Tag: Trump

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Speech for Danish Veterans on 9/11

My speech at the Danish veterans’ memorial ceremony at Kastellet in Copenhagen, marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001.

Speech:


To lay a wreath right here, at Kastellet (well preserved fortification of Copenhagen, which to this day serves as military barracks) for those who died in our international missions is a both moving and thought-provoking experience.

Particularly today, on the anniversary of the massive and horrific terrorist attack on the USA on September 11th, 2001, an event that defined a new international agenda and proved pivotal for the overseas deployments in which so many Danes participated.

My deepest respect for those of you who had the strength and courage to risk your lives when your country asked you to do so.

I understand the profound pain felt by those who lost a spouse, a father, a mother, or a friend serving as a Danish soldier on deployed missions — most notably in Afghanistan.

I understand the pain of those who returned with severe and lasting injuries to body and soul.

And I share the anger felt when the current US president falsely claims that our soldiers remained in the background while the USA bore the brunt of the hard fighting and casualties.

Added to this is the anger over threats to forcibly take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark — Greenland — after we have been one of the USA’s most loyal allies in the overseas wars of this century.

Therefore, I have two messages.

Firstly:

We must never skimp on, nor forget, the support that many veterans will need for years to come.

Secondly:

Looking back, we can see that there were many misjudgments and wrong decisions — both in the USA and here at home — because politicians and military leaders blindly followed the US.

It is obvious that you have the right to demand that all cards be put on the table regarding what drove the political decisions, what we actually knew about the situation on the ground— and whether we ignored warnings, such as those that the then-Chief of Defence says he made in 2008 .

Politicians must acknowledge and make public what they said in confidence to the Foreign Policy Committee. That confidentiality was not for our personal sakes, but for the sake of the country’s security and the safety of the deployed soldiers. And the intelligence services have determined that none of these concerns apply any longer.

So, bravo! and thank you for the citizens’ initiative in this matter; it has set the record straight and broken down the final resistance to acknowledging one’s own statements in the Committee (note: several Danish politicians demanded anonymity in an inquiry into Denmark’s engagement in Afghanistan. A veteran made a citizens’ proposal aimed at ensuring transparency. The proposal was supported by over 50.000 citizens and thus reached parliament. This made the last politicians give up their reluctance to stand by what they had said in the Foreign Policy Committee).

We were in Afghanistan with good reason and in solidarity with the US — because those responsible for Al-Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, were hiding there. Also, we were there with a UN recommendation. However, our mission did not take the form I had proposed during the brief time I remained Foreign Minister — that of a UN peacekeeping force in Kabul. Instead, it became a bloody war effort.

We succeeded in defeating and splintering the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden was consigned to the bottom of the ocean. But our state-building project collapsed disastrously five years ago — following the withdrawal agreement President Trump struck with the Taliban during his first term, bypassing the very government we had all fought to build in Afghanistan.

We were in Iraq—as the then-Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen told me — because it is always in Denmark’s interest to align with the sitting US president. As Leader of the Opposition at the time, I disagreed: there was still time for UN weapons inspectors to verify the validity of the justification for the war — namely, the claim regarding weapons of mass destruction. The vast majority within the UN and the Security Council opposed the war. Furthermore, there was no evidence of any collusion between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 terrorists. The invasion — along with the manner in which Iraq’s administration and military were dismantled and the occupation conducted — led to bloody warfare and civil strife, and fuelled the rise of the terrorist organisation ISIS. Today, we also know that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The Iraq War was neither legitimate nor successful.

There is a need for reflection—including among us, whose doubts had already begun to surface while events were unfolding:

Did the political decision-makers act with due deliberation — both in the US and in the countries that blindly followed the US lead?

Should the war on terror have been — and could it have been — won militarily? Or was it better served by the highly effective international intelligence and police cooperation that was established — cooperation that thwarted countless terrorist plots we never even heard about, including here in Denmark?

Could the wars justify the immense loss of life — losses that affected us deeply, and which took a far heavier toll on local Afghans and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and other Arabs across the various conflicts that stemmed from George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq?

These realisations, combined with our experiences with the current US president, mean that we will hardly see a Danish prime minister repeat the justification Anders Fogh used for going to war alongside the US.

Yet, regardless of such reflection or the outcome of the overseas wars in which we participated, we must — and will — all honor your heroic service on Denmark’s behalf. We insist that you be treated with the greatest respect and receive every form of support you need following these incredibly harrowing experiences.

Speech made at Kastellet on sept. 11th 2026

Other articles by me in English

Danish veterans gather in silent protest at US embassy

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My Love of Greenland

My close relationship with Greenland and the Greenlanders goes way back. Greenland is a very important part of The Kingdom of Denmark – and of my personal life as well; my political life, my deep friendships and family wise as well. It was printed in Danish in the national Danish daily Politiken on 25th of January, 2026.

Greenland – not for Sale!

Ever since Donald Trump set out on his unsophisticated and noisy desire to acquire this particular part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland has received unprecedented attention in Danish and foreign media alike.

The tyrant’s motive is simply that the island with its huge ice cap takes up so much space on maps and on globes in sitting rooms (probably partly due to the Mercator projections distortion of the actual globe) that it will secure him a place in history as the US president who carried out the largest area expansion in the history of America.

Initially, the former property speculator thought that he could just make Danish PM Mette Frederiksen an offer of purchase, ‘a good deal’, and Denmark would gladly disappear and save the billions of DKK with which we support Greenland’s economy every year. Selling  Greenland would be a direct violation of the Greenlanders’ self-determination and a violation of our common constitution.

Subsequently, after sloppily eying Greenlanders’ supposed wishes for independence from Denmark, Trump thought that by handing out dollar bills he could bribe the Greenlanders to vote themselves out of the Kingdom and instead become part of the United States. But an overwhelming majority rejects the idea of ​​becoming Americans. Trump neither understands nor respects that Greenlands’s prime minister Jens Frederik Nielsen – as the leader of a coalition with at least 75 percent of his people behind him – adheres to the commonwealth with Denmark.

Now Trump is trying, with punitive tariffs against the European allies, to make them enforce Greenland’s cession to the United States. Instead, we are receiving massive support for the Kingdom from the European countries and from Canada.

But in Greenland, of course, they still fear that the maniac in the White House will rob his way to ‘ownership’ of Greenland.

We Danes also find the thought of separation from Greenland incredibly painful.

