Peacemakers

There is rejoicing as peace has started to return to the heart of the war-ravaged Middle East and a ceasefire has come into force between Israel and Hamas in the presence of some of the top leaders of the world.

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It is heartening to see the process being prefaced by two distinguished peacemakers - winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela and US President Donald Trump - graciously lauding each other for their endeavours to establish peace in their own ways. Spotlight was on the Nobel Peace Prize this year as Trump had been outspoken about his desire for the award, taking credit for ending several global conflicts. He had regularly brought it up, including during his address to the UN General Assembly in September.

This triggered speculation how the US President would react if the Nobel Committee did not choose him for the honour, given Trump's track record of behaving belligerently if his wishes were not fulfilled. Predictably, moments after Machado was declared the winner, the White House accused the Nobel Committee of putting “politics over peace” for awarding its most coveted prize to the Venezuelan pro-democracy activist ignoring the claims of the US President.