AS I SEE IT
BY MARIANNE HERON
Dear President Trump,
I am writing to you as I believe you are the only person who can achieve what the world wants.
You said that you could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of becoming President of the United States. That was seven months ago and the outcome you hoped for still hasn’t happened after a ‘productive’ meeting in Alaska with President Putin and in the US with Zelenskiy.
There is a war that you could end, if not within 24 hours at least within days. You could end the Israel/Hamas war in Gaza. A word by you with your friend Netanyahu, for he will listen to you as he listens to no one else, not even a strike and objections by his own people, could end the war. By doing so, yet more catastrophic consequences can be avoided, not only the immediate ones in terms the humanitarian crisis in Gaza but those which are accumulating for Israel’s standing and its future safety.
Understanding the art of the deal, you will appreciate the huge gains that could be made: salvation not only for those directly involved, for everyone suffering heart scald over the unfolding tragedy of Gaza but for your own standing. As a Colossus bestriding the world, there would be huge respect for you in using your power where others have failed to intervene.
Condemnations of Israel’s conduct have been fired by world leaders without effect. But condemnations don’t feed innocent children dying of starvation; they won’t stop deaths like those of the 875 Palestinians killed recently while they risked their lives seeking food; they won’t resurrect the five Al Jazeera journalists slain last week in a targeted attack; nor the 60,000 plus Palestinians and nearly 2,000 Israelis who have died so far in the conflict. Nor will they save the lives of the 20 remaining out of the 250 Israeli hostages taken in the atrocious October 7 Hamas attack which triggered the war.
For all their rhetoric, world leaders have failed Gaza. The United Nations is paralysed by structural power imbalance among the 193 member states. The EU is toothless, its members unable to act together to stop the carnage. Religious leaders have been curiously mute in decrying the genocide and war crimes despite their obligation to uphold moral values. But you President Trump, have the power to act effectively. Tell Netanyahu that his plan, as he puts it “to finish the job in Gaza” and invade Gaza city, is a very bad idea and that the war must end. There is no finish to the consequences of the job he is intent upon.
The damage done to Israel will be unending, in terms of international relations, loss of trade and reputation. Far from eliminating Hamas, the war has spurred recruitment with thousands joining the military wing of the organisation. Then there is the disbelief that a people who suffered the unimaginable horror of the Holocaust should visit the same fate on another people or that there should be support for such calumny. This has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, nor with Zionism, the desire for a Jewish homeland rooted in the ancient tradition of Hebron. It is a kind of incredulity that life and humanitarian values should be destroyed in this way.
You could warn Netanyahu that he is allowing Hamas to drag him down their very dark path following October 7, 2023. Hamas led terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis, with 251 hostages taken and thousands injured followed by an utter cynicism over the consequences for innocent people they have claimed to represent since 2005. Israel’s massive military response, initially perceived as a means to rout out Hamas leaders and fighters, has become totally disproportionate, something far darker on a par with the worst excesses of colonialism centuries ago when indigenous peoples were regarded as vermin fit for extermination and where Gaza will be emptied of its Palestinian population.
Your vision of a future for Gaza, a strip of land less than half the size of county Louth, as the Riviera of the Middle East, is in stark contrast to the present starvation and rubble. Why not make it happen, create a bright future for Palestinians, where surely the world would donate to rebuild this small corner of the world and laud you for it.