Until the current uproar, most Danes who have not visited Greenland themselves have hardly thought much about it. But most nurture warm feelings for our commonwealth.

Greenlanders and Danes have lived under the same crown for three centuries. The Danes were colonial masters, yes. There were horrid abuses and mistakes, yes. But there was also good will, and elected councils in Greenland helped shape the development early on. In 1930, the newly elected Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning visited Greenland and was shocked by poverty and disease and. In true social democratic fashion, he set out to improve housing, school and health conditions of the Greenlanders – and especially to combat tuberculosis. After WWII, a new social democratic Prime Minister, Hans Hedtoft, came up with a grand plan to lift the small Arctic population in the Danish kingdom towards a Western European living standard. Colonial rule ended in 1953, home rule was introduced 26 years later, and the agreement on extended self-government was implemented in 2009.

The three hundred years have woven us together in kinship and close friendships. Today, a quarter of the Greenlandic nation lives in Denmark and many thousand Danes live temporarily or permanently in Greenland.

My own history with Greenland has deep roots in both work life, friendships and family, and I would like to briefly describe my very strong sense of connection to Greenland.

One of my best friends and colleagues in the Folketing was Siumut’s long-time member of parliament, Hans-Pavia Rosing.

He kindly introduced me to many of his compatriots during my first visit to Greenland as the new Minister of Finance in 1993. From the very beginning, I was deeply captivated by the friendly people and the magnificent nature. I stranded in a snowstorm in Buksefjorden and borrowed a snowmobile for a trip out to the Lille Malene mountain in Nuuk. I got to understand the major social problems associated with the social and cultural upheaval of the migration from hamlets to the city. I understood the necessity of an enormous boost in infrastructure and education, among other things, that was needed to realise Hedtoft’s vision. For years I negotiated block grants for Greenland with the two top people in the Home Rule, Siumut’s Jonathan Motzfeldt and IA’s Josef “Tuusi” Motzfeldt. And became close friends with both of them in the process.

Incidentally, I have rarely encountered any reluctance from Danish voters about the considerable amount of money we invest in Greenland’s development. It is as obvious as the inter-municipal equalisation between town and countryside in Denmark,

As a minister, Speaker of the Folketing and long-standing member of the Folketing’s Greenland Committee and on private visits, I have travelled all over Greenland for more than three decades – including to Uummannaq and Tasiilaq. I have sailed with the Finance Committee and lived on the Armed Forces inspection ship on a trip to towns and settlements all the way down the west coast. I have driven dog sleds on Disko Island. I have taken the Nordic and Baltic parliament speakers to visit Greenland, I have caught redfish in the Godthåbsfjord with Jonathan Motzfeldt – and one evening at Hans Egede’s House I swapped ties with him and got a unique hand carved polar bear head, made of walrus tooth, instead of my fashionable Italian tie . These days, my polar bear is the tie I wear most.

Tuusi and I have visited his hometown of Igaliku several times, where the Norse cathedral stood in the Middle Ages. Tuusi and I have been ministers of finance and foreign affairs and speakers of parliament in our respective parts of the kingdom. We have always cooperated well.

Another important dimension of my friendship with Greenland was the great-grandmother of two of my grandchildren – the powerful Maliaraq Vebæk. Maliaraq wrote Greenlandic women’s literature and retold old legends at an early age. The old lady who lived down here in Denmark, and fortunately to a very mature age, became our friend and a strong source of culture and new acquaintances in Greenland.

My friendship with Greenland also received a very special boost when my wife Mette Holm and I became a couple.

In Mette’s parents’ boarding house, Patricia in Taarbæk, the first generation of Greenlandic students in Denmark often gathered for holidays – Christmas in particular. That is why, as a little girl, she danced around the Christmas tree in a Greenlandic national costume, sang Greenlandic Christmas songs and heard Jonathan read the Christmas Gospel. The first time Mette and I visited Greenland together – at the 25th anniversary of the Home Rule – I was more or less  welcomed as a new son-in-law by some of the old Greenlanders whom Mette knew from childhood. We attended several private parties over the course of a few days. When I later suggested to Mette that we get married, she said yes on the condition that Jonathan was in charge. He did so in the summer of 2005 in Qassiarsuk – the Norse Brattahlid, where Erik the Red established the first Norse settlement in Greenland more than 1000 years ago. Before that, we had an unforgettable journey of our own with the midnight sun to the enormous icebergs in the fjord in Ilulissat.

Our reciprocal love affair with Greenland is confirmed when Greenlanders remember, many years later, that we got married there. Many people mistakenly assume that Mette has Greenlandic ancestry. But she feels a connection just as strong as if that were the case.

With Queen Margrethe at the helm, we celebrated the introduction of self-government in 2009 with Tuusi as chairman of the new legislative assembly, Inatsisartut, and young Kuupik Kleist as leader of the new self-government – ​​the Naalakkersuisut. It was emotional and festive when Denmark recognised that Greenland herself determines her path to the future.

Together with our current king, Mette and I flew back to Greenland the following year for the magnificent funeral of Jonathan – the man who led the Greenlanders on their path to becoming masters in their own house. On the same occasion, we experienced that King Frederik has an exceptionally strong and close relationship with the Greenlanders. In a way that is not seen down here in Denmark, he is physically embraced by people in the street. Everyone knows about his great love for and commitment to Greenland, his past with the Sirius Patrol, and that the royal couple’s twins have Greenlandic middle names. The king is probably the strongest link between Greenland and Denmark in these dark times.

Because the predator in Washington has illustrated vividly that a population of 56,000 can declare independence, but never achieve total independence, Greenland’s domestic debate about independence has also changed character. A small country must lean on someone, and if the choice is between Denmark and the US, the choice is the Kingdom of Denmark. Just as the Kingdom as a whole leans heavily towards our friends in the EU and NATO.

My family shares very intensely in the Greenlanders’ anger and fear of being conquered by greedy American billionaires. But it is not just about Greenland. Trump is pushing the entire globe around to feed his insane superego, while at the same time enriching his own family and his friends among the super billionaires through systematic and monumental corruption. His street gangs from ICE are provoking a new American civil war. The maniac is engaged in a determined fight to completely dismantle democracy at home by suppressing the media, taking over the courts and manipulating the electoral system. At the same time, he has already attacked all elements of a rules-based world order through the UN, destroyed global emergency aid, and rejected the existentially necessary fight against global warming. He neglects to stand up to genocide in Ukraine and Palestine and uses his military power indiscriminately and in violation of international law, while waging tariff wars on all continents.

