NYT: Minneapolis and Gaza Now Share the Same Violent Language. By Thomas L. Friedman Jan. 25, 2026 明尼阿波利斯與加沙如今共享同一套暴力語言。《紐約時報》專欄作家湯馬斯·佛里曼 2026年1月25日

Every day now, I sit at my computer and ask myself: What is there left to say about the two news stories I care about most? One is unfolding in my hometown, on the banks of the Mississippi River; the other is unfolding on the West Bank of the Jordan and on both banks of the Wadi Gaza.

Which video should I linger on longest? The footage of Renee Good, shot in the face by an ICE officer in Minneapolis while she was clearly trying to evacuate the scene? Or the video from Saturday of federal agents shooting Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care nurse, after he tried to help a woman who was being pepper-sprayed? Or perhaps the video from Wednesday showing the aftermath of Israeli strikes that killed three Palestinian journalists, among others, in Gaza? The journalists had been working for a committee providing Egyptian aid and were documenting its distribution at a displacement camp. Or perhaps the videos of Hamas executing rivals and refusing to yield, despite the fact that the war the group ignited on Oct. 7, 2023, has resulted in nothing but catastrophe for Palestinians?

These stories have much more in common than you might think. All are driven, in my view, by terrible leaders who prefer easy, violent solutions to the hard work of negotiated problem-solving. These leaders see an iron-fisted approach as the best way to win their next elections: President Trump in the 2026 midterms; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who is expected to call elections around the same time; and Hamas, in its desperate effort to lead the Palestinian movement in the postwar era, despite having lost the war.

Hamas and ICE also share one very visible trait that I never thought I’d see in the United States: Almost all of their foot soldiers wear masks. My experience as a reporter in the Middle East taught me that people wear masks because they are up to something bad and don’t want their faces captured on camera. I saw it often in Beirut and in Gaza; I never expected to see it in Minneapolis. Since when have America’s domestic policing forces, charged with defending the Constitution and the rule of law, felt the need to hide their identities?

I understand why Hamas fighters wear masks — they have both Israeli and Palestinian blood on their hands and fear retribution. But if you placed a photo of an ICE officer next to a Hamas militiaman in a news quiz, I would defy you to tell them apart. Memo to the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem: That is not a good look. What are you hiding?

Good and Pretti were both clearly present as observers — and trying to defend others — yet both were drawn into the chaos and shot at close range by agents who should never have pulled a trigger. Yet the Trump team insists that ICE is blameless. That is not how you build legitimacy for a government effort to track down and deport illegal immigrants.

That same instinct for “fire, ready, aim” is one of the morally corrupting legacies of Israel’s war in Gaza. One of the Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli airstrike on Wednesday, Abdel Raouf Shaath, had worked for years as a cameraman for CBS News and other outlets; the others were local journalists Mohammad Salah Qishta and Anas Ghneim. They were reportedly on assignment to film aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee when their vehicle was targeted.

Really? Was that the only way to handle the situation during a cease-fire? Immediately launch an airstrike and ask questions later? Israel can assassinate nuclear scientists in Iran in the dead of night from 1,200 miles away, yet it can’t distinguish a journalist from a combatant in broad daylight next door? It’s shameful. This comes only months after Israeli forces killed the Reuters journalist Hussam al-Masri on the stairs of Gaza’s Nasser Hospital in August.

Netanyahu apologized for that earlier killing. But regarding the three journalists killed last week, the Israel Defense Forces released a boilerplate statement saying troops identified “several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas” and “struck the suspects who activated the drone.” The I.D.F. added that details are being reviewed. That is what it always says. That is how a nation and an army loses its soul.

Here is what is really happening: Netanyahu is running for re-election. Israel currently occupies approximately 53 percent of the Gaza Strip, with Hamas holding the other 47 percent. Trump — with help from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey — is pushing for Hamas to disarm, for its military leaders to leave and for the organization to become a purely political entity. In return, Trump expects Israel to begin a withdrawal toward its own border.

Netanyahu knows that if he runs for election with Hamas still holding political influence in Gaza and the I.D.F. pulling back, he will be savaged by the far-right extremists in his coalition. Those allies don’t just want to stay in Gaza; they want to annex the West Bank. So Bibi wants the war to continue; he wants to provoke Hamas into fighting so he never has to withdraw.

