Criminal Diplomacy: Negotiating Over What You Don’t Own by Marianne Rothmann
A Land Without Its People
Once again, the world’s most powerful leaders are sitting around tables discussing the future of Palestine — 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 “redevelop” what remains.
There is something profoundly unjust — even criminal — 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.
The Politics of Exclusion
Before Gaza’s 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’s “future” with Israel, Egypt, and certain Gulf nations — while Palestinians themselves are excluded.
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 — they are perpetuating occupation by other means.
Profit in the Ruins
President Trump’s stated ambition to “redevelop” 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.
Rebuilding Gaza should mean restoring dignity, homes, and self-determination — not creating economic zones that enrich foreign corporations. To trade in the pain of others is not policy; it is profiteering.
To negotiate over a land that you do not own is not diplomacy — it is theft wrapped in political language.
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.
The Law They Choose to Ignore
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.
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.
Resilience Amid the Ruins
Despite all this, Palestinians continue to celebrate small moments of liberation — 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.
Their joy is not naïve. It is defiance. It is proof that while their land may be occupied, their spirit remains free.
A Call for Accountability
To negotiate over a nation that you do not own is not diplomacy — 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.
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.
Until the world accepts this truth, peace will remain a word spoken in conferences but never lived by the people who deserve it most.
The Unheard Truth
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 — first from their homes, and then from history.
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.
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.
