Gaza and West Bank

Trump’s involvement here almost duplicates the nature of his involvement in Ukraine’s affairs. He favoured Russia who illegally attacked Ukraine. He favours Israel who in responding to the 7 October Hamas attack by indiscriminately killing and injuring over 180,000 Palestinians while destroying most of the homes and infrastructure rendering Gaza uninhabitable. With phase one of the peace agreement underway, Israel has set about doing the same on the West Bank while continuing to illegally annex Palestinian land.

Trump’s solution was to move all Palestinians out of Gaza and create a coastal tourist area. He asked Jordon and Egypt to accommodate the Palestinian population. Israel agreed to the idea no doubt believing that ultimately the area would also be annexed…An alternative solution to finance, rebuild and rehouse by the Arab nations has been turned down by Israel and no doubt will not be accepted by Trump. Again it’s all about winning and perhaps even profit for him.

Last night I watched the documentary film about the West Bank which won this year’s Oscar for best feature documentary. NO OTHER LAND was shown by Channel 4 at a ridiculously late hour (when it should have been aired at peak viewing time). The film was made by a Palestinian and an Israeli. It was heartbreaking and showed in graphic detail the activities of the Israeli army and settlers as they pillaged land and destroyed Palestinian properties including homes and schools. Farms were confiscated and turned into Israeli settlements and army training grounds. Homes that were continually rebuilt by Palestinians were bulldozed and protesters shot and imprisoned.

Has Trump negotiated a deal where the USA will turn a blind eye to what’s going on in return for a temporary peace in Gaza? It’s about winning again, isn’t it? Trump and his friends have a lot to answer for while justice for the millions afflicted is a distant dream.

A Losing Game

It’s time for senior foreign leaders to call ‘a spade a spade’.  To Trump and his had-picked, ultra-loyal disciples Ukraine and Gaza are games to be won at all costs regardless of the victims.  They are the heavy-hitters with might on their side, but little else. Rather than help the desperate situation in Ukraine and Gaza Trump has made things much worse and in the process empowered the villains while weakening the victims. And while this incompetency and dishonesty continues and the threats are thrown around like confetti leaders such UK’s prime minister Starmer refuse to acknowledge the major errors being made by Trump and Vance, for fear of losing out on some unknown benefit. Even Starmer’s MPs refuse to call a spade a spade. For bullies like Trump this response only encourages even more outrageous and deadly behaviour. I watched Trump’s presentation to congress and noted that fact-checking would render most of what he said as false.

The single benefit from Trump’s actions is to awaken Europe and others to the reality that the USA cannot be relied on to continue protecting (and interfering usually unsuccessfully) Europe and other territories, certainly since 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea and invaded Eastern Ukraine. He has effectively alerted Europe that it has to substantially lift its defensive, offensive and intelligence capabilities. Trump may have short-term ’success’ but his policies, erratic behaviour, incompetence and dishonesty will not only harm Ukraine, Gaza and the West Bank but will ultimately harm Americans who have been bribed and misled into believing in him.

Winning & Profit

I mentioned earlier in this piece that Trump is acting on the basis of winning and profit. But how could he and/or the USA profit? By withdrawing all arms supplies from Ukraine Europe and its other allies would be forced to fill the supply vacuum. The only country that could fill such a large vacuum is…the USA. By stopping support for Ukraine Trump and the USA will substantially profit from European from these arms purchases. In short, he wins and profits. But arguably the most worrying thing about Trump & Co is that decisions are made without any thought or research into the implications of decisions made. Prime examples are the heavy tariffs decreed for Mexican and Canadian imports. Twice these tariffs have been postponed, most recently because Trump & Co were made to understand that the tariffs would damage USA car makers as many of the components utilised are from these two countries. This represents gross incompetence and inadequate governance.