Frankly Speaking: How do Palestinians perceive a new Trump presidency?
Arab News
November 17, 2024
Foreign minister says Palestinians are hopeful about the next US administration as there is now global momentum behind the two-state solution
Varsen Aghabekian Shahin tells “Franking Speaking” coalition spearheaded by Saudi Arabia to help realize statehood represents a source of hope
DUBAI: Although the previous administration of US President-elect Donald Trump was seen as a staunch ally of Israel, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Palestine’s minister of state for foreign affairs and expatriates, says Palestinians remain hopeful about his return to the White House.
In large part this is due to a perception that the international climate surrounding the issue of Palestinian statehood is fundamentally different to that which prevailed during Trump’s last administration, owed in large part to events in Gaza and the resulting wave of solidarity.
“I have to be hopeful. We have to remain hopeful,” said Aghabekian Shahin during an appearance on the Arab News current affairs program “Franking Speaking,” a week after President-elect Trump secured a powerful mandate in a deeply polarized US election race.
Her optimism, however, is tempered by the decades of frustration that Palestinians have felt under Israeli occupation. “What we have been hoping for, as always, is a Palestinian state with our sovereignty and our self-determination,” she told “Frankly Speaking” host Katie Jensen.
While Trump’s first term was marked by controversial moves such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocating the US embassy there from Tel Aviv, Aghabekian Shahin believes there remains a possibility for change.
“With the incoming president in the United States, our hope remains the same. We hope President Trump will take a more balanced approach ... and put on his agenda the rights of the Palestinians.”
Aghabekian Shahin said she hopes the incoming administration of Donald Trump takes a more balanced approach to the Palestinian question. (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
During his last administration, Trump championed normalization agreements between Arab states and Israel under the Abraham Accords. However, Aghabekian Shahin says “peace will not be sustainable if Palestinians’ rights are not taken into consideration.”
In contrast with the period coinciding with Trump’s last administration, Aghabekian Shahin says there is now a global momentum behind Palestinian statehood, catalyzed by shifting alliances and growing public outrage over Israeli actions in Gaza.
“I think times today are different than they were a couple years ago,” said Aghabekian Shahin.
“The ongoing genocide in Gaza, the mounting pressure and dissatisfaction all over capitals in Europe … and the coalition today led by Saudi Arabia on the materialization of the state of Palestine — these are new dimensions that cannot be ignored.”
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza came in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which killed more than 1,200 and saw 250 taken hostage. The conflict in the tiny Palestinian enclave has resulted in more than 43,700 dead and 1.9 million displaced.
International criticism of the scale of destruction in Gaza has intensified over the past year, with many questioning Israel’s adherence to international law. Israeli leaders could face war crimes charges before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
One positive to emerge from the conflict is renewed interest in the long-dormant effort to achieve the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which envisions an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital living peacefully alongside Israel.
Lauding Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic and humanitarian efforts, Aghabekian Shahin said a new international coalition spearheaded by the Kingdom to help expedite the two-state solution represented a source of hope for Palestinians.
This ambition was given further weight by the joint summit of the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that took place in the Saudi capital on Nov. 11, during which the leaders of 57 Arab and Islamic countries called on Israel to negotiate an end to the decades-old conflict.
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip walk on the main Salah al-Din road on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
“Saudi Arabia has been extremely important for aid and its support to the Palestinian people,” said Aghabekian Shahin. “The summit that was held in Riyadh is a very important message. Fifty-seven countries were present in the meeting, with clear decisions and a focus on ending the occupation.”
Saudi Arabia has explicitly linked the normalization of ties with Israel to progress on Palestinian statehood. Aghabekian Shahin said this position is “a very important step and something that pushes forward and brings a lot of hope to the Palestinian people.”
During the recent joint summit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, marking the first occasion that a Saudi official had publicly done so. Nevertheless, there are still several nations, including many of Israel’s Western allies, who have avoided using the term.
While acknowledging the scale of human suffering in Gaza, Aghabekian Shahin said the precise terminology is less important than addressing the atrocities that are taking place.
“Even if 300,000 people are killed in Gaza, God forbidding, some countries will not call it a genocide,” she said. “What is happening is a humanitarian catastrophe. ... Governments and people are more and more realizing that these atrocities cannot continue.”
Asked whether Hamas bears responsibility for triggering the carnage that has befallen Gaza, Aghabekian Shahin did not condemn the Palestinian militant group outright, focusing instead on the underlying conditions that have fueled the cycle of violence.
“Who takes the blame first and foremost is the belligerent occupation that has been suffocating Palestinian lives over seven decades,” she said. “Gazans were living in an open-air prison… When people as human beings are cornered and they don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, then obviously violence erupts.”
Despite the grim reality of the situation and the intense animosity between the warring sides, Aghabekian Shahin underscored the importance of diplomacy and adherence to international law to resolve the conflict.
“Any violence perpetrated by any side is unacceptable,” she said. “We need to put violence aside and resort to mechanisms that will bring us closer to our liberation as per international law.”
This commitment to seeking peaceful solutions aligns with Aghabekian Shahin’s extensive background in academia, human rights advocacy, and as a veteran member of the Palestinian negotiations unit.
