Oozing racial, religious and geopolitical hypocrisy

Let us examine three compelling statements from within Europe to comprehend the continental hypocrisy and the malevolence of geopolitics — also rooted in the self-serving conduct of global finance institutions. Establishments of smaller, developing nations, particularly those in Global South, serve as the political supports for this duplicitous conduct of the larger European states. The three individuals being quoted here are Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission; French President Emmanuel Macron; and Yanis Varoufakis, Greece's former finance minister.

They all point to a concerning world — driven by brazen politics, a selective sense of justice, and an undeclared but very evident racial discrimination.

Let us commence with Ursula von der Leyen.

"We will not be outsourcing child protection and consent to Silicon Valley," Leyen stated in interviews to multiple European media outlets (January 12).

This response by Leyen reflected a commitment to the ideal of respect for the dignity of human beings, triggered by recent reports that thousands of women and teenagers, including public figures, had complained that their photographs published on social media had been "undressed" and placed in bikinis by Grok at the request of users.

Undoubtedly, the Grok@X act rightly outraged the affected individuals. However, Van der Leyen's staunch defence of children's rights (dignity) immediately reminded me of September 2025, when the international NGO, Save the Children, reported distressing details of the suffering inflicted upon Palestinian children by Israeli forces.

"Since October 2023, Israeli forces in Gaza have resulted in the average death of at least one Palestinian child per hour," Save the Children reported. "The number of children killed has now surpassed 20,000, representing approximately 2% of Gaza's child population. Furthermore, at least 21,000 children remain permanently disabled."

The report also noted that Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip resulted in the destruction or damage of 97 schools and the complete or partial destruction of 94% of hospitals.

In contrast, major European capitals remained largely silent, with some even providing financial and military support to Israeli forces, enabling them to continue what British politician Jeremy Corbyn referred to as "live genocide". It appeared that Palestinian children, despite their inherent worth, were not accorded the same level of consideration as those enshrined in the Universal or European human rights charter.

In response to Trump's repeated assertion that Greenland was a matter of "national security", French President Emmanuel Macron issued a stern warning to Donald Trump.

"If the sovereignty of a European country and its ally were to be compromised, the ensuing consequences would be unprecedented," Macron declared. "France will unequivocally stand in full solidarity with Denmark and its sovereignty."

This expression of solidarity, particularly regarding a land with a population of only a few thousand, resonated with a near-unanimous consensus within the European Union on the issue of sovereignty.

In contrast, the consciences of these Western nations remained unperturbed when the American special forces breached Venezuelan sovereignty and abducted President Maduro from his residence. Most Western media outlets were prohibited from employing the terms "kidnapping" or "abduction" and were instructed to describe the act as the "arrest/capture of Maduro" instead.

Since April 2022, these nations have been vociferously criticising the breach of Ukrainian sovereignty by Russia and have been prepared to provide additional financial assistance and military aid. However, they have simultaneously and meekly observed as Israeli forces reduced most of Gaza to rubble and expelled nearly two million Gazans, who have been compelled to reside in subhuman conditions, entirely at the mercy of Israeli forces.

Iran represents the latest installment in a series of duplicitous conduct by major Western powers regarding democracy and human rights. All of these nations, along with the mainstream media, joined the Trump chorus that embraced human rights.

Almost the entire European Union remains tight-lipped regarding Trump's call on the Iranian people to "go out and seize institutions". He asserted that assistance would be forthcoming and that there would be no moral or ethical considerations regarding Gaza, Venezuela or Iran. Furthermore, he expressed no reaction to the democratic backtracking in countries such as Pakistan, or Syria, where an ex-terrorist was greeted with fanfare by most nations.

Now, let us consider Yanis Varoufakis. The Greece's former finance minister made a shocking post on X after (January 15) experiencing personal insults during a Greek television broadcast.

"Ten and a half years ago, as I was resigning from Greece's finance ministry, I anticipated receiving criticism from an irate European and Greek establishment. The reason for this criticism was that I was the sole finance minister who unequivocally opposed yet another toxic eurozone bailout."

In 2015, Varoufakis resigned over extreme harsh conditions by the IMF and European creditors for rescue loans totaling €288 billion. His subsequent book, Any Adults in the Room, drew criticism from influential lobbies as it exposed the questionable nature of bailout packages offered by European and IMF creditors to indebted countries.

Over a decade on, Varoufakis continues to be the subject of vilification and ostracisation solely for his courageous stand against the IMF and European financial institutions. These institutions often align themselves with even the most oppressive dictators and rights offenders in order to protect their interests.

Is it realistic to suggest that the predominantly white Christian Global North does not accord significant importance to issues such as Palestine, Gaza, Iraq, Iran and Venezuela. Furthermore, the ideals of due diligence, good governance and democracy do not seem to influence the distribution of handouts (loans) provided by global or European finance institutions.

The moral of the story: Muslim Palestine, Gaza, Iraq, Iran and socialist Venezuela are children of lesser god for the predominantly white Christian Global North. And the ideals of due diligence, good governance and democracy hardly dictate the handouts (loans) by global or European finance institutions. Geopolitical interests determine them.