After all these abuses, one can hope that his obsession with robbing 56,000 Greenlanders of their land will become the tyrant’s stumbling block: Even among his own followers in Congress, there is a reaction against the absurd justification of the interests of US security, when Greenland has been defended jointly by the US and Denmark for more than 80 years. They also see great costs for the US in economic war and the risk of a definitive break with NATO allies by taking Greenland by military force. Should the unthinkable nevertheless happen, neither the Greenlanders, Denmark, the EU, NATO member states nor the majority of Americans will recognise such an occupation. Trump hardly has the necessary majority in the US Congress to fund and ratify the incorporation of Greenland into the US. We will get through this. We shall prevail.

This is a translation of my feature article in the national Danish Daily Politiken from 25 January, 2026.

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Many Americans have had enough. And now European governments must show active solidarity with Palestine

Will Trump finally bring Netanyahu to heel over Gaza? Will a changed – and more critical – public mood in the US gain political significance? Europe must step up. Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen must understand that Israel is not an outpost of democracy, but apartheid and massive oppression.

This is a translation of my commentary in Danish on Palestine in the Danish magazine Ræson on Aug 10th, 2026.

Commentary by Mogens Lykketoft, former Foreign Minister of Denmark and President of the UN General Assembly

Ten months ago, Trump got a plan approved to stop the war in Gaza. Unfortunately, the plan’s main consequence so far has been that the media have lost interest in covering the horrors the Palestinians continue to live under. Once again, there is also less attention on the active efforts of Israel’s current rulers to prevent, at any cost, the establishment of a Palestinian state—which the UN has demanded in vain for 80 years – and rather to drive the Palestinians as far as possible out of their homeland.

The crisis continues – in silence

It was in October last year that the American president received massive praise and applause from much of the world’s leadership for his plan. The UN Security Council approved the plan and had to leave it to Trump’s new “Peace Council” to carry it out. The agreement was that there would be a ceasefire and free access to supplies for the civilian population, who had lived through hell for two years and seen 75,000 killed and twice as many wounded or permanently disabled. The plan called for Hamas to be disarmed, accompanied by the establishment of a civilian Palestinian administration and an international peace force, and a starting an Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza.

Most of the state leaders who applauded the American president’s peace plan probably had only the slimmest hope that he would maintain focus and put the necessary pressure on his close ally Netanyahu and his extremist partners in government. That doubt was unfortunately fully confirmed: Israel has since systematically undermined the agreement and continued to make life horrific for the Palestinian civilian population. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, 1,255 Palestinians – many of them children and aid workers – have been killed by Israeli forces since the so-called peace was announced (figures as of 8/7 2026).

The Israelis have seized an ever-larger share of the small territory of Gaza and destroyed the remaining buildings in the occupied area. More than two million Palestinians are now crammed into the ruins of a completely destroyed society. They live in a prison camp the size of one third of the small Danish island of Langeland under wretched and unhygienic conditions, hunger and disease being daily realities. The Israelis have blocked the agreed access to necessary supplies of food, water, medicine, and tents, and sabotage aid efforts from outside, according to, for example, Human Rights Watch. In particular, Israel is waging war against UNRWA, the UN’s historic effort to maintain a bearable existence for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Will Trump say no to Netanyahu?

A couple of weeks ago, Trump’s so-called peace council finally met and produced a more concrete elaboration of the peace plan. A heavily weakened Hamas declared itself willing to hand over its weapons at the same pace as the rest of the plan was implemented. But no -entirely predictably – Netanyahu’s government rejected the proposal, while continuing the barbaric ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and the mass imprisonment and torture of Palestinian prisoners.

Will Trump finally put pressure on Israel, then? Hardly out of concern for the victims of Israeli war crimes. But reportedly, he is angry that he let himself be lured by Netanyahu into starting an offensive war against Iran, which is hurting him politically at home. The war is also greatly damaging for peace and development throughout the Middle East, the global economy in general, and the world’s poorest countries in particular.

When, occasionally, Trump tries to stop the Iran war, he is also aware that he must try to prevent Israel from levelling to the ground large residential districts in Beirut and many villages in southern Lebanon using the same modus operandi as in Gaza. Since March 2nd, Israel has killed 4,300 people in Lebanon according to the UN, and hundreds of thousands have become internally displaced. In a rare moment of clarity, a few weeks ago Trump said that Netanyahu did not need to knock down entire residential blocks in Lebanon and kill many civilians in order to hit a single opponent. Why didn’t he say that when the war in Gaza began?

The great American shift in opinion

At the same time, Vice President J.D. Vance made the Israelis aware that the US will soon be the country’s only remaining friend in the world! It is thus becoming ever clearer that there is a conflict of interest between Netanyahu and the US government:

It is not in the US’s interest to have even more geopolitical instability, which could very well be the result if Israel chooses to break up neighbouring countries like Syria, Lebanon, and Iran into fragments torn by civil war.

The mass killing of civilians in Gaza has shifted American public opinion, so that more people sympathize with Palestine and fewer with Israel – significantly so among the younger generation. This is resonating in the American election campaign, where Netanyahu’s wealthy friends in the lobbying organization AIPAC are finding it much harder than before to buy friends in the US Congress. In both major parties, a revolt is underway against decades of unconditional American support, regardless of how aggressively the state of Israel develops. It is telling that even in the world’s second-largest Jewish city, New York City, voters elected a new progressive, Muslim mayor who is critical of Israel’s policies—even with support from a large share of Jewish voters.

Attitudes toward Israel have also shifted dramatically in European public opinion. It reminds me, an old man, of the mobilization many of us as young people took part in against the US war in Vietnam. That was a protest which was to a great extent inspired by our peers in the US and which—albeit far too slowly—helped bring the war to an end.

An appeal to the European governments

We must maintain our engagement, even though the worst of the bombardment of Palestine is over. It is good that the governments of Norway, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, and others are speaking out clearly. It is also shifting in the UK and France. But an EU-wide response is being blocked by a Germany that, in its shame over Hitler’s horrifying genocide against the Jews, uncritically allows the State of Israel to carry out what, unfortunately, under any reasonable interpretation of international law, must be described as genocide.

