Today New York Times posted article by its most celebrated and senior foreign affairs columnist, Mr. Thomas Friedman, “What Is Happening to Our World”.

Worth reading following excerpts from the article.

“I referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as our first true world war, and why I feel that Hamas’s war with Israel is in some ways our second true world war.”

“I began thinking about this a few weeks ago, when I flew to Dubai to attend the United Nations climate summit. If you’ve never been there, the Dubai airport has some of the longest concourses in the world. And when my Emirates flight landed, we parked close to one end of the B concourse — so when I looked out the window, I saw lined up in a perfectly symmetrical row some 15 Emirates long-haul passenger jets, stretching far into the distance. And the thought occurred to me: What is the essential ingredient that Dubai has and Gaza lacks? Because both began, in one sense, as the convergence of sand and seawater at crucial intersections of the world.”

“It’s not oil — oil plays only a small role in Dubai’s diversified economy today. And it’s not democracy. Dubai is not a democracy and does not aspire to be one. But people are flocking to live here now from all over the world — its population of more than 3.5 million has surged since the outbreak of Covid. Why? The short answer is visionary leadership.”

“Compare that with Gaza, where the role models today are Hamas martyrs in its endless war with Israel.”

Mr. Friedman who poses himself as friend of Palestinians, is comparing Dubai’s progress with Gaza and implying that they could have progressed like Dubai if it was not for Hamas. He is implying that violent occupation of Gaza is not any hinderance to their progress, they are as free as citizens of Dubai. What a bizarre comparison and advocacy from a friend of Palestinians.

There is no Hamas in West Bank and more than 200 innocent Palestinians get killed every year by extremist settlers and security forces with their houses destroyed and farms ransacked. Palestinians are treated like animals.

Mr. Friedman writes that Gaza war is “our second true world war.” Really? Mr. Biden impulsively rushed to embrace Netanyahu and made it our war, and Biden is going to pay price for it in 2024. But what are our national interests in this war that makes it “our war”, except AIPAC say so, and which is costing thousands of innocent Palestinian lives, our values, our sense of justice, our credibility, and our standing in the world?

The strangest aspect of the article by Mr. Friedman is that Editors of NYT did not question it, because it was from Thomas Friedman, and posted it.