Before her ministerial appointment in April, she served in various roles, including as director of the Capacity and Institutional Building Project at the Office of the Palestinian President and commissioner-general of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights.
A member of Jerusalem’s Armenian community, Aghabekian Shahin has witnessed firsthand the pressures faced by minority groups in the city. She highlights the significance of the Armenian Quarter in the Old City, which has come under growing threat by far-right Jewish settlers.
During his last administration, Trump championed normalization agreements between Arab states and Israel under the Abraham Accords. However, Aghabekian Shahin says “peace will not be sustainable if Palestinians’ rights are not taken into consideration.”
In contrast with the period coinciding with Trump’s last administration, Aghabekian Shahin says there is now a global momentum behind Palestinian statehood, catalyzed by shifting alliances and growing public outrage over Israeli actions in Gaza.
“I think times today are different than they were a couple years ago,” said Aghabekian Shahin.
“The ongoing genocide in Gaza, the mounting pressure and dissatisfaction all over capitals in Europe … and the coalition today led by Saudi Arabia on the materialization of the state of Palestine — these are new dimensions that cannot be ignored.”
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza came in retaliation for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which killed more than 1,200 and saw 250 taken hostage. The conflict in the tiny Palestinian enclave has resulted in more than 43,700 dead and 1.9 million displaced.
International criticism of the scale of destruction in Gaza has intensified over the past year, with many questioning Israel’s adherence to international law. Israeli leaders could face war crimes charges before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
One positive to emerge from the conflict is renewed interest in the long-dormant effort to achieve the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which envisions an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital living peacefully alongside Israel.
Lauding Saudi Arabia’s diplomatic and humanitarian efforts, Aghabekian Shahin said a new international coalition spearheaded by the Kingdom to help expedite the two-state solution represented a source of hope for Palestinians.
This ambition was given further weight by the joint summit of the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that took place in the Saudi capital on Nov. 11, during which the leaders of 57 Arab and Islamic countries called on Israel to negotiate an end to the decades-old conflict.
Displaced Palestinians fleeing Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip walk on the main Salah al-Din road on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)“Saudi Arabia has been extremely important for aid and its support to the Palestinian people,” said Aghabekian Shahin. “The summit that was held in Riyadh is a very important message. Fifty-seven countries were present in the meeting, with clear decisions and a focus on ending the occupation.”
Saudi Arabia has explicitly linked the normalization of ties with Israel to progress on Palestinian statehood. Aghabekian Shahin said this position is “a very important step and something that pushes forward and brings a lot of hope to the Palestinian people.”
During the recent joint summit, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, marking the first occasion that a Saudi official had publicly done so. Nevertheless, there are still several nations, including many of Israel’s Western allies, who have avoided using the term.
While acknowledging the scale of human suffering in Gaza, Aghabekian Shahin said the precise terminology is less important than addressing the atrocities that are taking place.
“Even if 300,000 people are killed in Gaza, God forbidding, some countries will not call it a genocide,” she said. “What is happening is a humanitarian catastrophe. ... Governments and people are more and more realizing that these atrocities cannot continue.”
Asked whether Hamas bears responsibility for triggering the carnage that has befallen Gaza, Aghabekian Shahin did not condemn the Palestinian militant group outright, focusing instead on the underlying conditions that have fueled the cycle of violence.
“Who takes the blame first and foremost is the belligerent occupation that has been suffocating Palestinian lives over seven decades,” she said. “Gazans were living in an open-air prison… When people as human beings are cornered and they don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, then obviously violence erupts.”
Despite the grim reality of the situation and the intense animosity between the warring sides, Aghabekian Shahin underscored the importance of diplomacy and adherence to international law to resolve the conflict.
“Any violence perpetrated by any side is unacceptable,” she said. “We need to put violence aside and resort to mechanisms that will bring us closer to our liberation as per international law.”
This commitment to seeking peaceful solutions aligns with Aghabekian Shahin’s extensive background in academia, human rights advocacy, and as a veteran member of the Palestinian negotiations unit.
Before her ministerial appointment in April, she served in various roles, including as director of the Capacity and Institutional Building Project at the Office of the Palestinian President and commissioner-general of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights.
A member of Jerusalem’s Armenian community, Aghabekian Shahin has witnessed firsthand the pressures faced by minority groups in the city. She highlights the significance of the Armenian Quarter in the Old City, which has come under growing threat by far-right Jewish settlers.
As a member of Jerusalem’s Armenian community, Aghabekian Shahin has witnessed firsthand the pressures faced by minority groups in the city. (AN Photo)
“The land in question is invaluable,” she said, referring to a bitter ongoing legal dispute between the Armenian Patriarchate and an Australian-Israeli developer to lease an area of land in the Armenian Quarter to build a luxury hotel.
“This land is part and parcel of the heritage of the Armenian people for decades in Jerusalem,” said Aghabekian Shahin. “The community has a very good team of Israeli lawyers along with international lawyers who are working on the case.”
The Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City has long been a symbol of Armenian identity and presence in the region. Aghabekian Shahin believes its preservation is vital not just for Armenians but for Jerusalem’s multicultural heritage.
