We are facing not only a period of unapologetic imperialism to which virtually all Western countries are prepared to defer, but a return of medievalism, both in the sheer barbarity and scale of physical abuse, as witnessed in Gaza and in general Israeli brutality, and in use of kidnap and murder as methods of high policy. Legitimising the killing and kidnap of leaders of opposing states is of course a double-edged sword.Having sanctioned genocide, mass killings and deliberate destruction of medical facilities and staff, the mass murder of children, as well as the kidnapping and murder of heads of state, it is hard now to imagine almost any atrocity which the Western powers are in any moral position to condemn.

Two Montreal Jewish schools. Herzliah and Bialik school has had at least 14 different visits from active or former Israeli soldiers since October 2023. A school gym is also used to teach students Israeli military combat methods

In the specific case of the USS Liberty, the families of the military and civilian personnel who died in the attack (or since then) and the survivors deserve to have the assurance that the US did everything reasonably within its power to ascertain all the relevant facts of why Israeli forces attacked the Liberty. They also deserve to know why the federal government, so far, has declined to conduct a proper, comprehensive investigation to that end.

Leila Shahid, who was born Leila al-Husseini Shahid on July 13, 1949, in Beirut, Lebanon, and died on February 18, 2026, in Lussan, France, was a Palestinian diplomat, General Delegate of Palestine to France from 1994 to 2005, and General Delegate of Palestine to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg from 2005 to 2015.