Photo by Markus Spiske via Uplash.

It’s been almost two months since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, and the United States has already experienced drastic changes. From pulling out of the World Health Organization to changing the Gulf of Mexico’s name, America’s new president has made interesting modifications to the country as a whole. However, one of the most notable of these orders is the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. 

The European Bank defines the Paris Climate Agreement as an international treaty that aims to “hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” Trump’s abandonment of this agreement was predicted during his first presidency in 2017 when he stated that the U.S. would eventually leave the treaty. However, even though this decision was viewed as a foreseen circumstance, there are still concerns about what this means for Americans battling climate change. 

An article published by The New York Times, “Yes, There Has Been Progress on Climate. No, It’s Not Nearly Enough,” says that scientists believe that more drastic action is needed to keep global temperature at a safer increased limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius. In the same article, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, stated “we really don’t have much time left to shift course.” By most scientific accounts, the world is reaching the  point of no return regarding the global climate, but is it an active emergency? Many climate activists and scientific experts say yes. 

CEO of the European Climate Foundation, Laurence Tubiana, says, “The impacts of the climate crisis are also worsening.” He follows this by discussing the wildfires sweeping across Los Angeles and how America withdrawing from the exchange was unfortunate. However, he also says not to worry because the effort to slow climate change “is stronger than any country’s politics and policies.” 

While this might sound scary to Americans, solutions are still being explored to help the country slow climate change. In his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, former CEO and chairman of Microsoft Bill Gates writes that the best way forward is to lower the Green Premiums. Green Premiums refer to the difference in cost between carbon-emitting products and non-carbon-emitting products. Therefore, if America wants to see a difference in its carbon emissions, it must focus on lowering prices and adopting healthier, greener technology. 

Pulling out of the Paris Climate Exchange has been criticized by both sides of the political spectrum. However, President Trump stands behind his actions as he did back in 2017 when he stated, “The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries…” With this statement and the country’s leadership, it’s up to the American people to decide if they are up against a climate challenge or a crisis. 

The Hilltop Monitor thanks Dr. Gary Armstrong for providing insight and sources to help further the exploration of the topic at hand.

Photo by Bo Zhang via Uplash.

Sept. 8, 2024 marked the end of an olympic summer in Paris. The stakes were high, as Paris had not previously hosted the Olympics since 1924. Between broken records and social unrest, let’s dive into my main takeaways from Paris 2024!

1. Marketing in Paris

Paris has been in the spotlight all summer with these Olympic Games, which have shown Paris in a spectacular and elegant light. Indeed, it all began on the very first day with the ceremony on the Seine, which despite the rain sent out a strong message to the whole world. The urban marketing worked, and the visual spectacle outshone the sport, with the use of mythical sites such as the gardens of the Château de Versailles, the Eiffel Tower and the Palais Garnier. The magnificent city of Paris was worthily represented, and as a reward, 12 million spectators from all over the world attended the games–an all-time record. 

2. 126 Medals for Team USA

The American delegation was sparkling this year, taking a well-deserved first place on the medal table in terms of overall medals won. Once again, the USA demonstrated the power of sport as soft power, and this dominance only seems to be increasing. This year, the USA won 13 more medals than at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, with a total of 126 medals, including 40 gold, (equalling China in the number of gold medals, but with a greater number of medals overall).

3. Paralympics: a catalyst for change

The Olympic summer came to a close with two exciting weeks of Paralympic Games, marked by an all-time record for the largest number of participating delegations. The sporting performances were once again breathtaking, but the real challenge of the Paris Paralympic Games was to raise public awareness. Indeed, the Games served as a bridge to create a sense of unity not only between different countries but also with communities of people with disabilities. Some politicians even asked themselves how they could do more to help those living with disabilities. Valérie Pécresse, a French politician, expressed her desire to renovate Parisian transport systems to adapt them to be fully accessible. That’s what the Paralympic Games are all about: bringing us closer to isolated communities and inspiring positive change.

4.  When sports meets business

As with every Olympics, money is king, and the Olympics were particularly expensive, costing in excess of 10 billion euros. Indeed, with such a huge investment, the French government confiscated over a hundred student housing units for more than 3 months, and increased the cost of bus and metro tickets by almost 2.5 times the normal amount. These controversial decisions gave rise to numerous demonstrations and social demands.

5.  Hypocrisy in the land of human rights 

Every Olympiad brings its share of controversy, and this year’s Olympics were no exception. France has a reputation for openness, yet Muslim athletes were banned from wearing the hijab (a sign of belonging to Islam). This ban has also been criticized as anti-feminist. Further fueling these concerns, Steven Van de Vede, a Dutch volleyball player convicted on three counts of rape involving a minor, was allowed to participate in the Olympics. Although, the opening ceremony showed France to be a country of love and tolerance, these contradictions have been believed by many to run counter to the very spirit of sport.

Honorable Mention: Snoop Dogg, Paris Olympics true mascot

World-famous artist Snoop Dog made a sensational contribution to the magic of the Olympic Games. Snoop Dogg was hired by NBC as a presenter to cover certain sporting events, as well as a promoter for the Olympic Games. He seemed to be everywhere, and his charisma and humor brought a lot of levity. His energy was so iconic that these Olympics will be remembered as part of Snoop Dog’s legacy.

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault and violence. It also contains remarks from Israeli government officials demeaning the Palestinian people.

