We have a global problem. We, meaning the global community – countries and government leadership, reward those who are the aggressors. The bullies, the terrorists, those who commit ill against others. Those are the people who not only colour outside the lines of the law or societal norms, but obliterate basic human decency to do what they want and get what they want. And those are the ones who are winning – they shouldn’t be rewarded for their actions. The bad guys shouldn’t be winning.
Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada would recognize the Palestinian state if certain conditions were met like local elections, terrorist organization Hamas not being involved, etc. Canada has always supported a two-state solution for the Israel/Palestine issue. But there were far more conditions, in line with the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s.
This isn’t to say that there shouldn’t be statehood for Palestine, but the current circumstances looks like the world is rewarding negatives.
In 2006-07, Hamas, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization, took over the government of Gaza. It has ruled there undemocratically since, and entrenched itself in that land. In October 2023, Hamas led a terrorist attack that began this current war between it and Israel. Hamas’ attack on the Nova music festival in southern Israel and the slaughter of over 1,200 Israelis, plus attacks on communal farms (kibbutz) saw more killed, and taken hostage. Some of those hostages remain captive by Hamas nearly two years later. This led to Israel’s attack on Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel is no saint in this fight either. The war government of Benjamin Netanyahu is using Hamas’ holding of Israeli hostages as political cover to systematically target all Palestinians, not just Hamas. The Israeli military is among the best armed, and most highly trained in the world. It has been known, or presumed, to work with surgical precision – yet Netanyahu wields a sledgehammer to display all Palestinians, not just deal with the terrorists. This includes using food aid as a weapon – hence famine.
Hamas’ actions led to war, and Netanyahu’s actions have led to famine and turning public opinion – for which both are being rewarded. First world countries are beginning to line up to recognize Palestinian statehood, and Netanyahu remains in power despite being wildly unpopular in his own country and facing trial for alleged corruption. The bad guys (Hamas and Netanyahu) win, and the region loses.
U.S. President Donald Trump continues to disrupt the global trade norms, bullying countries to agree to spend more in his country, and tax (tariff) his own citizens for buying imported goods. Recent trade frameworks announced with the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and Great Britain all come with strings. Those countries have all agreed to spend millions or billion in the U.S. so that those countries’ imports will have a lower tariff. Not no tariffs, just a lower one.
Trump is abusing his executive powers, relying on faux national emergencies to justify tariffs – including Canada being a drug haven for imports to the U.S.. However, Congress lacks a collective spin to push back. Most countries are fearful to push back and are willing to take a bad deal rather than have no deal. The bad guy wins again.
If it wasn’t for the “terrible deal” that Trump signed with Canada and Mexico in 2018, the impact of Trump on the Canadian economy would be far more debilitating right now.
Still, it feels like the bad guys are winning: its okay to break the rules; bully countries; massacre innocent people; starve them; fight wars; evade prosecution; get a country; and win at all costs. Rewarding the bad guys.
This column was originally published in the August 6, 2025 print edition of the Morrisburg Leader.
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