The flight of Christian communities more broadly from Palestine and the wider Middle East is itself a bellwether of the decline of religious pluralism in the region. Aghabekian Shahin attributes this trend to the hardships of living under occupation.
“People are sick and tired of occupation,” she said. “They want a better future for their children. This better future cannot happen under occupation… With an end of occupation, there is an economic horizon and a future that people can look to.”
As Palestinians await clarity on the global stage, Aghabekian Shahin remains resolute. “What we hope for today is what we have always hoped for — a sovereign Palestinian state living in peace next to Israel.”
The stakes are high, however, not only for Palestinians but for the broader Middle East, where peace remains elusive. Aghabekian Shahin believes the next US administration will have to address the root causes of the conflict.
“Without justice for Palestinians, there will be no sustainable peace.”
“The land in question is invaluable,” she said, referring to a bitter ongoing legal dispute between the Armenian Patriarchate and an Australian-Israeli developer to lease an area of land in the Armenian Quarter to build a luxury hotel.
“This land is part and parcel of the heritage of the Armenian people for decades in Jerusalem,” said Aghabekian Shahin. “The community has a very good team of Israeli lawyers along with international lawyers who are working on the case.”
The Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City has long been a symbol of Armenian identity and presence in the region. Aghabekian Shahin believes its preservation is vital not just for Armenians but for Jerusalem’s multicultural heritage.
The flight of Christian communities more broadly from Palestine and the wider Middle East is itself a bellwether of the decline of religious pluralism in the region. Aghabekian Shahin attributes this trend to the hardships of living under occupation.
“People are sick and tired of occupation,” she said. “They want a better future for their children. This better future cannot happen under occupation… With an end of occupation, there is an economic horizon and a future that people can look to.”
As Palestinians await clarity on the global stage, Aghabekian Shahin remains resolute. “What we hope for today is what we have always hoped for — a sovereign Palestinian state living in peace next to Israel.”
The stakes are high, however, not only for Palestinians but for the broader Middle East, where peace remains elusive. Aghabekian Shahin believes the next US administration will have to address the root causes of the conflict.
“Without justice for Palestinians, there will be no sustainable peace.”
Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Israeli American Council National Summit at the Washington Hilton on September 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. [ Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images]
by Anadolu Agency
anadoluajansi
November 15, 2024
US President-elect, Donald Trump, is preparing to assume office with a Middle East firmly gripped by tumult as Israel expands its wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, vows to annex the Occupied West Bank, and engages in an escalatory cycle of attacks with Iran.
Trump has long signalled an eagerness for Israel to quickly end its wars, saying as recently as 1 November, while courting Muslim American voters in Dearborn, Michigan: “You’re going to have peace in the Middle East.”
That may signal less a desire for a peaceful resolution to the conflicts, and more of a preference for allowing Israel to have a free hand to wage total war against Gaza, Lebanon and forces viewed as Iranian proxies across the Middle East.
Indeed, Trump told Israeli Premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, during an October phone call to “Do what you have to do”, while expressing support for the ongoing campaigns, according to The Washington Post newspaper.
READ: Protests greet ex-US envoy to UN Nikki Haley during visit to Oxford
At his core, Trump remains indifferent to the Middle East, and more fundamentally wants to ensure that the wars there are drawn to a rapid close so they do not consume the news cycle that he believes should be rightly dominated by him, regardless of the costs that may entail.
“He just wants it off the headlines,” Matt Duss, executive vice-president at the Centre for International Policy think tank in Washington, told Anadolu.
He pointed to Trump’s flip-flopping on his stated intention of being an “even-handed broker” to resolve the Israel-Palestine dispute during his first term, later aligning himself closely with Israel to gain support from major donors and key voters, particularly Evangelical Christian Zionists.
“It’s also actually consistent with America gets to do what it wants, and therefore America’s friends get to do what they want, because it’s an approach that is very much like a mob mentality,” said Duss, a former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders.
“It’s like this is a protection racket […] Our allies get special privileges. They get to do what they want, and if Israel wants to take the Occupied Territory, the Occupied Golan, do all kinds of stuff, then we’re just going to support it. Those are the benefits of being kind of a made-guy in the American-led mob.”
He was referring to the Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel captured following the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981.
The US extended formal recognition of Israel’s claim in 2019 during Trump’s first term, and further recognised the contested city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the US Embassy there, owing largely to support from key members of his administration, including former US envoy to Israel, David Friedman, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
“That’s horrible for the Palestinians, who are going to suffer in that scenario. But also, there’s a problem here that Netanyahu still has no end-game. He has still no plan for what to do. The Israelis generally have no plan for what to do if and when they finally end this war,” added Duss.
Administration picks indication of what is to come
If Trump’s first administration had no shortage of pro-Israel advocates, the key figures he has so far announced for his next turn in office indicates there will be even more deeply entrenched firebrands supporting the most controversial of Israeli actions.
READ: UN committee: Israel’s warfare in Gaza ‘consistent with genocide’
They include proudly self-identifying Evangelical Zionist, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, as the next US ambassador to Israel; staunchly pro-Israel Representative Elise Stefanik as the US envoy to the UN; Iran hawk and unabashed supporter of Israel’s war on Gaza, Senator Marco Rubio, as Secretary of State and pro-Israel Fox News host Pete Hegseth as the next Secretary of Defence.