It is feeble to only be able to agree on sanctions against a handful of violent settlers and settler goods, when everyone knows that the whole thing is directed and desired by Israel’s government.

Some European governments – including Denmark’s – have only moved from uncritical support of Israel’s “right to self-defence” to reactions against Israeli war crimes, far more muted than the reaction to Putin’s crimes in Ukraine.

One reason for the low profile of some European governments is the fear of challenging Trump, because they still hope – for our own safety – to maintain the US as a bulwark against Russian aggression in Ukraine. But the cost of this kind of pragmatism is that it brands us with double standards in much of the world.

This low profile is also supported by the fatalistic attitude that it is impossible to change the one decisive factor – the US’s unconditional backing of the State of Israel, which has made this state increasingly aggressive. This backing is indeed the result of many years of American politicians’ dependence on money from a few far-right Jewish billionaires, from AIPAC and the arms industry, and support among the Bible Belt’s evangelical Christian fundamentalists, who have become Trump’s core voters.

But this fatalism is probably misplaced in light of the new dynamic in American politics described above.

Face the realities

Another reason for the silence – or even defence of the State of Israel’s actions – is a lack of historical awareness and unwillingness to face today’s realities: My most fundamental disagreement with my old comrade-in-arms (Denmark’s prime minister) Mette Frederiksen is that for far too long – perhaps as a gut reaction of her aversion to Arab and Muslim immigration – she has clung to an image of Israel as an outpost of Western civilization, a democratic outpost in the Middle East that keeps the “savage Arabs” in check and prevents them from driving the Jews into the Mediterranean. But Israel is an occupying power and an apartheid state that violently oppresses and displaces Palestinians in the area it controls.

It is by no means a defence of Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, to point out that the conflict began at least 80 years ago, and that the people of Palestine have been subjected to endless abuses – displacement, ethnic cleansing, and occupation. All of their peace-seeking leaders have been deceived and discredited among their own people, because there was never any progress – only new setbacks and new humiliations. Terror is unacceptable – including state terror. Today, Netanyahu is the worst terrorist in the entire long conflict.

It is an outrage that, at political request, Denmark’s Director of Public Prosecutions brought a series of cases after Hamas’ attack, charging Danish citizens who had shown sympathy for the Palestinians – although hardly for Hamas’s terror – with supporting terrorism. Fortunately, the Supreme Court dismissed some of these dubious cases.

By far most of the Middle East’s countless conflicts over more than a hundred years have had two sources: Western great powers wanting to gain or maintain control of the region’s resources; And a United States that – for domestic political reasons – has one-sidedly supported the State of Israel, regardless of how aggressive it has become.

In the Middle East, Palestine is not “the mother of all conflicts.” But an important precondition for lowering the level of conflict in the region is that a solution be reached – with peace, rights, and access to a decent existence for the Palestinians. That is also why there is a need for us to engage far more forcefully in their cause. ■

Mogens Lykketoft (b. 1946) is an economist, graduated from University of Copenhagen (1971) and was a member of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) 1981–2019, Minister of Taxation 1981–82, and Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs 1993–2001, party chairman 2002–2005, including as prime ministerial candidate in the 2005 election. Speaker of the Folketing 2011–2015. President of the UN General Assembly 2015–2016. He wrote his first article for RÆSON on October 28, 2002.

ILLUSTRATION: Gaza, January 29, 2025 [photo: Jaber Jehad Badwan/Wikimedia Commons]

Other articles by Mogens Lykketoft in English

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Ebola er blot det seneste kapitel i Congos lange tragedie

Den Demokratiske Republik Congo er et af verdens rigeste lande på naturressourcer, men også et af de fattigste. Fra kong Leopolds brutale kolonistyre over mordet på Patrice Lumumba til nutidens kamp om mineraler har landets historie været præget af udenlandsk udnyttelse, krig og politisk ustabilitet. Ebolaepidemier og humanitære katastrofer er derfor ikke blot sundhedskriser, men også konsekvenser af årtiers konflikt og svigt. Dét skriver jeg om i denne artikel i POV International 24. juli 2026.

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Trumps fredsplan for Palæstina er en fuldkommen farce

Trumps såkaldte fredsplan demonstrerer total ligegyldighed over for palæstinenserne og tilsvarende total uvidenhed om deres historie og kultur. Israel overtræder stort set dagligt planen. Mere om det i denne kronik i Politiken 3. marts, som jeg har skrevet sammen med Birgitte Rahæk. Læs den i avisen – eller nedenfor:

Hvilken plan? Hvilken fred?

FN’s Sikkerhedsråd vedtog 17. november 2025 med resolution 2803 (2025) at bakke op om Trumps såkaldte fredsplan for Gaza, og Danmarks ambassadør til FN, Christina Markus Lassen, sagde i sin stemmeforklaring bl.a., at »efter to års brutal konflikt i Gaza, tav våbnene endelig, da våbenhvilen trådte i kraft den 10. oktober«. Lad være at Israel allerede på det tidspunkt med sine daglige brud på våbenhvilen havde dræbt omkring 300 palæstinensere, et tal der 24. februar 2026 var nået op på 615 dræbte og 1.658 sårede.

Men endnu vigtigere er det at se på, hvad det egentlig var, Danmark og det øvrige Sikkerhedsråd (med undtagelse af Kina og Rusland) stemte ja til. Som noget af det første og vigtigste skulle alle militære handlinger ophøre. Men Israel har overtrådt aftalen mindst 1.620 gange fra den 10. oktober til den 10. februar 2026, kun i 18 af de forløbne 138 dage har der ikke været israelske angreb i Gaza.

Ifølge Gazas mediekontor har Israel 560 gange skudt mod civile, angrebet beboelsesområder uden for den ’gule linje’ 79 gange, bombarderet Gaza 749 gange og 232 gange ødelagt ejendomme samt tilbageholdt 50 palæstinensere fra Gaza.

Den danske ambassadør sagde videre i sin stemmeforklaring, at det er afgørende at sikre uhindret adgang for humanitær hjælp til Gaza i overensstemmelse med den internationale humanitære ret. Heller ikke det er sket. På intet tidspunkt har Israel ladet det nødvendige antal lastbiler med nødhjælp, dvs. minimum 500 om dagen, komme ind. Den første uge af februar svingede tallene mellem 4 og 102, den 5. februar kom der fx 25 lastbiler ind.

