The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that equal rights for all people are the foundation for peace in the world.
by Terry Hansen
Guest Commentary
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller claims that, as a result of the U.S. bombing of Iran, "We have the beginnings of a new era of stability and peace and security in the Middle East."
Similarly, Vice President J.D. Vance stated, " And I think the president really hit the reset button and said, look, let's actually produce long term peace for the region....I actually think when we look back, we will say the twelve day war was an important reset moment."
Guest Commentary
You can kill 100 Gazans in one night … And nobody in the world cares.
Yet no mention is made of the relentless suffering of Palestinians, who were also excluded from the Abraham Accords, the agreements negotiated during President Trump's first term that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states. Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently asserted, “We are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble...And the world isn’t stopping us.” Zvi Sukkot, a member of the Israeli Parliament, went so far as to boast, “Everyone got used to the idea that you can kill 100 Gazans in one night … And nobody in the world cares.” As Jewish American scholar Judith Butler has observed: "The Palestinians have been labeled as ungrievable. That is to say, they are not a group of people whose lives are being considered as worthy of value, of persisting, of flourishing in this world. If they are lost, it is not considered to be a true loss." In his 2006 book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," President Jimmy Carter contends that Israel's construction of illegal settlements in the occupied territories is the primary obstacle to peace in the Middle East. It has long been understood that settlement expansion, which has recently intensified, is a method of "changing the reality on the ground," thereby undermining hope for a two-state solution. It's important to note that the Arab League has repeatedly offered to normalize relations with Israel, in exchange for ending the occupation and allowing the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders—about 22% of historic Palestine. This offer is embodied in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative. In fact, in September 2024, Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, representing 57 Arab and Muslim countries, declared: "I can tell you here, very unequivocally, all of us, right now, are willing to guarantee the security of Israel in the context of Israel ending the occupation and allowing the emergence of a Palestinian state." Yet, as Smotrich has provocatively stated, "My life’s mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state.” The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that equal rights for all people are the foundation for peace in the world. True stability in the Middle East cannot be achieved through military victories or diplomatic agreements that ignore the rights and aspirations of Palestinians.
Terry Hansen is an opinion writer who frequently comments on Gaza, focusing on humanitarian issues, U.S. policy and Israel’s actions in the region. He is a retired educator from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Editor's note:
June 30, 2025 - Originally, this Viewpoint was published with an inaccurate figure. At the author's request, "57 Arab countries" was updated to "57 Arab and Muslim countries" since there are only 22 Arab countries.
June 30, 2025 - Originally, this Viewpoint was published with an inaccurate figure. At the author's request, "57 Arab countries" was updated to "57 Arab and Muslim countries" since there are only 22 Arab countries.
Dear Editor,
On March 22, 1933, Dachau opened as the first concentration camp of the Nazi regime. Initially, it imprisoned political opponents, later incarcerating the undesirables, Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the physically and mentally impaired and others on the margins of society. Few in Germany raised voices of opposition either because of ignorance, indifference or fear of retaliation.
The recent comments of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier would have been applauded by those who supported the ideas of isolating the unwanted of Germany in the 1930’s. Suggesting that alligators, pythons and the vast wetlands of the Everglades are sufficient deterrents to anyone wishing to escape only indicates the level of dystopia to which he has sunk. Obviously, he has never trekked through the jungles of the Darien Gap, crossed the shark infested and storm-tossed waters of the Atlantic, or risked his life and the lives of his family members with smugglers in a search for freedom.
Bill Bullard authored the following, “Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge because it requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, because it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world.”
I would suggest that Mr. Uthmeier, should apply the moral and mental effort to comprehend what he is condoning? When empathy is absent or viewed as a weakness, then humanity no longer possesses its inherent dignity and value, and we will have devolved backwards into our animal instincts.
