The Ben Gurion Canal: Unveiling the Conspiracies and Hidden Agendas.

Design by Huda Khalili

As aggression pertains and flares in Gaza, the Israeli genocide has become a focal point in various realms, from the humanitarian to the economic to the political. Most importantly, it places a significance on the geopolitical and diplomatic relations in our modern global landscape. Tensions have long been present, dating back to November 1917, when the Balfour Declaration was expressed. Thirty years later, the United Nations General Assembly officialized the declaration by adopting Resolution 181 (also known as the Partition Resolution) which divided Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states, simultaneously sparking conflict through the encouragement of negotiations between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East. Given this context, it is clear to say that the Gaza strip in particular has long been embroiled in struggle and interest as it is more than just a trigger point for military conflict. Its strategic location has held a political and economic intrigue for decades, holding immense interest for the state of Israel. Moreover, as ongoing war and peace talks have emerged, narratives around this future have been rooted in fact, and others, in conspiracy.

The construction of the so-called Ben Gurion Canal is one of the more speculative theories circulating these conspiracies. Named after Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion, the project was initiated in the late 1960’s in order to create an alternative route to the Suez Canal. Why would they do this, one may ask? The Suez Canal is a significant source of national income for Egypt – reaching a record breaking $9.4 billion in returns during the fiscal year 2022/2023. Therefore, this created tensions concerning Egypt’s strategic location. Although the Camp David Accords – the diplomatic relations which took place between the state of Israel and the Republic of Egypt – caused a significant shift in the region, the hidden agendas come into play because the installment of the Ben-Gurion Canal plan came prior to the peace treaty itself. The potential construction of this Canal can be argued to act as a motive by foreign powers to support and stand with Israel and its ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and genocide in Gaza. This information regarding the construction remained classified until 1993/1994 when Jimmy Carter, former president of the United States and regulator of the Camp David Accords, became involved.

To comprehend the drastic significance of the Ben-Gurion canal, the historic complexities of the Suez canal are necessary to understand. Following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and the displacement of the native Palestinians, Egypt prevented Israel from utilizing the Suez Canal, severely hampering its ability to trade and import oil from other regions of the world. By constructing an alternative to the Suez Canal which Israel and other western allies can control and have authority over, the use of the Suez would no longer be leveraged by Egypt. Thus, if the Ben Gurion were to be constructed strategically beginning from near the Gaza strip, it would rival the Suez Canal and would result in a major economic and financial threat to Egypt, disrupting the immense revenue that is produced by the Suez (15% of the world’s trade, 10% of world’s oil distribution; immense pressure, dependency from other nations, and revenue).

What is the Significance of the Gaza Strip?

After the resurfacing of the Ben Gurion Canal project over the last couple of years, many started viewing the project as more of an incentive for ethnically cleansing Palestinians from Gaza, specifically the northern end. This is where the mouth and the mediterranean end of the canal would be, coincidentally, as seen on the map below...

Furthermore, for the Israelis to gather enough capital to construct the canal, there must be a stable enough situation before. This would suggest one of the following:

1. A solid and efficient peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

2. Complete eradication of the Palestinian population.

The ethnic cleansing and apartheid that has been ongoing for the past year clearly aligns with the second option and hints at a potential interest in reviving the Ben Gurion project once again. The fact that there are documentations of Israel receiving several warnings prior to the October 7 attacks can also be related to a long-term plan. Since the northern boundary of Gaza is where the canal would run close to, creating the canal with no settlement would result in ships being subjected to rocket attacks. Hence, the Houthi attacks on the southern entrance of the Red Sea. Viewing the Canal economically, it would be one-third larger than the Suez canal. Diverting the route to go straight through Gaza (hence the genocide) would reduce costs and cut corners. The kickstart of the attacks on October 7 allowed for the Ben Gurion Canal conspiracies to resurface because it is a ‘good’ excuse to annex and seize the land to take total control of maritime trade. Conspiracies about the October 7 attacks themselves have gone around and specifically target Israel’s “national security” in the sense that they were attacked by people living under their own brutal military occupation with no legal defense. Moreover, this made people question whether Israel chose to purposely turn heads on the breach of security fences and if everything leading up to today was planned.

Viewing this from an international lens suggests that the western alliances and sponsors of the apartheid state are turning a blind eye to the bombing of Gaza. This coincides with neoliberal capitalism that has continuously destroyed countries and killed millions of people, as humanitarian laws are falling and lacking any effectiveness. Subsequently, the adamant support of these foreign nations to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian population and the neglect of the violence and ongoing apartheid is part of the plan towards the construction of the Ben Gurion Canal. In this case, humanity loses the fight against the economic benefits that the alliances would gain with the practical geocentric location and strategic negotiations that would take place. With the current expansion and crossing of borders into Lebanon, one can only begin to wonder if an even greater plan involving first-world powers exists. Again, it would be at the expense of thousands of lives and the displacement of millions, projecting the lack of justice present in our modern political landscape.

References

Fernando, M. (2023, December 5). What is Israel’s proposed Ben Gurion Canal and is it related to Gaza? Is there an alternative Israeli plan to the Suez Canal? https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/what-is-israels-proposed-ben-gurion-canal-and-is-it-related-to-gaza -16098520

Hessenauer, J., & AUTHOR Jonas Hessenauer. (n.d.). The “Ben Gurion Canal”: A new crazy anti-Israeli conspiracy theory is doing great business on the internet while the social media platforms do nothing. Fathom. https://fathomjournal.org/the-ben-gurion-canal-a-new-crazy-anti-israeli-conspiracy-theory-is-doing-great- business-on-the-internet-while-the-social-media-platforms-do-nothing/

Khalil, S. (n.d.). What is Israel’s Ben Gurion Canal Plan and why Gaza matters. The New Arab. https://www.newarab.com/news/what-israels-ben-gurion-canal-plan-and-why-gaza-matters

Mazza, P. (2024, February 16). How is the proposed Ben Gurion Canal tied to Israel’s Gaza invasion? CounterPunch.org. https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/02/16/how-is-the-proposed-ben-gurion-canal-tied-to-israels-gaza-invasion/

Middle East Monitor. (2023, November 5). An alternative to the Suez Canal is central to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231105-an-alternative-to-the-suez-canal-is-central-to-israels-genocide-of-the-palestinians/