossroads Encounters and The Maroon: Fables and Revelations.}                                             

Violence in the US

Martin Luther King Jr. fought against racism, poverty, and militarism. Violence is a key factor in making these concepts viable. King realized this and used non-violent demonstrations to illustrate the violent nature of racism in the South.

Far more than in other developed nations, violence appears to be an accepted way of life for many in the USA.

The following is a summary of some of the kinds of violence that many in this country accept as normal.

At the conclusion of this summary, I have added a few questions about our attitudes towards violence. I welcome your response and any questions or observations that you may have on these issues.

Racism, History, and Purpose

Racism is a virus that was created in the late 1500s in Britain and Europe and has spread from generation to generation. It creates the toxic idea that humans are divided into races and that those races exist in hierarchies, with the White race being at the top of the hierarchy. 

Europeans and the British created this idea of racism, and religion and science supported this self-serving concept.

Racism allowed Whites to justify the slave trade, their exploitation of non-White peoples, and their imperialism.

Racism and Violence

Europe, Great Britain, and the United States are centers of privilege, wealth, and power founded on the violent exploitation and suppression of people of color.

Racism promotes many kinds of violence.

The Nazis used race to justify their extermination of Jews.

Japanese in World War II used the Yamato racial supremacy ideology as the basis for dominating and devastating other people and cultures.

The US used racism as the basis for internment of the Japanese and suppression of Black and indigenous peoples.

Racism, Politics, and Culture

Our housing shortage today is based in a large part on our desire to create safe White communities that exclude people of color.

Our politics have been divided between the supporters of rights for Blacks and those who oppose these rights.

White violence has suppressed Black voters since the Civil War.

Trump's attack on immigrants is primarily a violent attack on immigrants of color.

Western World conservative politics treat immigrants as a threat to White culture.  These conservatives believe that immigrants need to be forcibly ejected from and barred from entry into White countries.

 One way to view US, British, and European history is to see it as a search for safe White places in domestic spaces and military domination in foreign places.

Poverty Violence

Poverty in developed Western countries is a policy-created deprivation.  These countries could mandate full employment with living wages or income without depriving others of these rights.

Poverty is a form of economic coercion that denies people basic needs such as shelter, food, medical care, and education.

I believe that the denial of the necessities of life when they can be provided is a form of violence.

The weight of poverty often falls the hardest on mothers with young children, the disabled, those with criminal convictions, and people of color.

The poverty rate in the US is 10.6%, or 35.9 million people. The poverty rate for African Americans is 18.4%.

State violence is employed to disrupt workers' organizing efforts and to contain protests against the political-economic systems that create poverty.

The poor often live in communities with higher levels of violence, crime, law enforcement, and political abuses (redlining, urban renewal, restrictive real estate covenants, and zoning laws).

Militarism

Militarism is the use of the military to address economic, political, and social problems.

The United States is a militaristic government.  The US was created in the Revolutionary War with Great Britain and fought many wars with the indigenous people from 1776 to 1924.

Our Civil War was fought over Black slavery. The war took between 698,000 and 850,000 military and civilian lives.

The US invaded Canada twice and Mexico at least ten times, and initiated a land grab war with Mexico.

The US has deployed the military to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central, and South America at least 80 times.  

Our wars in Afghanistan and Vietnam both lasted 20 years.

The US has used the military internally to break strikes and to put down public protests.

There have been over 1,339,770 US military fatalities in our wars.

Violence is essential to this country’s existence and to its suppression of Black, indigenous, gay, and other peoples, and to defend exploitative and repressive economic and political systems.

Domestic Violence

In the US, about 10 million people experience domestic violence annually.

Violence is also related to male dominance in some families, households, and relationships. This domestic violence is a pervasive pandemic that the state, local, and federal governments are well aware of.

Some religions, including many Baptist congregations, support male-dominated domestic violence.

The governments have never adequately funded and provided the resources necessary to address the problems of domestic violence seriously.

