Gaza Is At A Turning Point

Their hell could soon end, or get infinitely worse.

Photo by Ahmed Abu Hameeda on Unsplash

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has rightfully called the war in Gaza a genocide. We have all seen the videos and images, and read the credible reports of just how many innocent Palestinians have been methodically murdered. This is a harrowing chapter in our history, when the West, rather than stopping a genocide like we once did, have encouraged and protected one. But with Trump riling up international tensions, Gaza has been placed at a crossroads. Trump’s chaos could force Netanyahu to end this barbarity. Or his greed could force him to do the unthinkable.

But, before we get going, we must address the elephant in the room. Anti-zionism and antisemitism are two very different things; however, they are often conflated. Not only is this laughably wrong, as saying anti-zionism is antisemitism is like saying the USA is anti-Christian, as they overthrew the Christian rule of Britain, but conflating the two actually creates and drives antisemitism. It ignores the vast number of anti-zionist jews, it correlates the Jewish people with the harmful acts of the Israeli state, and it enables leaders like Trump to incorrectly weaponise powers designed to stop antisemitism against marginalised groups who aren’t antisemitic, and in the process, smearing Jewish people.

So, let’s be adults and recognise that these are two entirely different things. And, as a side note, if you are antisemitic, please take a long walk off a short pier.

Now that that is covered, we can get to Netanyahu’s dilemma.

United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, recently said that “We want to bring the hostages home, but Israel is not willing to end the war. Israel is prolonging it — despite the fact that we don’t see where else we can go and that an agreement must be reached.”

Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat, explained, “As far as Trump is concerned, Netanyahu has become an irritant and an irritant that doesn’t contribute to the bank account.” In other words, the Trump administration is getting fed up with spending money on Israel’s war in Gaza and getting nothing in return.