Meanwhile, Hamas is clinging to its weapons to maintain control on the ground. Even if forced to become a political entity, it will do everything in its power to hijack the technocratic Palestinian government the Trump administration is trying to install.

Back at home, Trump seems to believe the chaos in Minneapolis will work for him in November — even though polls show a majority of Americans disapprove of ICE’s tactics. He is betting he can run on a “law and order” platform fueled by anti-immigration sentiment.

There is, however, another view inside the White House. Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis last week to urge local officials to cooperate with federal agents to “lower the temperature and lower the chaos.” Suddenly, the cynical Vance — of all people — was the voice of calm and reason. I suspect he was channeling the fears of Republican lawmakers who worry that ICE’s activities could lead to an electoral disaster in the midterms.

To my friends and family in Minnesota: Stay proud of the way you are documenting abuses and standing up for your neighbors — those with legal papers and those without them — who abide by the law, work hard and enrich our city. But it is vital that this campaign be accompanied by a loud commitment to immigration reform that both controls the border and creates a legal pathway to citizenship.

The winning message remains: high wall, big gate. Control the border, but increase legal immigration. Democrats must never forget that one reason Trump returned to power was the previous administration’s failure to control illegal immigration. Independent voters still care deeply about that.

Trump, Bibi and Hamas each have their eyes on the prize: the 2026 elections. The people of Minnesota, Israel and Gaza must keep that in mind. Because if Trump maintains control of Congress, if Bibi wins re-election and if Hamas seizes control of the Palestinian movement, all three societies will head into a darkness from which recovery will be agonizingly difficult.

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Thomas L. Friedman is the foreign affairs Opinion columnist. He joined the paper in 1981 and has won three Pulitzer Prizes. He is the author of seven books, including “From Beirut to Jerusalem,” which won the National Book Award.

如今每天坐在電腦前，我總自問：對於最關切的兩則新聞，還有什麼話可說？一則發生在我的家鄉，密西西比河岸邊；另一則在約旦河西岸及加薩河谷兩岸輪番上演。

我該對哪段影片投注最長久的凝視？是蕾妮·古德在明尼阿波利斯遭移民及海關執法局（ICE）官員近距離射擊臉部的畫面——當時她正試圖撤離現場；或是週六的影片：聯邦探員槍擊重症監護護士亞歷克斯·傑佛瑞·普雷蒂，只因他試圖幫助一名遭胡椒噴霧攻擊的女性；抑或是週三的影像：以色列空襲加薩後，包括三名巴勒斯坦記者在內的罹難者遺體散落遍地。這些記者隸屬埃及援助委員會，當時正在流離失所者營地記錄物資分發過程。或者，該看哈瑪斯處決異己、拒不屈服的影片？儘管該組織於2023年10月7日點燃的戰火，帶給巴勒斯坦人的唯有災難。

這些事件間的共通點遠超想像。在我看來，全源自糟糕的領導者——他們慣用粗暴的暴力手段，迴避艱難的協商解方。這類領導者視鐵腕壓制為贏得下次選舉的最佳途徑：川普著眼2026年期中選舉；以色列總理班傑明·納坦雅胡預計同期舉行大選；哈瑪斯則在戰敗後仍孤注一擲，企圖戰後繼續主導巴勒斯坦運動。

哈瑪斯與ICE還共享一項令人震驚的特質，我從未想過會在美國目睹：他們幾乎所有基層人員都戴著面具。中東採訪經驗告訴我，蒙面者往往心懷不軌，唯恐面容被攝入鏡頭。在貝魯特與加薩屢見不鮮的景象，竟出現在明尼阿波利斯。何時起，捍衛憲法與法治的美國國內執法力量，竟需隱藏身分？

我理解哈瑪斯戰士蒙面——他們雙手沾滿以色列人與巴勒斯坦人的鮮血，懼怕復仇。但若將ICE官員與哈瑪斯民兵的照片並列，誰能輕易分辨？致國土安全部長克莉絲蒂·諾姆的備忘錄：這絕非正面形象。你們究竟隱匿什麼？

