Trump’s ceasefire deal in Gaza highlights his role as a peacemaker—but his bias toward Israel raises questions about Palestinian justice.
A peacebroker is, by definition, a mediator who brings warring parties together to agree to a ceasefire or truce.
The essence of that role is impartiality.
A peacemaker is someone who doesn’t have to be impartial, but who brings about peace through force of personality or threats.
Donald Trump is, clearly, a peacemaker.
Whatever else you may say about the US president, he brought his famed “art of the deal” to the slaughter in Gaza, getting both the Israeli government and Gaza’s Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and to release prisoners and hostages.
Yet, as his gloating and self-congratulatory speech to the Israeli parliament yesterday showed, he is clearly on the side of the Zionist state.
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He made no bones about the fact that the Israeli military has been amazing in how they have used American-supplied weapons.
He said nothing about the fact that, while these weapons may have killed Hamas militants in Gaza, they killed many more innocent people, including children.
Not that Trump cares, but that death toll stands at more than 60 000 now.
The release of the remaining Israeli hostages – those who did not die in Hamas captivity after the 7 October, 2023 terror incursion into Israel – is a reminder of the human side of this tragedy… as are the more than 2 000 Palestinians due for release from Israeli prisons.
The fact that Trump was being cheered by some Israeli crowds yesterday, while prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity is declining at home, shows not only the power of the US president’s personality, but also the fact that Jerusalem and Washington are linked by an almost unbreakable bond.
Unquestioning American support for Israel – whether from Republican or Democrat administrations – makes one wonder if, the current ceasefire notwithstanding, the Palestinian people will ever get justice and their land back.
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