There have been 4,467 lynchings in the USA from 1883 to 1941. The majority (3,265) of victims have been Black males. However, in 1871, in Los Angeles, there were 19 anti-Chinese lynchings, and in New Orleans in 1891, there were 11 anti-Italian lynching victims. Ninety-nine women were lynched during this period.

Pandemic Violence

An estimated 2,225,281 Americans died from COVID-19 between 2020 and 2003. The US had a 3,612 per million death rate, the 16th highest death rate in the world. The European Union death rate was 2,830 per million.

Law Enforcement Lethal Violence.

In the period from 2015 to 2024, law enforcement officers in the US have killed over 10,000 people.

US law enforcement kills at a rate of 33.1 for every 10 million people. The Canadian rate is 18.1 per 10 million. The Netherlands has a rate of 7.8 per 10 million, and Germany has a rate of 1.3 per 10 million.  

Firearms Violence

The United States is by far the most violent developed Western nation in terms of death by and public ownership of firearms.

Gun deaths in 2023 were 4.42 per 100K in the US, 0.6 per 100k in the Netherlands, and 0.14 in Switzerland.

In the US, from 2014 to 2023, there have been over 400,000 firearm deaths.

There are over 400 million firearms in civilian hands in the US.

The US has 120.5 firearms per 100 people, and the next closest nation is Kurdistan with 70.0 per 100 people.

Automobile Violence

The US also tolerates a degree of highway carnage that is not evident in other developed nations. The US has a death rate of 14.2 per 100K population. While Europe has an automobile death rate of 6.7 per 100k, Canada has an automobile death rate of 4.7 per 100K.

 In the period from 2014 to 2024, over 400,000 people have died in automobile crashes in the USA. Over two million people each year are injured in automobile collisions.

From 1899 to 2023, there have been 3,996,709 automobile crash deaths in this country.

Death Penalty

The United States is one of the few developed nations that has retained and utilizes the death penalty. Canada, Mexico, Australia, and all the European Union Nations have banned the death penalty. There have been 1,654 court-ordered executions in the United States since the nineteen seventies.

Since 1973, at least 202 death row inmates have been exonerated.

The data indicates we have and will continue to execute innocent people.

Incarceration Violence

The US has an incarceration rate of 540-614 per 100k persons compared to Germany’s 67 per 100K, Japan’s 36 per 100K, and England and Wales 146 per 100K.

Counting the number of people in prison and jail (1.2 million) and those on parole and probation, there are over 5 million people under the authority of the criminal justice system.

Inmate-on-inmate and guard-on-inmate violence is pervasive in many of these facilities. Twenty percent of inmates experience physical violence, and the homicide rate is 2.5 times higher than it is outside of prison.

It is estimated that about 30% of women prisoners have been raped in prison.

Sports Violence

The USA’s most popular sport is football, which has 1,500 to 2,500 injuries a season and leaves a significant number of players with brain damage.

In a Boston University study, 90% to 99% of NFL players' brains showed evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE, a degenerative brain disease with devastating cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical consequences.

Entertainment Violence

Of the 10 top-grossing movies of the 2010's, eight were explicitly violent movies.

Adolescent, Squid Games, You, and Missing You were four of the top five most-watched shows on Netflix in 2025.  They all have high levels of violence.

International Vendors of Violence

The United States of America has been the leading arms dealer for much of the last 25 years.

The vast majority of the weapons used by the Mexican cartels are manufactured in the United States.

About 69% of the weapons used by Israel come from the United States

Questions

Why do so many of us accept so much violence as normal, unavoidable, or even necessary?

How does this violence impact our quality of life?

Do we see the world as a more dangerous place than our European counterparts, and if so, why?

Are our levels of violence a public health issue?

Are we doomed to creating ever-increasing levels of violence (Venezuela, Greenland, Syria, Portland, OR, Chicago, Il, Washington, DC, and Minnesota)?

Is the existence of the United States of America a threat to world peace?