The picks come as Israel ever more clearly voices its intention to formally annex the Occupied West Bank, an action long desired by the Israeli right that would all but put an end to any two-state solution.
“I intend, with God’s help, to lead a government decision that says that the government of Israel will work with the new administration of President Trump and the international community to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” ultranationalist and far-right Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said in the wake of Trump’s victory.
“We will apply the sovereignty, together with our American friends,” he added.
All of the nominees, who are subject to Senate confirmation, have indicated an enthusiasm for ensuring that becomes a reality.
“There is no such thing as a West Bank – it’s Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee said during a 2017 visit to Israel.
He was asked directly on Wednesday during an interview with Israeli Army Radio if the incoming Trump administration would support annexation of the Palestinian Territory.
“Well, of course,” he responded. “I won’t make the policy. I will carry out the policy of the President. But he has already demonstrated in his first term that there’s never been an American president that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel.”
The use of “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the West Bank has been similarly used by Stefanik and Rubio, the latter of whom penned a letter to Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in August accusing the Biden administration of seeking to undermine Israel by imposing sanctions on an extremist settler “for alleged human rights abuses in Judea and Samaria.”
“Although this is not the first time the Biden-Harris Administration has taken steps to undercut our ally, Israel, your recent decision risks exacerbating an already delicate situation in the region,” Rubio wrote, further suggesting the West Bank is “within” Israel’s borders.
“Israelis rightfully living in their historic homeland are not the impediment to peace; the Palestinians are. That the Biden-Harris Administration would sanction Israeli entities as Israel fights a war against terror is not lost on our adversaries, such as Iran,” he added.
READ: US lawmaker urges Blinken to resign for not changing policy on arms supply to Israel
Stefanik led a congressional grilling of several university presidents in April over student protests opposing Israel’s war on Gaza that were playing out on their campuses, leading to the resignations of all three.
She has long been a UN critic, accusing the body of anti-Semitism for its condemnations of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and has called for a “complete reassessment” of US funding to the UN.
Trump himself has signalled that he would not restart the efforts from his first administration to forge a two-state solution, criticised for reducing Palestinian Territories to small enclaves described as new versions of the Bantustans used to weaken and fragment Black populations in apartheid South Africa.
“There was a time when I thought two states could work. Now I think two states is going to be very, very tough,” Trump said during an April interview with Time magazine.
Hegseth, Trump’s defence secretary pick, has a long pro-Israel track record founded firmly in far-right Christian nationalism. He has spoken adoringly of destroying the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque for a new Jewish temple.
“1917 was a miracle. 1948 was a miracle. 1967 was a miracle. 2017, the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital, was a miracle, and there’s no reason why the miracle of the re-establishment of the Temple on the Temple Mount is not possible,” he said during a 2018 address delivered at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.
“I don’t know how it would happen. You don’t know how it would happen. But I know that it could happen. That’s all I know. And a step in that process, a step in every process, is the recognition that facts and activities on the ground truly matter. That is why going and visiting Judea and Samaria, understanding that sovereignty, the very sovereignty of Israeli soil, Israeli cities, locations, is a critical next step to showing the world that this is the land for Jews and the land of Israel.”
The years mentioned by Hegseth refer respectively to the British Balfour Declaration, which endorsed the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, Israel’s creation and the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan following wars with regional states.
US President-elect, Donald Trump, is preparing to assume office with a Middle East firmly gripped by tumult as Israel expands its wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, vows to annex the Occupied West Bank, and engages in an escalatory cycle of attacks with Iran.
Trump has long signalled an eagerness for Israel to quickly end its wars, saying as recently as 1 November, while courting Muslim American voters in Dearborn, Michigan: “You’re going to have peace in the Middle East.”
That may signal less a desire for a peaceful resolution to the conflicts, and more of a preference for allowing Israel to have a free hand to wage total war against Gaza, Lebanon and forces viewed as Iranian proxies across the Middle East.
Indeed, Trump told Israeli Premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, during an October phone call to “Do what you have to do”, while expressing support for the ongoing campaigns, according to The Washington Post newspaper.
READ: Protests greet ex-US envoy to UN Nikki Haley during visit to Oxford
At his core, Trump remains indifferent to the Middle East, and more fundamentally wants to ensure that the wars there are drawn to a rapid close so they do not consume the news cycle that he believes should be rightly dominated by him, regardless of the costs that may entail.
“He just wants it off the headlines,” Matt Duss, executive vice-president at the Centre for International Policy think tank in Washington, told Anadolu.
He pointed to Trump’s flip-flopping on his stated intention of being an “even-handed broker” to resolve the Israel-Palestine dispute during his first term, later aligning himself closely with Israel to gain support from major donors and key voters, particularly Evangelical Christian Zionists.
“It’s also actually consistent with America gets to do what it wants, and therefore America’s friends get to do what they want, because it’s an approach that is very much like a mob mentality,” said Duss, a former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders.
“It’s like this is a protection racket […] Our allies get special privileges. They get to do what they want, and if Israel wants to take the Occupied Territory, the Occupied Golan, do all kinds of stuff, then we’re just going to support it. Those are the benefits of being kind of a made-guy in the American-led mob.”