På samme måde har Israel på intet tidspunkt ladet det i forvejen meget lave tal på 50 syge palæstinensere, der behøver udenlandsk hospitalshjælp, komme ud. I alt er der tale om 15-20.000, der venter på tilladelse fra den israelske hær.

Andre har til gengæld ikke kunnet få lov til at komme ind i Gaza. Det gælder bl.a. medlemmerne af det laveste led i Fredsrådets ledelsesstruktur, nemlig den Nationale Komité til Forvaltning af Gaza (NCAG), som skal administrere Gazastriben. Ifølge FN skal komitéen »implementere de nationale aftaler, der skal sikre national enhed og afslutte splittelsen samt dens konsekvenser«.

Vi er ikke bekendt med, hvilke nationale aftaler der er tale om, for intet sted i Fredsplanen tales der om Vestbredden, hvor situationen forværres dag for dag med kombinerede IDF- og bosætterangreb mod den ene landsby efter den anden. Der kan man tale om etnisk udrensning i slowmotion. Hvad Gaza angår, insisterer Israel på, at tre gange så mange mennesker skal forlade området, i forhold til hvor mange der må komme ind.

Ambassadøren hilser det velkomment, at Fredsrådet har pligt til at rapportere til Sikkerhedsrådet. Det vides ikke, om dette har fundet sted, i hvert fald har vi ikke set nogen reaktion fra dansk side på de mange overtrædelser og forsømmelser.

Der har siden den 7. oktober 2023 været megen tale om de israelske gidsler, hvor de sidste – levende som døde – blev frigivet i overensstemmelse med den såkaldte våbenhvile. Til gengæld er der skrevet og talt meget lidt om de mindst 9.400 palæstinensiske såkaldte sikkerhedsfanger, som Israel har anholdt siden 7. oktober 2023, og som for manges vedkommende holdes fanget, uden at advokater eller Røde Kors har adgang til at tale med dem.

Alene i perioden fra 7. oktober 2023 til den 28. maj 2024 tilbageholdt Israel ifølge FN’s Menneskerettighedsråd (OHCHR) 8.910 palæstinensere, herunder 630 børn og 295 kvinder. Nogle blev senere løsladt uden at være sigtet.

Ifølge den israelske menneskerettighedsorganisation Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) døde der i perioden 7. oktober 2023 til 31. august 2025 94 palæstinensiske indsatte i de israelske fængsler. Tallet for de forudgående ti år var i alt 30. Fangerne døde efter tortur eller af mangel på medicinsk behandling, underernæring eller en kombination af det hele.

På den nyligt afholdte konference European Palestinian Network fortalte den palæstinensiske politiker og læge Mustafa Barghouti, at en af de fanger, der var blevet løsladt i forbindelse med gidseludvekslingen – og sendt i eksil – Nael Barghouti, som i alt har siddet fængslet i 44 år, havde fortalt, at han ikke ville tale om de første 42 års fangenskab, det var de sidste to år, der havde været de værste. Der rapporteres om daglig systematisk tortur i form af slag, voldtægter, udsultning, kulde og fravær af kontakt med omverdenen.

Der var til det sidste i den såkaldte våbenhviles første fase stor opmærksomhed om udlevering af – også døde – israelske gidsler, også Israel har udleveret flere hundrede døde palæstinensere, som bar præg af tortur, hvis de da ikke var så opløste, at man ikke kunne identificere dem.

Tilbageholdelse af lig er en ekstra straf, som det også fremgår af en absurd regel i Israel: hvis en indsat dør i fængslet, beholder fængselsvæsenet vedkommendes lig, indtil den fastsatte fængselsdom er udløbet. For øjeblikket tilbageholder Israel 766 palæstinensiske lig, hvoraf de 373 stammer fra tiden efter 7. oktober 2023; 88 af dem døde, mens de var i enten militærets eller fængselsvæsenets forvaring.

Lad os vende tilbage til Trumps fredsplan for Gaza eller rettere til hans såkaldte Fredsråd, som skal fungere som en overgangsregering i Gaza og kontrollere gennemførelsen af fredsplanen. Rådets formand er Donald Trump, som har udnævnt en direktion bestående af hans nære medarbejdere og svigersøn og den i Mellemøsten forhadte og foragtede Tony Blair. Palæstinensere er der slet ingen af i Direktionen!

Under den overordnede direktion har man anbragt Gaza Direktionen med nogle af de samme medarbejdere plus nogle arabere fra Qatar, UAE og Egypten samt et par milliardærvenner, blandt andre Marc Rowan, der netop er blevet knyttet til Epstein filerne.

Et af navnene på denne liste er Nickolay Mladenov fra Bulgarien, som yderligere er blevet udnævnt til High Representative for Gaza, i hvilken egenskab han skal forestå det overordnede arbejde med at gennemføre planen og, når det er nødvendigt, koordinere med ISF, den Internationale Stabiliserings Styrke i Gaza.

ISF skal ledes af den amerikanske generalmajor Jasper Jeffers, som Trump har udnævnt til posten. Det har knebet mere med at få andre nationer til at melde sig til styrken, som bl.a. har til opgave at afvæbne Hamas. Et af de villige lande var Tyrkiet, men dem ville Israel ikke have med. Selvom USA skal lede ISF, har de ingen planer om at sende tropper, og endnu har ingen forpligtet sig til at gøre det, da den primære opgave med at afvæbne Hamas ikke forekommer umiddelbart tillokkende.

Det er først når man når frem til det nederste led i Fredsrådets ledelseslag, nemlig den Nationale Komité til Forvaltning af Gaza (NCAG), at man støder på palæstinensere, tilmed hele 15 af slagsen anført af Ali Shaath, der i lighed med hovedparten af de 14 andre nyder almindelig anseelse blandt palæstinenserne.

Listen, som oprindeligt indeholdt 41 navne, hvoraf de 26 blev blokeret af Israel, er da også fremkommet efter samtaler mellem Hamas, Fatah og andre palæstinensiske organisationer i Cairo med De Forenede Arabiske Emirater i kulissen. Det er sigende for NCAG’s position, at da Ali Shaath for nylig skulle tale ved Fredsrådets første møde i Washington, stod han som den eneste på talerlisten opført med begrænset taletid: 2 minutter.

Sikkerhedskommissæren skal sammen med ISF sørge for, at Hamas deponerer sine offensive våben. Det er det, Hamas har accepteret, men Israel vil gå videre og forlange, at de også afleverer alle geværer.