If we have concerns about our levels of violence, what can we do to address them?

Declaration of Independence Redux

 I thought this would be a good time to actually reread and review the actual document American's hold so dear without understanding the full implications of it in the present world. It really could be about right now and not always about King George. "He" means "He" except where it could be "She". It all depends on where you are.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, (Can we assume that today "all men" includes all the people left out then are okay now or is that too politically correct?), that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. (I think this means the right of self-determination). Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.( This is where we all are now, the 'disposed to suffer' part') But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security (and this is where 'their' is 'our' duty lays) — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. — ( This where we can dismiss the King of Great Britain and adhere to a more modern version, The Wannabe King of the World as our culprit). The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

The following list fits the rogue wannabe king's shoes. 

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. 

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free system of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. (Natives never had a chance with this attitude in mind.)

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great B

The Warren

On the Road to Dystopia.

The road is long, the end not in sight. The road is the journey, the end is the trick.

The peace plans.

Russia will not give up land in Ukraine. Israel will not agree to a two state solution nor a one state democracy.

Nobel prize?

If anyone still thinks this government isn't creepy, hmmm!

That alone is reason enough to ignore the future.

Can you imagine if Hilary Clinton had been elected?

Take her class in international crisis mediation?

Looking back just a few years, I wonder how many Clinton and Obama voters actually believe things would be better if either of them were in the White House? There's plenty but if you look at these people now, at the end of twenty twenty five, Hilary is going around the country trying to convince somebody/anybody that what young people are seeing on tik tok is propaganda because they're too young to know the history of Israel. Forgive them father for they know not what they do. Oops, wrong religion. She's earning her keep as one of the biggest apologists for Israel. I hope her and bill make it to the Epstein tribunals. I'll write about that. The two of them have a lot of pictures with Epstein and Weinstein and a lot of political tyrants and pictures are worth, at least, a thousand possibilities.

Obama, on the other hand, just can't say the words genocide or fascist in relation to Israel nor Trump, proving over and over again, Americas legacy is the essence of Americas story. It all is similar to make America great again, conversely for the democrats, America has always been great. No, America has been powerful, a circumstance which seems to send a thrill through the likes of all the powerful blood (money) suckers. I learned a new word today. Felching. Where one ejaculates anally, and then the individual sucks the sperm out. Like some mongrel politician once said about liberals " looking at the world through a soda straw", figuratively speaking, or is it a metaphor?

For some reason I thought it was appropriate for all the sexual monsters out there utilizing the free world's free range money whores for their impotency.

Hilary Clinton is worth 128 million, according to Wikipedia. Unlike Jeffery Epstein, we can figure where Hilary got most of her money connections. I'm sure her and BIll have multiple investments in weapon stocks and corporate shenanigans.

Everyone talks about or insinuates that Trump voters have been taken for a ride, twice now, and liberals and progressives don't like that, but, I say, how many times have we, the other side been taken for the incremental, safe, middle class consumer, ride that has the same scenery and rough road we're trudging along right now?

It's the same road and no current ideological infrastructure bill is going to fix it. It's the same wars, none more righteous than the other, the same economic downturns, recessions, inflations, crisis's, same bipartisanship or lack of it, same fools, tyrants, race haters, immigrant bashers, and master baiters.

Either build a new road (revolution) or ways and means of transportation (imagine something different).

I'm trying to be hopeful here, but don't tell me, please, that I'm too cynical, skeptical, or defeatist. I am a realist, which doesn't make me naturally, suicidal. It's just the opposite. Being pissed off with the hundreds of podcasters, both wrong and left of wrong, merely solidifies what I understand is a true dilemma. There is not much good looking into the future that we can count on, except experiment. It's not really innovative to turn a South Carolina red district into a blue one. Blue is not radical change. Everybody of the left side of wrong is hoping, maybe even betting, on midterm going for the blue. So what?

Come on people! It's not ground hog day, is it? Or being born at night, last night?