He was referring to the Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel captured following the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981.
The US extended formal recognition of Israel’s claim in 2019 during Trump’s first term, and further recognised the contested city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the US Embassy there, owing largely to support from key members of his administration, including former US envoy to Israel, David Friedman, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
“That’s horrible for the Palestinians, who are going to suffer in that scenario. But also, there’s a problem here that Netanyahu still has no end-game. He has still no plan for what to do. The Israelis generally have no plan for what to do if and when they finally end this war,” added Duss.
Administration picks indication of what is to come
If Trump’s first administration had no shortage of pro-Israel advocates, the key figures he has so far announced for his next turn in office indicates there will be even more deeply entrenched firebrands supporting the most controversial of Israeli actions.
READ: UN committee: Israel’s warfare in Gaza ‘consistent with genocide’
They include proudly self-identifying Evangelical Zionist, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, as the next US ambassador to Israel; staunchly pro-Israel Representative Elise Stefanik as the US envoy to the UN; Iran hawk and unabashed supporter of Israel’s war on Gaza, Senator Marco Rubio, as Secretary of State and pro-Israel Fox News host Pete Hegseth as the next Secretary of Defence.
The picks come as Israel ever more clearly voices its intention to formally annex the Occupied West Bank, an action long desired by the Israeli right that would all but put an end to any two-state solution.
“I intend, with God’s help, to lead a government decision that says that the government of Israel will work with the new administration of President Trump and the international community to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” ultranationalist and far-right Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said in the wake of Trump’s victory.
“We will apply the sovereignty, together with our American friends,” he added.
All of the nominees, who are subject to Senate confirmation, have indicated an enthusiasm for ensuring that becomes a reality.
“There is no such thing as a West Bank – it’s Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee said during a 2017 visit to Israel.
He was asked directly on Wednesday during an interview with Israeli Army Radio if the incoming Trump administration would support annexation of the Palestinian Territory.
“Well, of course,” he responded. “I won’t make the policy. I will carry out the policy of the President. But he has already demonstrated in his first term that there’s never been an American president that has been more helpful in securing an understanding of the sovereignty of Israel.”
The use of “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the West Bank has been similarly used by Stefanik and Rubio, the latter of whom penned a letter to Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in August accusing the Biden administration of seeking to undermine Israel by imposing sanctions on an extremist settler “for alleged human rights abuses in Judea and Samaria.”
“Although this is not the first time the Biden-Harris Administration has taken steps to undercut our ally, Israel, your recent decision risks exacerbating an already delicate situation in the region,” Rubio wrote, further suggesting the West Bank is “within” Israel’s borders.
“Israelis rightfully living in their historic homeland are not the impediment to peace; the Palestinians are. That the Biden-Harris Administration would sanction Israeli entities as Israel fights a war against terror is not lost on our adversaries, such as Iran,” he added.
READ: US lawmaker urges Blinken to resign for not changing policy on arms supply to Israel
Stefanik led a congressional grilling of several university presidents in April over student protests opposing Israel’s war on Gaza that were playing out on their campuses, leading to the resignations of all three.
She has long been a UN critic, accusing the body of anti-Semitism for its condemnations of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and has called for a “complete reassessment” of US funding to the UN.
Trump himself has signalled that he would not restart the efforts from his first administration to forge a two-state solution, criticised for reducing Palestinian Territories to small enclaves described as new versions of the Bantustans used to weaken and fragment Black populations in apartheid South Africa.
“There was a time when I thought two states could work. Now I think two states is going to be very, very tough,” Trump said during an April interview with Time magazine.
Hegseth, Trump’s defence secretary pick, has a long pro-Israel track record founded firmly in far-right Christian nationalism. He has spoken adoringly of destroying the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque for a new Jewish temple.
“1917 was a miracle. 1948 was a miracle. 1967 was a miracle. 2017, the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital, was a miracle, and there’s no reason why the miracle of the re-establishment of the Temple on the Temple Mount is not possible,” he said during a 2018 address delivered at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.
“I don’t know how it would happen. You don’t know how it would happen. But I know that it could happen. That’s all I know. And a step in that process, a step in every process, is the recognition that facts and activities on the ground truly matter. That is why going and visiting Judea and Samaria, understanding that sovereignty, the very sovereignty of Israeli soil, Israeli cities, locations, is a critical next step to showing the world that this is the land for Jews and the land of Israel.”
The years mentioned by Hegseth refer respectively to the British Balfour Declaration, which endorsed the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, Israel’s creation and the Israeli Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan following wars with regional states.
Plans to pull out US forces from Syria
During his first term, Trump tried to withdraw US forces from north-eastern Syria, but was met with sweeping opposition from his defence establishment and his Republican allies on Capitol Hill. This time around, experts believe, he may try to fulfil that goal.
Mark Katz, a professor emeritus of government and politics at George Mason University, said he was “surprised” that Trump did not withdraw the troops during his first term, because “as far as he’s concerned […] what does he care?”
“Even if (Daesh) ISIS becomes strong again, let the people nearby deal with it. Why should the US deal with it? I’m sure his attitude hasn’t changed,” he said.
Duss, the ex-Sanders adviser, concurred, saying Trump was “clearly frustrated by the amount of pushback” he faced during his first term.