Senest har Israel afvist NCAG’s logo, der ligner logoet for Selvstyret i Ramallah.

Ifølge Haaretz-journalisten Dahlia Scheindlin skyldes vreden, at Israels regering vil bevare herredømmet over hele Palæstina. For nylig sagde justitsminister Yariv Levin således: »Vi er nødt til at være i Gaza og i alle dele af Israels Land…ikke kun af sikkerhedsgrunde, men fordi Israels Land alene tilhører den israelske nation«.

Den palæstinensiske direktør for the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research i Ramallah, Khalil Shikaki, leverer i EU Observer en sønderlemmende kritik af det, han kalder reformdagsordenen for Selvstyret, »som ikke er beregnet til at løse den palæstinensiske ledelseskrise. Den er beregnet til at hjælpe det internationale samfund med at undgå at konfrontere de virkelige årsager til palæstinensernes politiske kollaps: den israelske besættelse, fragmenteringen og den systematiske udhuling af palæstinensernes selvbestemmelse«.

Shikaki slår til lyd for, at før man går i gang med alle mulige kosmetiske ændringer af PA, skal palæstinenserne have mulighed for at afholde valg, sådan at den kommende ledelse kan få legitimitet i befolkningen.

Hele Trumps såkaldte fredsplan demonstrerer med al ønskelig tydelighed en total ligegyldighed over for palæstinenserne og en total uvidenhed om deres historie og kultur. Denne uvidenhed når tragikomiske højder i svigersønnens ’Projekt Solopgang’, hvor han viser, hvordan han forestiller sig et genopbygget Gaza i glas og stål og glimmer, et Middelhavets Dubai.

Men værre end den futuristiske by er næsten planen for det nye Rafah, som skal rumme over en halv million indbyggere i en by, som er formet som en kæmpemæssig bosættelse, der ligesom de illegale israelske bosættelser på Vestbredden står i demonstrativ kontrast til omgivelserne og viser, at deres bygherrer aldrig har haft tilknytning til området. Ved præsentationen sagde Jared Kushner, at der ikke var tale om blot at genopbygge noget, man skulle ændre et helt mindset.

Man kan ikke frigøre sig fra, at Trump-familiens ideer om rivieraen langs Middelhavet fortsat lever – uden palæstinensere!

Tilbage står, at det ikke er våbnene, der tier i Gaza, men derimod det internationale samfund og medierne. Det til trods for at den etniske udrensning fortsætter både i Gaza og på Vestbredden og i Østjerusalem.

Det må være på tide, at Danmark indkalder Sikkerhedsrådet til et nyt møde for ærligt at evaluere Israels manglende overholdelse af den vedtagne plan og indføre de behørige sanktioner, som man plejer i en sådan sammenhæng, jfr. sanktionerne imod Rusland.

Kroniken udkom i Politiken 3. marts 2026

Mere fra min hånd om Israel–Palæstina-krigen

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Trumps støj skygger for de største kriser

Præstestyrets nedskydning af demonstranter i Iran fik kortvarig dækning, men så stjal Trump al opmærksomheden. Uden internationalt pres fortsætter nedbrydningen af FN ligesom lidelserne i Iran, Gaza og Sudan. Det skriver jeg mere om i dette indlæg i Altinget 29. januar 2026. Læs indlægget i Altinget – eller nedenfor:

Verdensbilledet flimrer skræmmende

Fokus er mest på Trumps vanvittige udtalelser og aktioner med dagligt nye toldkrige, kravet om at eje Grønland og hans hjemlige morderiske bander fra ICE, der huserer i Amerikas storbyer. 

Men fokus er også på Putins vedvarende galskab med at ødelægge Ukraine, som Trump ikke orker at standse ved pres fælles med Europa.

Andre forfærdende konflikter blegner eller forsvinder helt fra forsiderne på skrevne som elektroniske medier.

Den værste humanitære katastrofe lige nu – i Sudan – og andre store dødelige konflikter i Afrika og Myanmar forbliver fodnoter i vores nyhedsstrøm.

Præstestyrets nedskydning af tusindvis af demonstranter i Iran fik kortvarig dækning. Men nu er der dødelig tavshed – internettet er lukket ned, og fremmede er nægtet adgang.

Palæstinensernes enorme lidelser fortsætter trods den såkaldte fredsaftale, men omverdenens interesse falmer også, når der ikke længere er total krig, og Israel har fået sine gidsler frigivet. Desuden fortsætter Israel med at blokere mediernes adgang til Gaza, som ifølge UNRWA’s leder er det mest livsfarlige sted i verden for nødhjælpsarbejdere og journalister.

Der er grund til angst for, hvad Trump vil gøre og ikke vil gøre, når det gælder Iran og Palæstina: Netanyahu har om begge dele den amerikanske præsidents øre og ønsker kun Iran bombet og enhver tanke om en Palæstina-stat begravet gennem ruiner og fordrivelse. Netanyahu hyldes af Trump som den en store krigsleder, der bør benådes for sin hjemlige korruption og under ingen omstændigheder bringes for Den Internationale Straffedomstol for de forfærdende krigsforbrydelser, han er anklaget for.

Derfor har Trump truet med nye bombetogter mod Iran – angiveligt for at støtte demonstranterne mod præstestyret. Men de fleste Iran-kyndige vil sige, at Trump allerede varigt har skadet de moderate og fredsøgende kræfter i Iran: Han hev tæppet væk under dem ved at rive atomaftalen fra 2015 i stykker, og han har siden svækket en ny dialogsøgende præsident ved at bombe atomanlæggene i stedet for at genoplive aftalen fra 2015. Nye amerikanske angreb kan gøre det hele værre.

Et lille håb blev tændt om, at Trump omsider ville banke Netanyahu på plads med den såkaldte fredsplan for Gaza fra sidste oktober. Statsledere fra en stor del af verden – og fra næsten alle de arabiske lande – flokkedes i Egypten for at hylde den store leder fra USA. De var skeptiske over for planen, men ville pleje hans forfængelighed for at fastholde hans opmærksomhed på faktisk at skabe fred.

Intet tyder imidlertid på, at der uden massiv internationalt pres og opmærksomhed kommer reel fred for palæstinenserne – endsige noget, der bare ligner retfærdighed, hvor palæstinensernes nationale rettigheder anerkendes.

