A response to the Joint Statement by Starmer, Macron and Carney

On May 19 the French, British and Canadian governments issued the following declaration:

We strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable. Yesterday’s announcement that Israel will allow a basic quantity of food into Gaza is wholly inadequate. We call on the Israeli Government to stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. This must include engaging with the UN to ensure a return to delivery of aid in line with humanitarian principles. We call on Hamas to release immediately the remaining hostages they have so cruelly held since 7 October 2023.

While this joint statement may seem balanced at first, closer analysis reveals content flaws and omissions, highlighting how misleading its implications are.

First, by not clarifying that Israel’s actions in Gaza are responses to Hamas’s conflict, including the atrocities of October 7, hostage-taking and rockets, the statement overlooks the cause-and-effect relationship. Their call for Israel to cease military operations and allow aid implies the burden is on Israel to stop, but Hamas initiated and continues the conflict, leaving Israel with no choice but to respond or capitulate.

Second, it omits calling on Hamas to halt its war and its calls for Israel’s destruction. If Israel unilaterally stops the war, Hamas intends to rebuild its military infrastructure maintain its governance of Gaza—a setup for future repeat atrocities.

Third, it ignores that Hamas militants hide in tunnels beneath civilians and embed within the population, making military action risky for Gaza’s civilians.

Fourth, Western leaders have omitted demanding as a precondition that the hostages still alive no longer be deliberately starved as has been shown including when food has been available. Does it truly make sense for Israel to allow food to be freely provided to its enemy when that same enemy continues to deprive Israeli hostages of food and medical support?

Fifth, it is absurd that Western leaders are more concerned about the welfare of Gaza’s population than Hamas itself. Hamas’s latest act of indifference towards Gazans is their attempts to block humanitarian aid, because the present arrangement denies them the opportunity to hijack the food for their own militants or sell it to Gaza civilians at inflated prices, as they have done repeatedly in the past. It is obvious that Hamas is cynically using the humanitarian crisis as leverage against Israel. Western leaders should not be duped. Shouldn’t Western explore other more effective intervention strategies? Finally, if Hamas stopped fighting and released the hostages, Gaza’s suffering would end instantly, as humanitarian aid would flow in freely.

To illustrate the statement’s shortcomings, let us use WW2 as a frame of reference: Consider Nazi Germany at WW2’s height. Unlike Israel for whom civilian casualties are an unfortunate consequence of pursuing militants, the Allies deliberately bombed the cities of Dresden and Hamburg, causing around 70,000 civilian deaths. Overall, German civilian casualties are estimated at about 500,000—far higher than Hamas’s reported civilian casualties.

Can you imagine an Allied WW2 declaration phrased similarly to the above statement?

We strongly oppose the expansion of the allied military operations in Germany.  The level of human suffering in Germany is unacceptable. We call on the British, French and Canadian governments to stop their military operations in Germany and allow humanitarian aid. We also call on Germany to release concentration camp prisoners.

Even if daily news repeatedly spotlighted were to have shown the destruction in Hamburg and Dresden without explaining the causes of the war or the threat posed by Nazi Germany as frequently happens now about Gaza. no Western European political body would have made such a misleading statement, because the only way to end the war then was to defeat Nazi Germany, which the Allies ultimately did after 6 long years. Only after Nazi Germany conceded defeat did both the Allied and German suffering ended. What is different today vis-à-vis Hamas?

Why the inconsistency, or perhaps hypocrisy by the British, French and Canadian governments?

Their incongruous statement is not due to ignorance. Unlike many pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia who participated in illegal, violent, and antisemitic demonstrations despite being clueless of the facts, Macron, Starmer, and Carney are well informed about the goals of Hamas. Could it be that unrelated factors influenced their stance?

One possible explanation is the numbers: due to immigration, Muslims comprise 5-10% of the populations of Britain, France, and Canada. Could one reason for issuing the statement have been to placate their respective Muslim voters?

