Keir Starmer and then Ursula Van Der Leyen sitting at the feet of Trump holding court in Scotland humiliated the UK and Europe. It also reaffirms that they are weak and all depends on Trump when it comes to stopping the wars.
THE TWO WARMONGERS
Invading Ukraine and continuing hellbent on its destruction as an independent thriving nation is an act of outright evil warmongering. Putin is its perpetrator in chief, but many Russians are complicit. This has to be stopped.
Defending Israel against those who would conduct its genocide, that is Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, with a proper use of force is the right of Israeli leaders, indeed their obligation. Hamas, the rulers of Gaza, invaded Israel, and committed outrageous crimes, as was the cowardly taking of hostages. But now President Netanyahu is seen more as a bloodthirsty warmonger than a righteous defender. He and his extremist supporters seem to have lost the moral compass to conduct their war proportionately. While assessing the accuracy of information about Gaza is difficult, the suffering in Gaza of innocent Palestinians is not looking like defensive necessity but malicious and wanton disregard for the lives and wellbeing of the Palestinian population. The excuse that Hamas is behind exacerbating starvation and suffering may have some validity but the demolition of Gaza is looking remarkably like the demolition of the towns of Ukraine. Hamas must be neutered but starving children as a consequence of war to defeat terrorist Hamas is not a weapon that is acceptable.
Perhaps now Putin and Netanyahu have too much in common. Are they both war criminals? Are they both genocidal?
JEWS THE WORLD OVER FEEL THE BACKLASH
The world is appalled by Hamas, generally speaking. However, Jews worldwide have had to endure the backlash created by the destruction of Hamas and the images and reports of Palestinian women and children as dying and starving in their thousands. Netanyahu has gone too far, and Israelis and Jews around the world are suffering widespread, dangerous and unjustified hatred.
Anti-semitism is nothing new. But, for example, in the UK it had since World War Two been almost wiped out until now. Maybe it has been sleeping but was latent and has now been awakened by a pro- Palestinian movement in the UK which is a combination perhaps of people who have no anti-Jewish sentiment and some extremists who are aggravating disturbance. The recent report on anti-semitism written by Lord Mann, the adviser to Government on anti-semitism, and Penny Mordaunt is shocking: It found anti-semitism to be rife in British institutions such as the NHS, Universities and in the Arts. Also, they highlight how pro-Palestine protesters behaving in an anti-Jewish way are tolerated by the Police, while Jewish counter protesters are not: two-tier policing is the modern phrase.
Perhaps too the Jewish worldwide diaspora has been too quiet on the extreme suffering in Gaza. But Hadley Freeman, a Jew, in the Sunday Times wrote an interesting piece entitled “Our children ask us about Gaza. Here is what we say”. And what they say is that Hamas is to blame for the current suffering but so is the leadership of Israel. The extremists in the Netinyahu Government reject any right of Palestinians to have their own autonomous nation and seem to show little regard for the value of Palestinian lives which are of no less value than Israelis.
WHO CAN NOW DO WHAT?
The UN is perhaps discredited: it is patently anti-Israel. The Arab world could exercise more influence but at least publicly seems to do little to pressurise for peace and little to help Palestinians in general. But can there be any lasting peaceful solution without relevant Arab nations contributing? They should step up.
Western democracies express their disgust with Gaza destruction and Hamas terrorism, demanding hostages return and the end of Hamas as an organisation. Some, like France and the UK, seem to be activist by declaring recognition of the Palestinian State. But some say this is virtue signalling and it seems to mean little in substance even though it sounds good. What is that State? Where is it? Who governs it? There is no answer. The UK and France perhaps intend to deal with the Palestinian Authority, but they hardly represent Gazans. Their authority is questionable. At least the UK declares that Hamas must disarm and can have no seat at the table. Is this realistic? Until Israeli leadership changes it is hard to see Israel agreeing to Western wishes politically.
And so too with Ukraine. Europe’s wholehearted support for Ukraine against Putin is admirable but insufficient as they have too little firepower. Europeans still depend on Russian energy! European countries welcome hundreds of thousands of Russian wealthy tourists for their summer holidays! Is this behaviour really the toughest possible against a Russia at war in effect with Europe? Is this credible? Or absurd?
But the outsider with real influence and the possible nerve to use it could be Trump.
WILL TRUMP STEP UP AGAINST WARMONGERS?
Returning to Ukraine, after some 6 months Trump seems to realise Putin is serious about the destruction of Ukraine and merely pulls Trump’s strings. He plays him, buying time, and Trump has imposed no penalty as yet on Putin. He has recently given Putin another 50 days, now reduced to 12, to agree a ceasefire: and then there will be tariffs also on people who help Putin. But will there really be?
And Trump promises more weapons for Ukraine as long as NATO, that is Europe, pays, but some countries don’t want to pay. Trump simply gives Putin more and more time to murder Ukrainians and destroy its assets. He, with wholehearted condemnation of Putin and support of Ukraine, on which he see-saws back and forth, could force Russia into negotiation. Trump says he wants to stop the killing. Is that really what motivates him?
Trump could withdraw USA support for Netanyahu. But he does not. He now says he recognises suffering in Gaza. He can exercise true influence to get aid flowing and reduce the famine and disease. But his procrastination is in effect an indirect killer. His disdain for human life is obvious. Western cow-towing to Trump is an embarrassment. It seems tariffs matter more than lives and morality.
Warmongers have to be condemned. There can be no compromise with wanton and almost sadistic killing. And this world has all the resources to end the humanitarian disasters in Ukraine, and Gaza. And then have the Western leaders forgotten those disasters in Sudan and Yemen, where the numbers of people close to wipe-out far exceed the Gazan tragedy? Warmongers and any leaders of other nations, like China’s Xi for Putin, who support them have to be universally ostracised. Leaders of nations where morality and human life matter must speak with a single voice and act accordingly. But all eyes are on Trump, just as he likes it.
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