“There was much more active conflict, at least with regards to US troops back then, such that it was in people’s faces, and something Trump had to pay attention to,” he said.
“Now, should that start up again, I think he will pay much more attention to it, and may very likely want to pull US troops out of there. He may want to do it regardless, but right now it does not seem there’s a great deal of attention on it.”
Netanyahu and Trump: The fascist tag team from hell
Both Trump and Netanyahu rely on a violent cult of tradition to advance their nationalist agendas and push a global system of apartheid, argues Yoav Litvin.
Perspectives
Yoav Litvin
13 Nov, 2024
THE NEW ARAB
In their demagoguery, corruption, racism and lack of social conscience, Trump and Netanyahu are mirror fascist images, writes Yoav Litvin [photo credit: Getty Images]
In what war criminal and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “history’s greatest comeback,” sexual predator, game show host and former Wrestlemania idol Donald Trump was re-elected as US President.
Netanyahu, ever quick to kiss Trump’s ring, has been scheming toward this very moment since last October when Hamas fighters embarrassed his government by breaking out of Gaza's prison walls and attacking Israeli military bases.
Indeed, Netanyahu’s investment paid off. Trump’s re-election reshuffles the Middle East colonial deck in Netanyahu's favour, shifting US policy from the Democratic Party's hypocritical complicity with and denial of Zionist genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity to a shameless embrace and encouragement of these malevolent actions.
Though historically Trump has been far from an ally to the Palestinian people, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and recently using “Palestinian” as a pejorative on the campaign trail, he sent a message to Netanyahu to conclude the “Gaza war” by inauguration day.
Trump likely seeks to distance himself from the growing discontent over the Biden administration's perceived weakness in failing to rein in its Israeli junior partner, allowing him to focus on advancing a series of xenophobic, regressive domestic policies aimed at “Making America Great Again.”
Emboldened by Trump's green light and timeline, Netanyahu may escalate his genocidal actions leading up to the inauguration, while a lame-duck President and defeated Vice President lick their wounds and walk off into the sunset, hopefully via The Hague.
That said, Trump is anything but predictable and could very well shift course entirely due to Netanyahu’s persistent grovelling, providing continued imperial backing for belligerent Zionist expansionism.
In their demagoguery, corruption, racism and lack of social conscience, Trump and Netanyahu are mirror fascist images.
They deploy a right-wing, ethnocentric populist appeal with dog whistles and fear-mongering to consolidate their power. Operating above and outside the law, they are both avoiding corruption trials, inhabiting the same unrestrained, tyrannical Hobbesian world.
Essentially, Trump and Netanyahu aim to promote private capital by fragmenting the working class, pushing relentless privatisation of social resources and eroding workers' rights and union protections. They rely on a fabricated white, Western “nation” to advance their nationalist agendas, claiming to protect the purity and security of their in-groups and white, Western interests while promoting a racist capitalist system of global apartheid.
Raised in the shadows of powerful fathers, the two leaders developed a narcissistic need for power, fame and wealth, indulging in corrupt extravagance and throwing spiteful tantrums when challenged.
Their motivations centre on domination, personal gain and the thrill of victory, driven by an insatiable desire to inflate their own grandiose egos. With little regard for integrity or the welfare of others, they routinely scapegoat society’s disadvantaged people to deflect criticism and wield power, prioritising in-group social identity over truth and morality.
Media manipulation is another shared skill. Trump, the reality show star, mastered this during his campaigns, using an array of far-right media networks to spread misinformation, xenophobia and deflect criticism.
Similarly, drawing on skill first honed as a furniture salesman, Netanyahu, the quintessential Teflon politician, has polished the arts of spin, cajolery and propaganda, deftly seizing on the October 7 events to push his agenda unchecked.
With atrocity propaganda eagerly consumed by Israel’s compliant press and promoted by a liberal Zionist “opposition,” he shepherds the Israeli flock to endless war, perpetually delaying his pending corruption trial.
Trump and Netanyahu’s Ur-Fascism
Beyond similarities in their backgrounds, personalities and motivations, Trump and Netanyahu exemplify figureheads of what Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco described as “Ur-fascism.’
Ur-Fascism combines traditionalism, irrationalism and authoritarianism to manipulate and control through several defining traits.
It adopts a cult of tradition, whether a delusion of a once “great” America, or a vast Judean Kingdom, fusing diverse, often contradictory teachings into an unchangeable "truth," rejecting intellectual progress and embracing mysticism to legitimise its ideology. This rejection of modernism ties into an anti-Enlightenment stance, superficially accepting technology yet viewing reason, rationality and liberal values as corrupt.
Irrationalism lies at Ur-Fascism's core, glorifying action over thought and condemning intellectual culture as weak and untrustworthy.
In this environment, disagreement equals betrayal, and questioning established norms is cast as subversive. Thriving on a fear of difference, it fosters racism and xenophobia, uniting followers against outsiders as a trick to divert attention from internal corruption.
Ur-Fascism is nurtured by social frustration, appealing to a disillusioned middle class and those lacking social identity by promoting nationalism and a sense of unity through battles with imagined enemies.
