https://arab.news/g3pk9
As the world digests the result of last week’s momentous US presidential election and prepares itself for a Trump 2.0 presidency, it is not difficult to imagine how the world might look according to the new president.
The Palestinians could lose Gaza for good and possibly the West Bank too, as settlers exacerbate the plight of the Palestinians unhindered and unsanctioned by the new US administration, while Lebanon’s destruction continues, with the country teetering on the brink of implosion. Ukraine’s fate will be to prepare to capitulate, according to a peace plan hastily drafted in Washington but guided by the Kremlin.
The prospect of electing a Black woman maybe did not cut it for the heavily polarized Americans, despite Kamala Harris’ offer of hope and message of a sunnier future, preferring instead a twice-impeached convicted felon. Maybe this was due to an innate prejudice against women, the travails of dark forces, foreign interference or the tech realm and its manipulation of public opinion.
Trump in power, I am led to believe, is likely to magnify and further inflame the stark divide between two Americas. On top of this, he will have full control of Congress, a blank check from the Supreme Court and a renewed faith in his supremacy and in his ability to pander to his supporters’ most basic instincts and prejudices.
Trump in power, I am led to believe, is likely to magnify and further inflame the stark divide between two Americas
Mohamed Chebaro
His first victim is likely to be Ukraine, despite President Volodymyr Zelensky rushing to send his carefully crafted best wishes, in which he praised the president-elect for his “peace through strength” approach. This is despite knowing all too well that Ukraine is likely to be left in the cold, before the Trump administration forces on Kyiv a peace plan tabled by Washington but penned in the Kremlin that will be just short of total capitulation.
Biden and his Western allies’ support for Ukraine initially stemmed from the need to defend the post-Second World War order, but Trump has disregarded that all along, expressing unhidden admiration for President Vladimir Putin and having a long-held belief that “Ukraine must be part of Russia,” according to one former aide. During his campaign, he often boasted how he could end the Ukraine war “in a day” and blamed Zelensky for the conflict. Here, I do not need to remind everyone how, over the past two years, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has spared no efforts to vote down and interrupt crucial US government deliveries of weapons and aid to Ukraine.
As for the Palestinian question, Arab and Muslim Americans were maybe right to mobilize against the Democrats over the Biden-Harris administration’s inability to find a way to preserve Palestinian lives in Gaza and to hold it responsible for the continued Israeli onslaught. But through backing Trump, the best friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they have helped sow the seeds of a potential total loss of any faint hope for a just solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
His first victim is likely to be Ukraine, despite President Zelensky rushing to send his carefully crafted best wishes
Mohamed Chebaro
Netanyahu, who many believe has blocked all efforts that could have led to a cessation of the violence in Gaza over the past few months, was maybe part of a strategy to embarrass the Biden administration and expose its international weakness. Netanyahu, who sacked his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant while the counting of votes was underway in the US, has shifted his war Cabinet further right, expecting the new president to free him from any restraints. And he continues his scorched-earth policies in Gaza and elsewhere that could send the Palestinians further into despair and the political wilderness for at least the next generation or two.
Lebanon is unlikely to fare any better, despite Trump’s so-called promises to end the war between Hezbollah and Israel.
Trump’s old rhetoric about his previous record of squeezing Iran with sanctions, while deterring war, is set to be tested, as Tehran claims that it is readying another list of Israeli targets to strike after Tel Aviv’s attack on its air defenses and missile plants last month.
Trump’s reelection was the result of a complex web of dark forces and the culmination of events that were built on exploiting fears. He has convinced people that his power will earn them salvation, meaning they endorsed his unique approach that could hurt democracy gradually or even sooner come Jan. 20, 2025.
- Mohamed Chebaro is a British Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years of experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy. He is also a media consultant and trainer.