In an April 12, 2024 article, The Hilltop Monitor implied that acts of sexual violence committed by Hamas towards Israelis on Oct. 7 were called into question. There is substantial evidence, including from a United Nations report, that such acts did occur. It is crucial in journalism to believe victims of sexual violence and assault. The story should have reflected that different government officials and media outlets disagree on reports of weaponized rape.

A corrected version of the story is below:

This is the third article published in The Hilltop Monitor about the Israel-Hamas conflict. See also Alee Dickey’s October 2023 opinion piece on the initial Hamas attacks and the first article in my series on the origins and objectives of the conflict from Feb. 9, 2024.

Conflict Renews

“On the morning of Oct. 7,” Dickey’s article begins, “around 2,200 rockets raced toward southern and central Israel. The rockets targeted sites like the Nova Music Festival where attendees were forcibly taken as hostages; later, at least 260 bodies were discovered.” Since the publication of Dickey’s article, more facts have come to light about the initial attacks from Hamas.

According to Reuters, the initial attacks were multifaceted. Hamas rockets were merely the first strike of several. Two hours later, Hamas militants broke down barriers separating Gaza from southern Israel. The attacks caught several Israeli military bases off-guard in what can only be described as a severe intelligence failure; neither Israeli nor Western intelligence agencies foresaw these attacks.

The results were horrific. Witnesses at the Nova festival, a significant target of Hamas attacks, described rape, mutilation, and murder against civilians.

May Golan, Israel’s Women Empowerment Minister, told the BBC that she “spoke with at least three girls who are now hospitali[zed] for a very hard psychiatric situation because of the rapes they watched. They pretended to be dead and they watched it, and heard everything. And they can’t deal with it.”

It was reported that Hamas had ordered its militants to systematically rape Israeli women and girls. A December 2023 New York Times investigation found that “the attacks against [Israeli] women were not isolated events but part of a broader pattern of gender-based violence on Oct. 7.” 

Sexual violence did occur on Oct. 7; however, whether such violence was systematic on the part of Hamas is disputed. Independent investigations from the Intercept and Al Jazeera found significant problems with the New York Times investigation’s claims. The Intercept also reports that an episode of The Daily, a podcast created by the New York Times, covering the paper’s investigations failed to pass a fact check, and was not published as a result; Times representatives have denied this claim.

In the days that followed, Hamas claimed direct responsibility for the attacks. In an interview with NPR, senior Hamas official Ali Barakeh stated that the attacks were in response to “Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” asserting that the attacks were retaliatory. The Hamas official did not specify in this interview what crimes he had been referring to, but Israel has committed many crimes in this region.

The Israeli military could not effectively respond to these attacks; military forces were disorganized, so a defensive response was not possible on Oct. 7. A separate New York Times investigation found that the Israeli army “was undermanned, out of position and so poorly organized that soldiers communicated in impromptu WhatsApp groups and relied on social media posts for targeting information.” 

Yaakov Amidror, a retired Israeli general, told that same New York Times investigation that there was no Israeli plan to address a Hamas attack, saying that “the army does not prepare itself for things it thinks are impossible.”

Israel’s subsequent retaliation, on the other hand, was anything but poorly organized.

Lockdown

Almost immediately after Oct. 7, Israel heightened its trade blockade of the Gaza Strip, an area to Israel’s south. Blockades are nothing new for Gaza, as Gaza has been under blockade since 2007. However, the pre-attack blockade still permitted essential services through. Now, the Israeli government denied those essential services access to Gaza. 

Two days after the Oct. 7 invasion, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a total blockade of Gaza. The enhanced blockade represented “a complete siege … no electricity, no water, no food, no fuel.” Gallant added, “We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly.”

About a week and a half later, on Oct. 21, Israel lifted parts of the blockade, allowing minimal amounts of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza via the Rafah border crossing in Egypt. Even so, Israel’s invasion has been devastating to Gaza’s economy and well-being. Over 30,000 Palestinians have lost their lives, and more Palestinians are being killed by Israel every day. As of the time of writing, this number nears 33,000 people.

According to Human Rights Watch and the United Nations, Palestinian welfare is rapidly diminishing. As of December 2023, 1.9 million people in Gaza are internally displaced. The term “internally displaced person,” according to the UN Commission for Human Rights, refers to any person who is forced to leave their home or residence as a direct result of armed conflict. Such people are often referred to as “refugees.” For reference, the population of Gaza is 2.2 million people: meaning that 85% of Gaza’s population is (or has been) displaced.

This devastation has led Doctors Without Borders’s International Secretary General, Christopher Lockyear, to tell the United Nations Security Council, “[Palestinians are suffering] repeated displacement, constant fear and witnessing family members literally dismembered before their eyes.” Young children, even as young as five, have told Doctors Without Borders that they would “prefer to die [instead of remaining in Gaza].”

Some claim that this blatant disregard for civilian life violates the laws of war. Despite Israel’s loosening of the blockade, around half a million Palestinians in Gaza are starving. Regardless of whether Israel has loosened the blockade, intentional starvation of civilians is forbidden under international law. Israel has been accused of genocidal actions at the International Court of Justice as well.

Conclusions & Series Map

An important takeaway from the above descriptions of the Israel-Hamas conflict is that this war is going to be complicated. Both Hamas and the Israeli government have disrespected the laws of war and each other. We should expect, then, for histories to be clouded, for tensions to be high, conditions for civilians to be brutal, and for overall mistrust and obscuring of a way out. In my next article, I’ll discuss war crimes committed by all sides of this conflict. Later articles will cover what I believe to be the solution.