All this is money connected. Getting it, keeping it, taking it. It's all about greed, power, and control (over money). Your money, my money, everyone's money. It's hard to see because the blood in the water obscures the picture so we're all waiting for the blood to dilute and then we can see who's left, but why?

It's true, that whenever I hear their side of the story it is incomprehensible, but when I hear our side, my side (temporarily) tell me that we're winning, or will win, not because we have a plan for real victory, but because we are good and they are not, I start wishing for a quicker climate change, which I know, will end us all. I have complete confidence in the world's trickster ethos.

Humans have two choices, recognizing it's all going to end someday, maybe not soon, but it will end, then something else will come along. The first choice is to find some way to get along by throwing out those parts of ourselves called selfish, greedy, fearful, hateful. I think you know what I mean. The second choice is closer to where we are now. We can all go down in a universal bloodbath and with the uninspired technology of death we have at our disposal it's more than possible. Of course, it won't all be spilled blood, just misery and sadness.

There are elements in the former choice that will at least solidify the advanced ideals we say we believe in but have never experienced because from the initial introduction of those ideals, the founding fathers floundered. Justice for those who deserve it but no forgiveness. (Or pardons). Equality for those who never had it. Wealth equity for everyone based on universal suffrage of humanity and work. Free public education and free-thinking universities unencumbered by corporate malfeasance. Corporations are not people and law is not supreme. Humans can be corrupted or murderous, that's a problem for everyone to resolve. True justice and freedom will go a long way to cure social ills. Not everyone gets a trophy, but everyone should get self-worth by their contribution or spirit.

Sent from my iPad

Fwd: Leaked Documents: “Planned Community” in Rafah Would Force Palestinians Into Israeli Panopticon

From Drop Site News



The U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center is proposing a residential zone in Gaza with biometric surveillance, checkpoints, and educational programs promoting normalization with Israel.

