Right in the centre - In search of truth

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Published on Thursday, February 13, 2025

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Amid the flood of information that washes over us every day, I long for news media, academics and the general public to actually think about their responses and their reactions.

Lately, the largest source of information by far has been Donald Trump’s office. The newly elected United States President has been issuing seemingly endless proclamations and obviously with mixed reviews.

Some people think that everything Trump says or does is wonderful. Some think everything he says or does is terrible, despicable even. Neither extreme is true.

Consider his suggestion to rebuild Gaza under control of the United States. Some say it’s ridiculous, some say it’s illegal and unprecedented. However, consider the facts. Gaza is an area about 24 miles long and six miles wide. I think it’s smaller than an average rural municipality in Manitoba. It is basically a defeated country, in a war that certain Hamas backed citizens of Gaza caused. They invaded Israel, killed several hundred people and took many prisoners. The buildings and infrastructure have been destroyed by the Israeli attacks. Thousands have died, hundreds of thousands of people are displaced. The roots of the Palestinian-Israel conflict goes back many centuries. I have been told that Israel at one point in time backed Hamas. A quick internet search shows “Hamas was initially discreetly supported by Israel as a counter-balance to the secular Palestine Liberation Organization.”

So what is the solution to this conflict that can be somewhat traced back 3,000 years.

Consider that Gaza has about 2.2 million people in that little area, half of which is urban, half is agricultural. It’s been reported that 80 per cent of its income has been foreign aid. Foreign aid money that arguably went into building Gaza also went into bomb shelters, bombs, armaments and drones. It is now destroyed and they really have nobody to blame but themselves. 

Trump’s idea on Gaza may be  outlandish and unpopular,  but it is  not without precedent.

In 1918, World War I ended with the defeat of the Germans. Many of Germany’s assets and colonies were divided up among other countries. My understanding is that the Congo was a German colony and was given to Belgium to compensate for how the WWI devastated that country. 

After World War II, many pieces of Europe and Germany were divided up. And guess who financed and guided a lot of the re-development? The United States did.

Trump’s plan is not new, re-building war torn countries has been going on for years. 

Any plans for Gaza, including the two state idea, will be difficult and long suffering. 

If people or countries object to Trump’s plan, then let them come up with a better one. Maybe that’s what Trump is looking for. Trump’s proposals and proclamations seem outrageous. Some say he is an immoral man but that alone didn’t seem to sway the American people from voting for him. It didn’t sway them from voting for a past list of presidents who were less than pristine in behaviour either. No matter how much we may dislike Trump and his ideas, we are likely faced with four more years of him.

I think our lives will be a lot easier if we have strong leaders in Canada to make a strong case for Canada and Canadians. Not everything Trump says is wrong, but sorting out the truth from the fiction will keep us busy.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the newspaper staff.