Take four: The illiberal, illegal world order is here
Photo by Warren, Unsplash
If you wanted proof the illiberal, illegal world order is here, and with impunity, look no further than four developments:
- The Trump administration’s 28-point ‘peace’ plan to end the war in Ukraine: Negotiated between Donald Trump’s people and Russia, without Ukrainian involvement, it would require Kyiv to surrender territory, reduce the size of its army and relinquish some kinds of weapons, according to reports. It would amount to a surrender that Ukraine has long rejected and fought valiantly against for nearly four years.
- The US continues its 21st century version of the Christian Crusades: In a bid to force world attention on the alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria, the US mission to the United Nations in New York organised an event at which rapper Nicki Minaj supported Donald Trump’s claims. Ms Minaj, who is from Trinidad and has no connection to Nigeria, declared that “”In Nigeria, Christians are being targeted. Churches have been burned, families have been torn apart… simply because of how they pray.” It’s yet another move by US Republicans to amplify the narrative of Christian persecution. A Congressman from West Virginia has falsely posted on social media that the recent kidnapping of 25 schoolgirls “occurred in a Christian enclave”. In fact, all the girls were Muslim.
- South Africa tries to limit ‘a clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank’: Coda Story reports that “mysterious charter flights have carried over 300 Palestinians from Gaza to South Africa, organized by a company run by an Israeli-Estonian dual citizen, and linked to Israel’s ‘Voluntary Emigration Bureau’.” Apparently, each passenger paid $2,000 and neither had the required documentation to visit South Africa, nor did they know that’s where they were headed. South Africa’s foreign minister has said it shows “a clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank.” Coda notes “the grim irony” of the situation: “Israel renders Gaza uninhabitable through war, then profits from facilitating Palestinians’ desperate escape”.
- US Commerce Secretary and sons blur lines on government and personal business: The New York Times reports (paywall) that President Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been encouraging foreign investment in data centres in the US, while his two sons – Kyle and Brandon, 29 and 27 respectively – earn millions from the deals.