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	Leaked Documents: "Planned Community" in Rafah Would Force Palestinians Into Israeli Panopticon The U.S.-led Civil-Military Coordination Center is proposing a residential zone in Gaza with biometric surveillance, checkpoints, and educational programs promoting normalization with Israel. Sharif Abdel Kouddous Jan 21   READ IN APP   Drop Site is a reader-funded, independent news outlet. Without your support, we can't operate. Please consider making a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible donation today. Upgrade to paid U.S. Army personnel, Israeli military personnel and others international officials monitor screens displaying maps and imagery of the Gaza Strip during a media tour inside the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) on November 20, 2025 in Kiryat Gat, Israel. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images) The U.S. military-led group supporting "stabilization efforts" in Gaza has put forward plans for a housing block for Palestinians in Gaza in an area under full Israel military control. According to materials circulated by the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) and obtained by Drop Site News, the "planned community," if developed, would contain and control its residents through biometric surveillance, checkpoints, monitoring of purchases, and educational programs promoting normalization with Israel. The CMCC was established by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on October 17, one week after Hamas and Israel agreed to an exchange of captives and a ceasefire was supposed to go into effect. The center, which is based in a large warehouse-style building in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel and involves dozens of countries and organizations, is supposed to "monitor implementation of the ceasefire" and "help facilitate the flow of humanitarian, logistical, and security assistance from international counterparts into Gaza," according to CENTCOM. The CMCC is led by U.S. Army Lieutenant General Patrick D. Frank and includes both U.S. and Israeli military officials along with personnel from dozens of countries, including France, Britain, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. The CMCC was a key feature of President Trump's "ceasefire" plan, though it is unclear where exactly it will operate within the new structures being created after Trump announced Phase Two of the plan last week, including the formation of a so-called "Board of Peace" to oversee Gaza with a Founding Executive Board beneath it and a Gaza Executive Board of Palestinian technocrats beneath that. In November, news first emerged that the Trump administration was planning the construction of a number of residential compounds, dubbed "Alternative Safe Communities" to house Palestinians in Gaza east of the yellow line, an area occupied and controlled by the Israeli military. Analysis of satellite imagery by Forensic Architecture suggests the first of these so-called communities is being prepared on a 1-square-kilometer plot of land in Rafah in southern Gaza at the intersection of two military corridors. "Plans are rapidly accelerating for what U.S. officials last week cynically referred to as the 'Gaza first planned community,' previously known as 'alternative safe communities,'" Jonathan Whittall, a senior UN official in Palestine between 2022 and 2025 and the executive Director of KEYS Initiative, a political affairs and strategic advisory organization, said after reviewing a transcript of the materials obtained by Drop Site. "This is the next phase in the weaponization of aid." Last week, a presentation was given at CMCC headquarters about the "Gaza First Planned Community" that is being built to house up to 25,000 Palestinians. Palestinians would have to pass through a checkpoint to access the zone. "Residents will be able to enter and exit the neighborhood freely, subject to security checks to prevent the introduction of weapons and hostile elements," the materials state. "All entering residents will be registered with biometric documentation to enable identification for movement and civil services." "The registry will be based on Palestinian ID numbers issued by the authorities in coordination with COGAT," a reference to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories—the branch of the Israeli military that oversees Palestinian civilian affairs in the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza—giving the Israeli military even more surveillance control over Palestinians housed in the zone. CENTCOM directed inquiries from Drop Site about the CMCC's plans to the White House, who in turn directed inquiries to the State Department. No one provided comment. Part of the CMCC presentation for a "Gaza First Planned Community" on January 14, 2026. The presentation does not specify who would be selecting Palestinians to live in the zone, though all security checks for Palestinians in Gaza in the past (for example to be allowed to enter or exit the enclave) have ultimately gone through COGAT. It does, however, provide a set of criteria for deciding which Palestinians should be "invited" to live there: The population should be based on Palestinian residents invited based on the following criteria: Priority is given to residents of the Shaboura and Rafah areas from before the war. Intact extended families are preferred to enable mutual aid and prevent friction. Essential professionals are required: teachers, medical staff, rescue personnel, community workers, merchants, administrative/municipal staff, and banking/finance professionals. All individuals will undergo security vetting to prevent the entry of weapons or Hamas elements. As for Palestinians who may have lived there or have a legal claim to the land, the presentation notes that "an examination is required regarding potential private rights holders, including mechanisms for registration and compensation." The promise of compensation to private land owners is striking in the face of the reality in Gaza after over two years of Israel's genocidal assault, where most of the housing and civilian infrastructure in the enclave has been reduced to rubble, nearly the entire