It is incredible how quickly the war in Ukraine has disappeared from the news channels since the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel early on the morning of October 7. Even for the all-news television channels that broadcast news about Ukraine almost 24/7, it seems that the war in Ukraine has suddenly ceased to exist.
There is no business like show business.
On that fateful Saturday, the people invited to the television sets to comment on Ukraine because of their expertise in this part of the world had instead to give an overview of the Middle East, a science in itself that they did not necessarily master.
But if you are a seasoned professional in this digital world, this is not a problem. And the show must go on.
A colleague working for a TV station once said privately that she sometimes manages to look like an expert only because she Googles a topic 10 minutes before appearing on camera.
In the case of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the situation was easier.
On “our” side of the world – some call us the “golden billion” – we watch TV news channels such as BBC, CNN, France24, LCI, Euronews, Al Jazeera. We have our preferences, but in general, we trust the professionalism of these media.
In Ukraine, these stations provided uniform coverage. There was little doubt as to who the villain and the victim were.
But we can already see that the reports of Al Jazeera (based in Qatar, a country which financially supports Hamas) differ greatly from those of CNN, for example, or those of the French channels, which focus more on internal political divisions on who is to blame and under what conditions. .
This war will further exacerbate these divisions, as we are shown competing atrocities:Hamas terrorists massacring as many Israeli civilians as they could, including women, children and babies, and images from Gaza, where mothers mourn their children killed during Israeli bombings.
And with the total blockade of Gaza leaving a population without water, electricity, food and medicine, the propaganda war will only get worse.
Both wars have the potential for escalation: iIn the case of Ukraine, if Russia, intentionally or unintentionally, shoots down a fighter jet or sinks a ship of a NATO country, whether in the Baltic or the Black Sea.
The potential for escalation in the case of Gaza is even greater if “non-state actors” such as Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored Islamic militants based in Lebanon, join in the turmoil, or worse if Iran decides to go to war with Israel.
In the event of an escalation with Russia, we will quickly know where the nearest air raid shelter is. If there is an escalation with Iran, air raid shelters will be of no use: terrorists will strike anywhere.
It is no coincidence that the United States sent the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford near the coast of Gaza and is reportedly considering sending a second one.
The goal is not to directly engage terrorists – you don’t fight terrorists with aircraft carriers. You discourage governments, like that of Tehran, from doing stupid things.
The war between Israel and Hamas clearly benefits Russia, which is working to destabilize the Balkans to distract the West from Ukraine, but to no avail so far. This also helps Azerbaijan. Who the hell talks about Karabakh and the fate of the Armenians there today?
Some consider that Russia is not only indirectly benefiting from the situation, but has actively helped to organize a new war. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has no doubts about it. the Wagner mercenary group played a role.
This of course remains to be proven.
But the fact is that our European Union is in the middle of two wars at the gates of our continent. Some say both wars are unwinnable and will last a long time. Some say the goal is precisely to kill Europe – because Europe is an irritant to totalitarian Russia and the Islamists.
We need to at least be aware that we are being targeted because of what we represent. If only we could stop appearing naive, that would be a first step in the right direction.
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The roundup
Commissioner Thierry Breton supported the need to find a financing model for investments in the EU telecommunications sector and has advocated for more control and security in its infrastructure, given the growing geopolitical importance of the sector and competition with the United States and China.
The European Union wants reduce waste by encouraging recycling and reuse in its new packaging lawbut there is pressure to get an adequate definition and criteria for what constitutes “high quality” recycling.
Some were on their honeymoon, others were studying abroad, many were building new lives abroad. But when Israel called up its reserves and declared war this week, the response was quick and overwhelming.
The World Food Program called on Wednesday the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan are a “disaster upon disaster”, urging the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.
The European Commission has called on member states to adopt policies aimed at extending the life expectancy of citizensbut he made no concrete proposals and refrained from tackling controversial issues such as raising the retirement age.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged Turkey on Wednesday October 11 to respect its own agreement and let Sweden join the Western military alliance as soon as possible, after more than a year of delay.
European passengers were forced to wait longer to reach their destination in 2022 compared to 2021, The post-COVID rebound in air traffic, restrictions imposed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an acute lack of airspace capacity have combined to cause delays.
With a rise in disinformation about the Israel-Hamas conflict undermining social media platforms and European institutions responsible for enforcing new content moderation standards, some politicians are considering moving to other platforms.
Minors are particularly vulnerable to manipulation by terrorist organizations and additional measures are needed to quickly respond to this growing threataccording to a document from the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, dated October 10 and consulted by Euractiv.
Be careful with…
- Commissioner Nicolas Schmit meets Mr. Michael Ludwig, Mayor of Vienna, on Friday.
- Mr. Josep Borrell co-chairs the 12th EU-China Strategic Dialogue in China on Friday with Mr. Wang Yi, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- The Eurogroup meets on Monday in Luxembourg.
- The Environment Council meets on Monday in Luxembourg.
Opinions are those of the author
(Editing by Zoran Radosavljevic/Alice Taylor)