Whether through Trump’s villainisation of immigrants or Netanyahu’s “Amalek,” followers are made to feel both humiliated by and superior to their enemies, creating a contradiction that leads to inevitable defeat.
This struggle manifests in a heroic narrative where death and martyrdom are celebrated. Toxic masculinity further defines Ur-Fascism, with disdain for women and nonstandard sexualities and a fetishisation of violence and weapons.
Misogynoir, deeply embedded in Zionist and American white supremacist ideology, fuses religious and fascistic dogmas to cast non-whites, including immigrants and Palestinians as “demographic threats” while erasing Indigenous female identities and lives.
In place of these identities, a Western femininity is constructed, where women are integrated into male-dominated, capitalist and militaristic structures “whether they like it or not.” In fascistic, genocidal escapades, controlling women, who uphold cultural, reproductive and territorial continuity, symbolises ultimate conquest.
Ur-Fascism’s qualitative populism denies individual rights, presenting the people as a unified entity whose will is interpreted by the leader, bypassing democracy through controlled media and staged public support.
Language is deliberately simplified to suppress critical thinking, reminiscent of Orwell’s Newspeak, often disguised in seemingly innocuous forms like talk shows. Through this web of manipulation, Ur-Fascism ultimately seeks to dismantle rational discourse, undermine democracy and create a society ruled by fear, conformity and unquestioning loyalty to a single leader.
Globalisation of white supremacy
The Trump-aligned Heritage foundation has produced complementary documents which outline the globalisation of American white supremacy and Zionism with “Project 2025” and “Project Esther,” respectively.
The texts, which read like dystopian fascist manifestos, detail plans which attempt to institutionalise apartheid and genocide, with vigilante groups under the guise of ‘self defence’ as enforcers.
Netanyahu’s appointment of Yechiel Leiter — a prominent settler and former member of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), an FBI designated terrorist organisation — as ambassador to the US signals his intent to escalate his campaign in Gaza, push toward the annexation of the West Bank and embolden already manifest fascist Zionist mob attacks with the assistance of Mossad beyond Israel (e.g. Amsterdam, Toronto).
In a possible scenario, if Netanyahu persists in his crusade, Trump could broker one of his signature “deals,” offering to recognise annexation of the West Bank, a move articulated by far-right Israeli Minister Smotrich, in exchange for a halt to Zionist aggression against Lebanon and Iran. Trump could then posture as a “peacemaker,” at the expense of the Palestinian and Lebanese people, of course.
That said, recent reports of an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump may prompt the vindictive President-elect to abandon any thoughts of diplomacy with Iran, aligning perfectly with Netanyahu’s fervent ambitions to pull US forces into a war with Iran in a fascist tag-team effort straight from hell.
Yoav Litvin is a writer, photographer and doctor of psychology/neuroscience
Follow him on X: @nookyelur
Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.
Both Trump and Netanyahu rely on a violent cult of tradition to advance their nationalist agendas and push a global system of apartheid, argues Yoav Litvin.
Perspectives
Yoav Litvin
13 Nov, 2024
THE NEW ARAB
In their demagoguery, corruption, racism and lack of social conscience, Trump and Netanyahu are mirror fascist images, writes Yoav Litvin [photo credit: Getty Images]
In what war criminal and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “history’s greatest comeback,” sexual predator, game show host and former Wrestlemania idol Donald Trump was re-elected as US President.
Netanyahu, ever quick to kiss Trump’s ring, has been scheming toward this very moment since last October when Hamas fighters embarrassed his government by breaking out of Gaza's prison walls and attacking Israeli military bases.
Indeed, Netanyahu’s investment paid off. Trump’s re-election reshuffles the Middle East colonial deck in Netanyahu's favour, shifting US policy from the Democratic Party's hypocritical complicity with and denial of Zionist genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity to a shameless embrace and encouragement of these malevolent actions.
Though historically Trump has been far from an ally to the Palestinian people, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem and recently using “Palestinian” as a pejorative on the campaign trail, he sent a message to Netanyahu to conclude the “Gaza war” by inauguration day.
Trump likely seeks to distance himself from the growing discontent over the Biden administration's perceived weakness in failing to rein in its Israeli junior partner, allowing him to focus on advancing a series of xenophobic, regressive domestic policies aimed at “Making America Great Again.”
RelatedPerspectivesYoav Litvin
Emboldened by Trump's green light and timeline, Netanyahu may escalate his genocidal actions leading up to the inauguration, while a lame-duck President and defeated Vice President lick their wounds and walk off into the sunset, hopefully via The Hague.
That said, Trump is anything but predictable and could very well shift course entirely due to Netanyahu’s persistent grovelling, providing continued imperial backing for belligerent Zionist expansionism.
In their demagoguery, corruption, racism and lack of social conscience, Trump and Netanyahu are mirror fascist images.
They deploy a right-wing, ethnocentric populist appeal with dog whistles and fear-mongering to consolidate their power. Operating above and outside the law, they are both avoiding corruption trials, inhabiting the same unrestrained, tyrannical Hobbesian world.
Essentially, Trump and Netanyahu aim to promote private capital by fragmenting the working class, pushing relentless privatisation of social resources and eroding workers' rights and union protections. They rely on a fabricated white, Western “nation” to advance their nationalist agendas, claiming to protect the purity and security of their in-groups and white, Western interests while promoting a racist capitalist system of global apartheid.