Planen taler kun om Gaza og har intet med om at standse den voldelige etniske udrensning af palæstinensere på Vestbredden og i Øst-Jerusalem.

Hidtil har planen betydet, at et par millioner sønderbombede mennesker i Gaza er presset sammen i telte og under klude i mudrede ruiner i et område, der er mindre end halvdelen af Gaza (dvs. mindre end halvdelen af Langelands areal). Israel har forhindret tilstrækkelige forsyninger med mad, vand, klæder, medicin og telte – og ikke mindst fortsat sin krig mod FN ved at blokere for UNRWA’s afgørende nødhjælpsindsats i Gaza og fysisk jævnet organisationens hovedkvarter i Jerusalem med jorden. 

Næsten 500 palæstinensere er vilkårligt blevet skudt og dræbt af israelske styrker siden aftalen om våbenstilstand. 

Israel har fortsat mere end halvdelen af Gaza besat, renser området for palæstinensere og sprænger systematisk resterende bygninger i stykker. 

Det ser meget svært ud at enes om etableringen af den internationale fredsstyrke, der skulle bane vejen for israelsk tilbagetrækning fra hele Gaza, demilitarisering af Hamas og indsættelse af civil palæstinensisk forvaltning.

I håbet om, at der var en chance for alt dette, blev Trumps fredsplan ellers bakket op af et enigt sikkerhedsråd i FN – inklusiv den bizarre ide om et særligt fredsråd til at styre processen, der udpeges og dirigeres helt af Trump.

Denne ide er nu muteret til, at fredsrådet skal beskæftige sig også med alt andet end Gaza og synes at være endnu en brik i Trumps forsøg på at gøre FN irrelevant. På længere sigt kan et land kun være med ved at betale en milliard dollars i kontingent….til hvem?! 

Det store flertal af FN-medlemslande er ikke med på dèn leg. De fleste i Europa siger nej tak. Nogle – især de arabiske lande og Tyrkiet – går vel med – alene i håb om at redde fredsplanen for Gaza. Men de skal dele rådet med Trump, hans golf-makker og dilletant-mægler, en voldsomt pro-israelsk amerikansk milliardær samt selveste ondets rod, Netanyahu. Desuden med svigersønnen, der allerede er begyndt at lave byggeplaner i Gaza, som ser mest ud til at være i familie med Trumps oprindelige vision om en riviera i Gaza uden palæstinensere.

Resten af verden skal råbe meget højt for at virkeliggøre dén plan, FN’s Sikkerhedsråd håbede at få ført ud i livet!

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Keynote Speech at the European Palestinian Network Conference

My speech at the opening  of the European Palestinian Network Conference in Copenhagen, January  31, 2026

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Dear all 

The recipients of these rewards are testament of the extremely horrific living conditions for the entire people of Palestine.  

As expressed by UNRWA the other day – Gaza is also the most dangerous place on earth for relief workers and journalists.

We are faced with an immense human tragedy and flagrant violation of all international law.

We urgently appeal to European and other governments, to react more strongly against the genocide in Gaza and the violent ethnic cleansing on the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem.

There is a huge risk that governments, media and the general public cast their attention elsewhere, because the total war is on pause, Israeli hostages are back, and rapid and concerning developments elsewhere on the globe absorb the attention.

But real peace for Palestine is nowhere near – and justice, freedom and self-determination for the Palestinians are even further away.

Two million people in Gaza are caught in muddied ruins, in ravaged tents or under the open sky, without the promised supply of food, water, medicine, shelter – and with no prospect of a decent life in sight. At the same time, the number of illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land on the West Bank is exploding.

Europe must call for full and rapid implementation of the so-called American peace plan for Gaza as it was approved and understood by the Security Council of the United Nations. 

The peace plan is weak and vague. And even worse – it is not being implemented in the least. 

The composition of the so-called Peace Council is extremely counter-productive for successful implementation. President Trump gives himself veto power and he has very close relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister was against the peace plan and will do whatever he can to maintain Israel’s iron grip on Gaza. He will try to stop any movement towards phase two in the peace plan. He openly says he will destroy any possibility of a Palestinian state. He continues the destruction of buildings and infrastructure in the major part of Gaza, still occupied by Israel. Netanyahu’s government is perpetrating the most lethal and dangerous terrorism by far, seen during the hundred years of fight over Palestine. And his most extremist coalition partners openly talk about driving the Palestinians out of Palestine.

That’s why we must call for the strongest international attention and pressure on the governments of Israel and the United States – from progressive forces inside both countries as well.

We must demand an immediate end to the random killing of Palestinians in Gaza – which continues even after the declaration of the cease fire.

We must demand also an immediate end to all the Israeli restrictions and limitations to both local and all international relief efforts. The open warfare against UNRWA and other UN organizations must end. All supplies and equipment for decent survival must be given immediate free access.

Basic security in Gaza can only be reached with rapid deployment of the international peace force, paving the way for Israeli withdrawal from the occupied major part of the Gazan territory, demilitarisation of  Hamas and the establishment of a civilian Palestinian administration and police force.

We must call for Arab and other Muslim as well as European countries to contribute to the peace force.

We appeal to Europe and the whole international community to keep up pressure to free the thousands of Palestinians who are detained in Israeli prisons and camps – without charges or unjustly convicted to excessive or lifelong imprisonment – among them Marwan Barghouti. 

We need popular Palestinian leaders to be free, so they can contribute to a much-needed reconstruction of the Palestinian Authority into an elected and representative institution.

We must appeal for sanctions against trade with illegal Israeli settlements, against leading figures in the settlement movement and political and military leaders responsible for war crimes.

We must call on European governments to actively support and secure free access and free reporting for journalists to the Palestinian territories, so the cruel truth of genocide and destruction can be documented after years of determined efforts to keep free media away.

And let us never give up the demand from the overwhelming majority of member states in the United Nations for Palestinian statehood.

