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On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared earlier the World Economic Forum successful Davos, Switzerland – the yearly Alpine gathering of the planetary elite – to state that present is “not a clip for caller imperialism oregon caller colonialism”.
This, of course, was a notation to the existent ambitions of Macron’s counterpart successful the United States, Donald Trump, who, successful summation to precocious kidnapping the president of Venezuela and repeatedly threatening to prehend the Panama Canal, has made a large woody of noise astir taking implicit the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland.
Trump himself took to the podium successful Davos connected Wednesday for a typically rambling speech, during which helium alternately babbled astir windmills, snidely complimented Macron connected his “beautiful” reflective sunglasses, and declared that helium would not “use force” successful the acquisition of Greenland – which helium besides accidentally referred to arsenic Iceland.
Indeed, Trump’s designs connected the land person got Europe’s panties successful a bunch, and the European Parliament has announced its unequivocal condemnation of “the statements made by the Trump medication regarding Greenland, which represent a blatant situation to planetary law, to the principles of the United Nations Charter and to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a NATO ally”.
Following Macron’s involution astatine Davos, Britain’s Guardian paper reported that European leaders had “lined up” successful absorption to the “new colonialism” denounced by the French leader.
Now, it goes without saying that the categorically demented Trump should by nary means beryllium encouraged successful his predatory planetary endeavours. But it bears pointing retired that, erstwhile it comes to colonialism and imperialism, Europe is hardly 1 to talk.
Let’s commencement with France, which continues to regularisation a twelve territories scattered crossed the globe – galore of them marketed arsenic exotic vacation destinations – including the Guadeloupe islands successful the Caribbean Sea and the archipelago of Mayotte successful the Indian Ocean.
While these territories person officially moved beyond lowly assemblage presumption to bona fide departments of the French Republic and thereby portion of the European Union, France can’t look to shingle the aged patronising imperial mindset and attendant superiority complex.
When successful December 2024, residents of cyclone-ravaged Mayotte – France’s poorest overseas territory – criticised the ineffective authorities effect to the disaster, Macron charmingly snapped: “If it wasn’t for France, you would beryllium successful mode deeper s***, 10,000 times more.”
How’s that for immoderate “new colonialism”?
As for the tried-and-true “old” colonialism, France has a peculiarly appalling way grounds connected that front, arsenic well. Recall the lawsuit of Algeria, wherever immoderate 1.5 cardinal Algerians were killed during the 1954-62 warfare for independency from French rule.
Although Macron antecedently acknowledged that French colonisation of the North African state was a “crime against humanity” that was characterised by rampant torture and different brutality, helium has consistently refused to connection a ceremonial French apology.
But it’s not conscionable France. Plenty of different European powers who are abruptly against colonialism besides person impressively savage legacies worldwide.
Indeed, from Africa to Asia to the Middle East and beyond, it’s hard to find truthful overmuch arsenic a speck of onshore that has not been affected successful immoderate mode oregon different by past centuries of European plunder, enslavement, wide killing, and akin atrocities.
The Spaniards decimated Indigenous populations crossed the Americas, Britain wreaked imperial havoc wherever it perchance could, and King Leopold II of Belgium presided implicit the deaths of 10 cardinal oregon truthful Congolese starting successful 1885, erstwhile helium established the “Congo Free State” arsenic his ain idiosyncratic property.
In 2022, Belgian King Philippe offered his “deepest regrets” for the abuses that transpired during the assemblage epoch but withheld an authoritative apology. As 1 article connected the juncture of the non-apology noted, beingness successful the Congo Free State was specified that “villages that missed rubber postulation quotas were notoriously made to supply severed hands instead”.
Over successful Ethiopia, meanwhile, British historiographer Ian Campbell estimates that 19-20 percent of the Ethiopian colonisation of Addis Ababa was wiped retired implicit a specified 3 days during the Italian subject concern of East Africa successful 1937.
The database of European atrocities goes on.
This is not, of course, meant arsenic a proposition that Trump should truthful person escaped rein to perpetrate immoderate crimes oregon plunder helium pleases. It is simply a affable reminder that you can’t beryllium selectively opposed to colonialism. (Greenland, by the way, was a full-out colony of Denmark until not truthful agelong ago.)
Speaking of assemblage atrocities, Europe has not, implicit the people of much than 2 years of Israel’s ongoing genocide successful the Gaza Strip, managed to beryllium sufficiently up successful arms implicit the wide slaughter, preferring to go the way of superficial criticism and de facto complicity.
As the sidesplitting continues nether the guise of a US-brokered ceasefire, Gaza is now, per the Trumpian vision, acceptable to beryllium administered by a alleged “Board of Peace” chaired by – who else? – Trump himself.
Also participating connected the committee volition beryllium Israeli premier curate and genocidaire extraordinaire Benjamin Netanyahu, which nary uncertainty heralds a “new colonialism” of the astir sinister variety.
Unfortunately for the world, however, blood-soaked hypocrisy is thing new.
The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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