Palestinian population have been displaced from their homes, and Israeli troops occupy over half of the territory. The disparity between CMCC's plans and Israel's actions on the ground is reportedly leading several European countries to consider reducing their presence at the center or to stop sending personnel altogether, according to Reuters, citing concerns that CMCC has failed to increase the delivery of aid into Gaza. The proposed residential zone is referred to in the CMCC presentation as "the Emirati compound." While it is unclear why that name was chosen, the Emirati field hospital, which is funded by the UAE, is nearby in Rafah. The UAE established formal relations with Israel in September 2020, as part of the Abraham Accords brokered by the first Trump administration that included other countries, including Bahrain, Morocco. Since then, the UAE has normalized relations with Israel more than any other Arab country, with robust trade, tourism, and defense cooperation. On Tuesday, the UAE accepted Trump's invitation to join the "Board of Peace" that will oversee Gaza, becoming one of the first countries to do so. Part of the CMCC's proposals regarding schooling in the planned residential zone seem aimed at promoting an Emirati-inspired reeducation program. It states that "Temporary 'Emergency Studies' can expedite a curriculum framework to resume classrooms. The curriculum will not be Hamas-based but will follow 'Culture of Peace' principles, e,g., modeled after the UAE." The text of the normalization agreement between the UAE and Israel says both countries will "undertake to foster mutual understanding, respect, co-existence and a culture of peace between their societies." The UAE embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to inquiries from Drop Site. The CMCC presentation also states that "educational programs can prevent diversion of an uneducated and unoccupied population to misaligned activities." Despite Israel's brutal occupation, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have had one of the highest literacy rates in the world, reaching over 97 percent in 2020, with high rates of enrollment in secondary and higher education. The plan would also bring economic transactions under Israeli surveillance, replacing Gaza's largely cash-based economy with "Electronic Shekel wallets" which would be used as "primary modes of commerce as they are secure and mitigate diversion of goods and funds to the Hamas financial channels." The CMCC also proposes that "residents should be permitted to import products into the Gaza Strip to facilitate and encourage commerce and economic growth" but that "products would be subject to security restrictions and checks at crossings." The presentation makes no mention of the fact that Israel, which controls all of the crossings into Gaza, has severely restricted the entry of goods for nearly 20 years. "This community being established in Rafah will form the blueprint for how Israeli control could be deepened and rolled out further," Whittall told Drop Site. "After Gaza was razed, starved, and deliberately blockaded over the past years, these 'new' communities built on the rubble of peoples homes are not only governance labs to test ultimate control and subjugation, but they are also the reincarnation of refugee camps. They are designed to contain a new generation of dispossessed Palestinians, effectively screened and corralled into shrinking Israeli-controlled zones in exchange for survival. Meanwhile, the so-called 'red-zones' remain under assault, increasingly cut off from a humanitarian system that is being deliberately obstructed." To enforce the CMCC's restrictive vision, which would corral selected Palestinians into a zone where Israel and outside forces have complete economic, social, and security control, a police force would be installed that would operate under an international security force. "Civil policing will operate on-site to maintain public order, operating under the ISF," the presentation states, referring to the International Stabilization Force that has yet to be formed but will be led by Major General Jasper Jeffries, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Central. The presentation adds, "Security-sector reform requires updated police and civil defense laws, strong oversight and accountability, people-centered security approaches, and measures to prevent radicalization." Part of the CMCC presentation for a "Gaza First Planned Community" on January 14, 2026. Text of the Presentation Delivered at the CMCC in Southern Israel on January 14, 2026 Municipality The population should be based on Palestinian residents invited based on the following criteria: Priority is given to residents of the Shaboura and Rafah areas from before the war. Intact extended families are preferred to enable mutual aid and prevent friction. Essential professionals are required: teachers, medical staff, rescue personnel, community workers, merchants, administrative/municipal staff, and banking/finance professionals. All individuals will undergo security vetting to prevent the entry of weapons or Hamas elements. Residents will be able to enter and exit the neighborhood freely, subject to security checks to prevent the introduction of weapons and hostile elements. Initially, a temporary community directorate should be appointed from among the residents. Elections for a neighborhood directorate should be held in the future as the project develops. The directorate would facilitate coordination with the relevant authorities for regional services (major infrastructure) and with funding bodies for municipal services. The directorate would manage basic municipal services such as water, sanitation, electricity, etc although service payment by residents requires further discussion. All entering residents will be registered with biometric documentation to enable identification for movement and civil services. The registry will be based on Palestinian ID numbers issued by the authorities in coordination with COGAT. Residents needing to travel abroad may use their Palestinian passports. Those who have lost documents or require new ones can process them through the Palestinian Authority (PA) via a local post office