Weighing the Value of “Values”

A man waves a Palestinian national flag during a protest titled "Stop the genocide in Gaza" in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on October 6, 2025. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)

I was in Berlin this week for a conference on the EU’s relationship with Africa in the context of the continent’s growing ties with external actors, many of whom Europe finds acutely worrying.

The conference eerily landed on the two-year anniversary of the October 7 attack in Israel. I was in Berlin two years ago as well. In the weeks after the attack, one could see how Western powers’ post-WWII commitment to opposing antisemitism would eventually be weaponized in the service of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

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