古德與普雷蒂顯然皆以觀察者身分在場，且試圖保護他人，卻雙雙被捲入混亂，遭本不該扣扳機的執法人員近距離開槍。然而川普團隊堅稱ICE毫無過失。此種態度豈能為政府追查並驅逐非法移民的行動建立正當性？

這種「先開火、後瞄準」的慣性思維，正是以色列加薩戰爭道德腐化的遺毒之一。週三遭以軍空襲身亡的巴勒斯坦記者阿布杜爾·拉烏夫·沙阿斯，曾長期擔任哥倫比亞廣播公司等媒體攝影師；另兩位遇難者是當地記者穆罕默德·薩拉赫·基什塔與安納斯·格奈姆。據報他們當時正執行拍攝埃及救援委員會分發物資的任務，車輛卻成為攻擊目標。

果真如此？停火期間唯有空襲一途？總要先行轟炸再事後追問？以色列能於深夜從1200英里外暗殺伊朗核科學家，卻無法在光天化日下的鄰境區分記者與戰鬥人員？實屬可恥。這距離以軍去年八月在加薩納賽爾醫院樓梯間槍擊路透社記者胡薩姆·馬斯里僅數月之隔。

納坦雅胡曾為早前的記者遇害事件道歉。但針對上週三名記者之死，以色列國防軍僅發布制式聲明，稱部隊識別出「數名操作哈瑪斯無人機的可疑人員」並「擊斃啟動無人機者」，同時表示細節尚在調查中。一如既往的說辭。一個國家與軍隊正是如此逐步喪失靈魂。

真相其實是：納坦雅胡正為連任鋪路。以色列現佔據加薩走廊約53%區域，哈瑪斯控制其餘47%。川普在埃及、卡達、土耳其協助下，正推動哈瑪斯解除武裝、軍事領導人離境，轉型為純政治組織。作為回報，川普要求以色列開始向邊境撤軍。

納坦雅胡深知，若在哈瑪斯仍握有加薩政治影響力、以軍卻後撤的狀況下競選，將遭聯合政府中的極右翼勢力猛烈抨擊。這些盟友不僅要固守加薩，更欲兼併約旦河西岸。因此比比（納坦雅胡暱稱）需要延續戰爭；他要激怒哈瑪斯反擊，以迴避撤軍。

與此同時，哈瑪斯緊抓武器維持實地控制權。即使被迫轉型為政治實體，也將竭盡所能劫持川普政府試圖建立的技術官僚型巴勒斯坦政府。

在美國本土，川普似乎相信明尼阿波利斯的亂局有利於其十一月選情——儘管民調顯示多數美國人不認同ICE戰術。他押注反移民情緒能助其以「法律與秩序」綱領贏得選戰。

然而白宮內部另有聲音。副總統傑德·萬斯上週親赴明尼阿波利斯，敦促地方官員與聯邦探員合作以「降溫止亂」。向來憤世嫉俗的萬斯竟成為理性與冷靜的代言人，我懷疑他轉達了共和黨議員的憂慮——擔心ICE行動可能導致期中選舉崩盤。

致明尼蘇達的親友們：請繼續以記錄暴行、守護鄰人為榮——無論是持合法文件者或無證者，只要遵守法律、勤奮工作、為城市貢獻，都值得捍衛。但至關重要的是，這場行動需伴隨響亮的移民改革承諾：既要管控邊境，也需建立合法的公民身分取得途徑。

致勝方針始終是：高牆大門。嚴控邊境，但增加合法移民。民主黨絕不可忘記，川普之所以重掌大權，部分原因正是前任政府未能遏止非法移民。獨立選民對此仍高度關注。

川普、比比與哈瑪斯各自緊盯目標：2026年選舉。明尼蘇達、以色列與加薩的民眾必須銘記於心。因為若川普維持國會控制權、比比贏得連任、哈瑪斯奪取巴勒斯坦運動主導權，這三個社會都將陷入漫長黑暗，復原之路艱難無比。

《紐約時報》致力於發表多元化的讀者來函。歡迎分享對本文或任何報導的觀點。投稿指南與電子郵件地址如下：letters@nytimes.com。

湯馬斯·佛里曼為《紐約時報》外交事務專欄作家，1981年加入報社，三度獲普立茲獎。著有七本書籍，其中《從貝魯特到耶路撒冷》獲美國國家圖書獎。