Speech held at The European Palestinian Network Conference in Copenhagen 31st of January, 2026

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Trumps kynisme er uden grænser. Det er svært at tro, han har handlet af omsorg for palæstinensiske liv

Det er svært at tro, at ‘fredsmægleren’ Trump handler af omsorg for palæstinensiske liv, eller andre for den sags skyld. Trump læser vælgerstemninger, og i USA er der, især blandt de yngre, mere sympati for palæstinenserne end for Israel. Også blandt Republikanerne taler de om folkemord nu. Læg dertil profitable handler med de rige arabstater, som nok betyder mere for Trump-familien end venskabet med Netanyahu. Det skriver jeg om i dette indlæg i Politiken 5. november. Læs det i Politiken – eller nedenfor:

Lang vej til fred, retfærdighed og forsoning i Mellemøsten

Mogens Lykketoft, tidl. udenrigsminister
og formand for FN’s Generalforsamling

DET VAR PÅ en gang håbefuldt og farceagtigt, da Trump for en måned siden lod sig hylde af en lang række statsledere fra Europa, Mellemøsten og Asien som den store mægler for fred i Israel/Palæstina. Håbefuldt fordi det altid har været indlysende, at kun USA kunne tvinge Israel væk fra folkemordet i Gaza; farceagtigt fordi man med større ret kunne bebrejde USA at der først nu – måske, og to år for sent – lægges tilstrækkeligt amerikansk pres på Israels regering. 

Det var også bekymrende, at den selvudnævnte fredsmager kom til topmødet i Sharm El-Sheik i Egypten direkte fra sin hyldesttale til Netanyahu i Knesset, hvor han i grunden fremstillede de sidste to års massakre på Gazas land og folk som en fælles sejr for USA og Israel.

Det er svært at tro, at Trump har handlet af omsorg for palæstinensiske liv. Hans kynisme er uden grænser: Hans ødelæggende nedskæringer af den globale nødhjælp vil, ifølge en tidligere direktør i USAID, føre til 14 millioner flere døde frem til 2030. Når Trumps plan for Mellemøsten skaber håb – efter hans og Bidens uhyggeligt aktive politiske og militære støtte til Israels krig i de forløbne to år – er der to forklaringer, som intet har at gøre med humanitet eller modstand mod krigsforbrydelser: Trumps spidskompetence er at læse vælgerstemninger, og der er i dag, specielt hos den yngre generation i USA, mere sympati for palæstinenserne end for Israel. Også blandt Republikanerne begynder de at tale om folkemord. Desuden betyder profitable handler med de rige arabstater nok mere for Trump-familien end venskabet med Netanyahu. De ellers lige så kyniske herskere i Saudi-Arabien, Emiraterne og Egypten føler også et voldsomt pres fra deres befolkninger for at komme Palæstina til undsætning, og derfor har herskerne presset på over for Trump.

TRODS DETTE er der frygt for, at USA også i fremtiden vil tilgive Israel alle nye brud på våbenstilstanden. Det sidste har vi fået bekræftet, når USA siger, det går godt, selv om rigtig mange palæstinensere siden våbenhvileaftalen er blevet dræbt af israelske styrker, og den fulde åbning for nødhjælpen stadig ikke er realiseret på grund af israelsk obstruktion. 

Der er begrundet mistanke om, at Netanyahu og hans ekstremistiske koalitionspartnere kun midlertidigt har bøjet sig for det amerikanske pres, men lurer på ethvert påskud til at genoptage udryddelseskrigen mod Gaza. Derfor er der brug for permanent ’Bibi-sitting’ med amerikanske regeringsfolk permanent til stede i Israel for at holde ’Bibi ’Netanyahu fast på aftalen. Vi må håbe, at det faktisk sker.

Israels og USA’s fælles kampagne mod FN’s organisation for de palæstinensiske flygtninge -UNRWA – er i øvrigt en selvstændig blokering for hurtig og retfærdig fordeling af nødhjælp, for UNRWA har som de eneste folk og apparat inde i Gaza til effektivt at løse opgaven. Men Israels krig er ikke kun mod palæstinenserne, men mod FN og alt hvad verdensorganisationen har forsøgt at gøre for at lindre og løse konflikten de seneste 78 år.

Afgørende svagheder ved Trumps 20 punkts fredsplan er, at der ingen udsigt er til hurtig indsættelse af en international fredsstyrke til at demilitarisering af Hamas og Israels tilbagetrækning fra den halvdel af Gaza-striben, som fortsat holdes besat. Desuden indeholder planen intet om at standse de voldsomme overgreb med røveri af land, mord og brand fra militante bosættere og israelsk militær, der medfører forceret etnisk udrensning af palæstinensere på Vestbredden. Der er ingen som helst sikkerhed for en vej til retfærdighed og sikkerhed for palæstinenserne – endsige en begyndende genopbygning af et Gaza, der er jævnet med jorden. 

PALÆSTINA BEHØVER en ny ledelse, der har autoritet. Det er et skræmmende udtryk for Israels modstand mod fred og frihed for palæstinenserne, at Marwan Barghouti ikke har været blandt dem, der som del af den seneste gidseludveksling blev løsladt fra israelsk fangenskab. Barghouti er den mest populære palæstinensiske leder, han er ikke Hamas, men tilhænger af en retfærdig fred med Israel. Han kunne blive Palæstinas Mandela, hvis der kom en forhandlingsvillig modpart, som det skete i Sydafrika.

Der er overvældende behov for, at Europas og Mellemøstens lande gør alt muligt for at lægge maksimalt pres på Israel og nurse USA’s forfængelige præsident til at håndhæve sin 20 punkts plan – og til at sikre fremskridt på alt det, planen ikke omhandler. 

Det er vigtigt at forstå, at en del mennesker i Europa, mange i USA og det store flertal i Israel har været under en blanding af massiv fornægtelse af og mangelfuld information om krigsforbrydelser og folkemord. Fornægtelsen er hjulpet på vej af flere målrettede drab på journalister inde i Gaza end det er set i nogen anden konflikt. 

Vi må nu insistere på fri adgang for medierne til at dokumentere den civile massedød og totale ødelæggelse af Gaza. Afdækningen af forbrydelserne kan styrke sagerne om folkemord og krigsforbrydelser ved Den Internationale Domstol og Straffedomstolen. Det kan især bidrage til en afgørende erkendelse, ikke mindst hos folk i USA og Israel, der har været fornægtere: Israel er den militære supermagt i Mellemøsten. Men med den hidtidige kurs og ledelse vil landet være stemplet som paria-stat, der aldrig kan få varig fred. Åbenhed og opgør med Israels krigsforbrydelser vil være et vigtigt første skridt i en lang proces hen mod en tilstand i det historiske Palæstina, hvor israelere og palæstinensere har samme frihed og samme rettigheder. 

Indlægget blev bragt i Politiken 5. november 2025

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