If you think the Palestinians in Gaza have had it tough over the past sixteen months, prepare to redefine your terms of atrocity. The Palestinians in Gaza now stand on the precipice of total annihilation.
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Within just a few weeks of taking office, Trump has turned the entire Gaza situation on its head by dramatically strengthened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, probably in ways not even Netanyahu could have imagined.
In particular, Netanyahu must have struggled to believe what he heard, when, in early February 2025, Trump said that the United States stands ready to take ownership of Gaza after Israel has ‘won’ the territory and ‘resettled’ the 2.1 million Palestinians living there.
Trump’s statement is an open call for ethnic cleansing. It also happens to match the deranged and extremist expansionary vision of Zionism motivating the Far-Right groups, which prop up Netanyahu’s government. Having fought for political survival for the better part of two years, Netanyahu now suddenly basks in American love.
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Trump’s explicit encouragement to ethnically cleanse Gaza gives Netanyahu and his henchmen the full backing of the United States to inflict whatever atrocities they wish on the Palestinians, who are now in greater danger than at any time since the October 2023 Hamas attack.
Which is quite telling. Israel has killed more than 64,000 Gazans of which 60% are women, children, and men over the age of 65. The number of injured stands in the hundreds of thousands and more than 300,000 Palestinians are homeless. Some 80% of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
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The only thing that can prevent disaster is Europe.
Unfortunately, Europe already faces major challenges at home. The United States has predictably (see here) proven itself a less-than-reliable NATO ally, so Europe must now find a way to take up the lead in supporting Ukraine and confronting Russia. The nature of this challenge, as always, is how to project unity, strength, and determination, when the European Union’s unanimity rules continue to grant far too much power to Quisling-states like Hungary.
Still, it is imperative that Europe succeeds. European moral leadership, in particular, is sorely needed. Having experienced the genocide against the Jews on its own soil in World War II, Europe must not allow Trump and Netanyahu to execute their own version of the final solution in Gaza.
The small hope is that Europe, having demonstrated capacity to pull together during serious crises, such as the European Debt Crisis, can do so again.
Today's crises, like the crises of the past, present opportunity. By explicitly recognising the genuine threats posed by Trump and Putin and assuming the moral high-ground on Gaza, European leaders can demonstrate strength and cohesion around core European values. Voters will also strongly welcome firm leadership on these issues from the European political mainstream after years of lethargy. In fact, it may even help Europe’s beleaguered mainstream politicians to regain some momentum against Far-Right populists in upcoming elections in Germany and France if they show a bit of boldness.
The End
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