Gaza

How a piece of paper can become a parliamentary scandal? Step one: NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem based research institute, publishes a report. The report alleges that Hamas has infiltrated Dutch aid organisations operating in Gaza. The evidence is thin. One example involves a wastewater treatment project that also irrigated fruit trees. NGO Monitor suggested those fruit trees could well be used by fighters to hide behind. Apparently the dappled shade was the threat. ...

In September 2023, the Israeli Ministry of Defence released a promotional video for its Iron Sting precision mortar system. The footage, taken from a drone, shows a building in Gaza being obliterated. It isn’t merely a military demonstration; it’s a sales pitch. The message? Our weapons work. And they work because we’ve used them, on real people, in real places, with very real consequences. At arms fairs like DSEI in London, the phrase “combat-proven” is more than sales patter; it’s a mark of credibility. The battlefield doubles as showroom. And the uncomfortable question is this: Is it morally, legally, or politically justifiable to turn war zones into testing grounds for profit? ...

As Israel’s slaughter in Gaza grinds on, now in its twentieth month, with over 45,000 dead, most of them women and children, and nearly every hospital, school, and home reduced to rubble, one might expect Europe, that self-proclaimed bastion of human rights, to muster more than a few limp statements of concern. Instead, the European Union has perfected the art of hand-wringing paralysis, offering little more than performative sympathy while continuing to arm, fund, and politically shield Israel. It is a masterclass in moral evasion, dressed up as diplomacy. ...