Raised in the shadows of powerful fathers, the two leaders developed a narcissistic need for power, fame and wealth, indulging in corrupt extravagance and throwing spiteful tantrums when challenged.
Their motivations centre on domination, personal gain and the thrill of victory, driven by an insatiable desire to inflate their own grandiose egos. With little regard for integrity or the welfare of others, they routinely scapegoat society’s disadvantaged people to deflect criticism and wield power, prioritising in-group social identity over truth and morality.
Media manipulation is another shared skill. Trump, the reality show star, mastered this during his campaigns, using an array of far-right media networks to spread misinformation, xenophobia and deflect criticism.
Similarly, drawing on skill first honed as a furniture salesman, Netanyahu, the quintessential Teflon politician, has polished the arts of spin, cajolery and propaganda, deftly seizing on the October 7 events to push his agenda unchecked.
With atrocity propaganda eagerly consumed by Israel’s compliant press and promoted by a liberal Zionist “opposition,” he shepherds the Israeli flock to endless war, perpetually delaying his pending corruption trial.
Trump and Netanyahu’s Ur-Fascism
Beyond similarities in their backgrounds, personalities and motivations, Trump and Netanyahu exemplify figureheads of what Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco described as “Ur-fascism.’
Ur-Fascism combines traditionalism, irrationalism and authoritarianism to manipulate and control through several defining traits.
It adopts a cult of tradition, whether a delusion of a once “great” America, or a vast Judean Kingdom, fusing diverse, often contradictory teachings into an unchangeable "truth," rejecting intellectual progress and embracing mysticism to legitimise its ideology. This rejection of modernism ties into an anti-Enlightenment stance, superficially accepting technology yet viewing reason, rationality and liberal values as corrupt.
Irrationalism lies at Ur-Fascism's core, glorifying action over thought and condemning intellectual culture as weak and untrustworthy.
In this environment, disagreement equals betrayal, and questioning established norms is cast as subversive. Thriving on a fear of difference, it fosters racism and xenophobia, uniting followers against outsiders as a trick to divert attention from internal corruption.
RelatedPerspectivesAlex Foley
Ur-Fascism is nurtured by social frustration, appealing to a disillusioned middle class and those lacking social identity by promoting nationalism and a sense of unity through battles with imagined enemies.
Whether through Trump’s villainisation of immigrants or Netanyahu’s “Amalek,” followers are made to feel both humiliated by and superior to their enemies, creating a contradiction that leads to inevitable defeat.
This struggle manifests in a heroic narrative where death and martyrdom are celebrated. Toxic masculinity further defines Ur-Fascism, with disdain for women and nonstandard sexualities and a fetishisation of violence and weapons.
Misogynoir, deeply embedded in Zionist and American white supremacist ideology, fuses religious and fascistic dogmas to cast non-whites, including immigrants and Palestinians as “demographic threats” while erasing Indigenous female identities and lives.
In place of these identities, a Western femininity is constructed, where women are integrated into male-dominated, capitalist and militaristic structures “whether they like it or not.” In fascistic, genocidal escapades, controlling women, who uphold cultural, reproductive and territorial continuity, symbolises ultimate conquest.
Ur-Fascism’s qualitative populism denies individual rights, presenting the people as a unified entity whose will is interpreted by the leader, bypassing democracy through controlled media and staged public support.
Language is deliberately simplified to suppress critical thinking, reminiscent of Orwell’s Newspeak, often disguised in seemingly innocuous forms like talk shows. Through this web of manipulation, Ur-Fascism ultimately seeks to dismantle rational discourse, undermine democracy and create a society ruled by fear, conformity and unquestioning loyalty to a single leader.
Globalisation of white supremacy
The Trump-aligned Heritage foundation has produced complementary documents which outline the globalisation of American white supremacy and Zionism with “Project 2025” and “Project Esther,” respectively.
The texts, which read like dystopian fascist manifestos, detail plans which attempt to institutionalise apartheid and genocide, with vigilante groups under the guise of ‘self defence’ as enforcers.
Netanyahu’s appointment of Yechiel Leiter — a prominent settler and former member of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), an FBI designated terrorist organisation — as ambassador to the US signals his intent to escalate his campaign in Gaza, push toward the annexation of the West Bank and embolden already manifest fascist Zionist mob attacks with the assistance of Mossad beyond Israel (e.g. Amsterdam, Toronto).
In a possible scenario, if Netanyahu persists in his crusade, Trump could broker one of his signature “deals,” offering to recognise annexation of the West Bank, a move articulated by far-right Israeli Minister Smotrich, in exchange for a halt to Zionist aggression against Lebanon and Iran. Trump could then posture as a “peacemaker,” at the expense of the Palestinian and Lebanese people, of course.
That said, recent reports of an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump may prompt the vindictive President-elect to abandon any thoughts of diplomacy with Iran, aligning perfectly with Netanyahu’s fervent ambitions to pull US forces into a war with Iran in a fascist tag-team effort straight from hell.
Yoav Litvin is a writer, photographer and doctor of psychology/neuroscience
Follow him on X: @nookyelur
Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.
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