Israelis must reach out to Gazans, Palestinians will live on despite recent violence, Europe walks a tightrope after Trump’s trashing of the Iran deal, Europe’s hypocrisy in treatment of Roma citizens, Africa faces the task of ‘Decolonising the Mind’
A roundup of global commentary for the May 28, 2018 weekly magazine.
Palestinians protest near the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip (l.) and on the same day dignitaries (from left) Sara Netanyahu, her husband Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner, and President Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, applaud at the opening ceremony of the new US embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018. Netanyahu praised the inauguration of the embassy as a "great day for peace," as dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza amidst ongoing clashes.
AP
The Jerusalem Post / Jerusalem
After clashes with Palestinians, Israelis must reach out to Gazans
“On [May 14], more than 60 Palestinians were reported killed in Gaza and more than 2,000 injured, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry,” states an editorial. “It was the deadliest single day of violence since the 2014 war.... Even though the [Israel Defense Forces] defended the legality of using live fire against protests at a High Court challenge ... the larger question goes beyond what may be legal, to what may be in Israel’s best interests. That involves taking into account the international impact.... South Africa and Turkey withdrew their ambassadors from Israel.... The best response now after the clashes is outreach to Gazans, not to Hamas.... [I]t is more imperative than ever that Gazans get a genuine leadership....”
The Jordan Times / Amman, Jordan
Palestinians will live on despite recent violence
“In defiance of international legitimacy and objections by countries around the world, the US opened its embassy in the occupied city of Jerusalem on [May 14], fuelling condemnation and angry protests in Palestine as well as Arab and Muslim countries...,” states an editorial. “Jordan ... [condemned] the Israeli escalation and excessive use of force.... Jerusalem, which is supposed to be the city of peace, has been out of the blue turned by US President Donald Trump [anew] into [a] blood-letting issue due to domestic political calculations and the powerful pro-Israel lobby that lacks the vision and the will to help achieve peace in the land of the monotheistic religions.... Twelve million Palestinians will not vanish in thin air.... Palestine will always live on, with Jerusalem as its capital.”
The Guardian / London
Europe must walk a tightrope after Trump’s trashing of the Iran deal
“In 2003 a US-led war in the Middle East fractured western unity and divided the European family...,” writes Bruno Tertrais. “With Donald Trump’s decision on Iran, we may be on the verge of another such moment.... It took 12 years of international diplomacy, in which Europe played an important role, to reach the nuclear deal that Trump has now decided to tear up.... So is it time for Europe to seek a divorce from the US? Well, not quite.... There is simply no alternative to a strong transatlantic partnership.... Now Europeans have to find a way to mitigate the destructiveness coming out of the White House; but we must also be clear-eyed about what our capacities truly are.”
Euobserver / Brussels
Europe’s hypocrisy when it comes to treatment of Roma citizens
“It often comes as a shock for most Europeans when we hear about atrocious human rights violations in the world...,” write Soraya Post and Peter Niedermueller. “We like to think of ourselves, Europeans, as people showing an example to the rest of the world when it comes to human rights.... However, we seem rather willing to accept the apartheid-like situation of our Roma citizens.... One of the latest, yet decades-old, Europe-wide, known and blatant example[s] is the removal of Roma children from their parents on the basis of the families’ social status and poverty.... [O]ften children in child protection institutions in Hungary end up being victims of sexual violence, prostitution, drug abuse and so on....”
The New Times / Rwanda
Africa still faces the task of ‘Decolonising the Mind’
“A little over thirty years ago, renowned Kenyan writer, Ngugi wa Thiongo, published a collection of essays entitled: Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature...,” writes Joseph Rwagatare. “Today we are still talking about decolonisation and its necessity is as valid and urgent as it ever was.... Indeed the just concluded Transform Africa Summit in Kigali examined the issue of digital integration across the continent.... We learnt that one of the greatest impediments to greater integration was the question of mindset.... Apparently some people simply refuse to see the value of intra-Africa cooperation.... For whichever reason they do this, it is clear that they have not liberated themselves from looking to the outside for leadership or solutions.”