Another possible explanation is the persistence of antisemitism, now often expressed through ostensible legitimate criticism of Israel. While criticizing Israel’s government is fair, applying double standards—holding Israel to impossible standards that are not applied elsewhere, is discriminatory.  Furthermore, comparing the democratically elected Israeli government, even with its flaws, to Hamas—an unapologetic terrorist organization—smacks of antisemitism, populism, or stupidity. It is known that antisemitism was rife in the British Labour party. In 2020, Jeremy Corbyn and other Labor leaders were suspended by the Labor Party after a human rights report found them guilty of antisemitic stances.  It is fair to wonder whether Starmer and his party are still tinged with antisemitic sentiment.  Regarding Canada, Canada has the luxury of having a peaceful border. However, considering Canada’s intense vocal opposition to Trump’s tariffs—which deal only with money, not lives—one wonders if Canada would indulge a terrorist neighbor calling for its destruction as Canada expects of Israel. Regarding France, perhaps political expediency is also a factor. Facing political turmoil at home and a major electoral setback, French President Macron may well be doubling down on foreign policy including sharpening criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, possibly to align with public sentiment and ease domestic pressure.

Some argue that many uninvolved Gazans do not support Hamas but are forced to comply due to Hamas’s repression of dissidents. However, the extensive civilian involvement in the October 7 atrocities and the known participation of hundreds of Gazans in hiding hostages is clear evidence of their widespread complicity. Much of the so-called uninvolved Gazan population appear to have been ideologically brainwashed to instill hatred toward Jews from a young age, making them part of the problem as well.

Of greater concern is the Western pro-Palestinian movement. While occasionally, albeit reluctantly, expressing criticism of the Hamas October 7 attack, they do not clearly demand that Hamas prioritize the wellbeing of the Palestinians and cease the Hamas calls for Israel’s destruction.

The combined effect of pro-Palestinian groups, and fallacious statements from leading Western leaders and Western media alike, is to empower Hamas, thereby prolonging the suffering of the Gazan population rather than alleviating it—the opposite of their Western leaders’ intentions.

While events unfolding daily mainly between Gaza and Israel may seem localized, in reality, they reflect a broader cultural confrontation: support for Western values versus the global ideological intent of spreading Islamic fundamentalism.  It could be termed a conflict of civilizations. Their assault on Israel is only a first step.

What is absurd about the Western response is that the fundamentalists are not hiding their intentions. It is the West, exemplified by this last joint statement which downplays the extremists’ true aims. Iran and Qatar are at the core of promoting Islamic fundamentalism and not just in their support of Hamas. Iran’s stated aim is to spread the revolutionary ideals of the 1979 Iranian Revolution—an Islamic governance combining Shia Islam with political power— to other nations, both Islamic and non-Islamic, to establish similar regimes. Central to this ideology is the rejection of Western liberalism and influence, which Iran views as threats to Islamic societies. Iran supports proxy groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and factions in Iraq with funding, military assistance, and ideological backing. Qatar, through their support of Hamas, along with the influence of their media outlet Al-Jazeera, continue unabashedly to promote Islamic fundamentalism. In parallel Qatar muddy the waters by ingratiating themselves at the same time to the West including their positive past role is facilitating hostage releases. Do Macron, Starmer and Carney not see, that if Israel falls, their countries will be next on the fundamentalists’ list? Trump is the only Western leader to portray the Hamas Israel conflict as it is.  To use a pun, Trump is the only Western leader to call a spade, a spade. However brash Trump is, without support from Western allies, it is unlikely that he will be able to arrest the spread of Islamic fundamentalism which has already begun in Europe.

If Western leaders truly want to help resolve the conflict and avoid emboldening extremist regimes, they should change their strategy. In addition to pressuring Iran to comply with Western policy regarding nuclear enrichment they should pressure Iran, Qatar, and other supporting states to cease backing Hamas and groups like the Houthis. Even if unpopular, they have the political clout to do so. They must also take a clearer stance and aggressively counter Muslim extremism within their own countries. Otherwise, the West will likely face more pro-Palestinian, Islamic-inspired anti-Jewish and anti-Western terrorism.

Unfortunately, statements from Macron, Starmer, and Carney risk further isolating Israel. Pressuring Israel while downplaying the Hamas-fundamentalist threat will only deepen Israeli isolation and lead to more unilateral Israeli military actions. Western leaders must wake up and stop appeasing the Islamic fundamentalists and downplaying their threats be it Iran and Qatar or Hamas and the Houthis.