branch to be opened on-site. Residents can report deaths or births occurring during the war to the PA population registry via the local post office Since the Emirati compound is intended to be on public land, an examination is required regarding potential private rights holders, including mechanisms for registration and compensation. The public use of land with private rights requires in-depth discussion with legal entities. Donor-funded projects within the community will be coordinated by a supervisory mechanism to ensure funds go directly to local projects since the PA's Municipal Development and Lending Fund (MDLF) [mechanism cannot] be used. Economy The Israeli Shekel will remain legal tender, as it is in the rest of Gaza and the West Bank. Electronic Shekel wallets should be primary modes of commerce as they are secure and mitigate diversion of goods and funds to the Hamas financial channels. A Bank of Palestine branch in the community would provide secure and transparent commerce. Private sector shops and markets should be prioritized to promote productive economic initiatives. Efforts should be made to promote paid employment for the maximum number of residents. Employment will be based on essential professions, public services, and unskilled labor for the public good and managed through an established employment bureau. Intensive agriculture in the outskirts of the community promotes options for employment outside the neighborhood (in non-Hamas controlled areas) will be examined, prioritizing labor-intensive farming. Residents should be permitted to import products into the Gaza Strip to facilitate and encourage commerce and economic growth. Products would be subject to security restrictions and checks at crossings. Health Community medical centers must be established to provide services as independently as possible. Specific analysis is needed regarding service scope, referrals for severe cases, physician specialties, support staff (nurses, para-medical), and facility requirements (pharmacies). Health services should reflect the needs of the population and be tailored accordingly. As available without interruption of existing population needs, relocate local medical services and staff from surrounding areas to include durable medical equipment and supplies such as the Emirate hospital in Rafah. Rebuild immunization and cold-chain systems. Expand nutrition programs and therapeutic feeding for mothers and children. Strengthen community-based prenatal and postnatal care. Recommend exploration of options for critical medical service not available in the new community. Education Accurate assessment is needed to determine the number of classrooms and staff needed to include teachers, support staff (assistants, psychologists, special education), and administration. Temporary "Emergency Studies" can expedite a curriculum framework to resume classrooms. The curriculum will not be Hamas-based but will follow "Culture of Peace" principles, e,g., modeled after the UAE. Schools could serve as protected environments providing food, sanitation, health services, and mental health support. Education should be treated as a life-saving humanitarian priority alongside food and health to prevent a lost generation and restore social stability. Educational programs can prevent diversion of an uneducated and unoccupied population to misaligned activities. The education framework can focus on three overlapping priorities: Setup (Immediate - 18 months): Establishing safe temporary learning spaces and restoring routine. Catch-Up (6 - 24 months): Accelerated learning to restore literacy/numeracy and bridge students back to the formal system. Pathways (12 months+): Restarting formal education, exams, and workforce development as governance and security allow. Justice: Law and Public Order Law and order will be regulated according to the legislation existing in the area prior to 2007. The framework outlines a post-conflict justice system for a new Rafah-area community, prioritizing rapid restoration of judicial functions, legal order, and public trust. The legal landscape includes shared Palestinian Authority laws but divergent penal codes in Gaza and the West Bank, underscoring the need for long-term legislative harmonization. Digitization of justice services is necessary to restore records, improve efficiency, and expand access. Civil policing will operate on-site to maintain public order, operating under the ISF. Immediate capacity building is required for judges, prosecutors, and justice personnel, focusing on case management, courtroom administration, legal drafting, evidence handling, investigative oversight, and digital literacy. Training must address post-war realities: destroyed infrastructure, missing records, trauma, displacement, and the need for restorative justice. European partners can support initial training for 20 judges and 20 prosecutors, with long-term institutionalization through a judicial diploma program. Women's access to justice requires survivor-centered procedures given heightened risks, vulnerabilities, and loss of documentation. Corrections reform includes constructing detention facilities that meet international standards, vetting and training staff. Emphasis is placed on procedural and dynamic security, rehabilitation, classification, and alternatives to incarceration. Security-sector reform requires updated police and civil defense laws, strong oversight and accountability, people-centered security approaches, and measures to prevent radicalization. Leave a comment Upgrade to paid Become a Drop Site News Paid Subscriber Drop Site News is reader-supported. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. Upgrade to paid A paid subscription gets you: ✔️ 15% off Drop Site store ✔️ Access to our Discord, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events, both virtual and IRL ✔️ Post comments and join the community ✔️ The knowledge you are supporting independent media making the lives of the powerful miserable You can also now find us on podcast platforms and on Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Telegram, and YouTube.   Share     Like Comment Restack   © 2026 Drop Site News, Inc. 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