The Nobel Peace Prize goes to Greta Thunberg (not Donald Trump)

President Trump is pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the Gaza war, among other reasons because he is convinced he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. He boasted of having ended more than seven armed conflicts around the world and is convinced he can end the Palestinian conflict, "which has lasted 3,000 years." To begin with, if you look at the list Trump himself released of resolved conflicts, you will see that some are still active and others are more like trade and investment agreements from companies friendly to the president, who thinks more in terms of business than peacemaking.

The funniest thing, however, is that the deadline for submitting nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize ended on January 31, eleven days after Trump took office. If one thing is clear, it is that he has very bad advisors, both because of this ignorance of dates and because he proposes a peace plan for Palestine that is completely unworkable and quite colonizing. Thus, the proposals to nominate Trump as a Nobel candidate by Congressman Darrell Issa on March 4 and Netanyahu in July arrived out of time.

But there are still three months left to propose nominations for next year. Given this, we must take into account the mistreatment that has been expressly inflicted on Greta Thunberg in Israeli prison, following her arrest for being part of the flotilla of boats heading to Gaza, and we must appreciate that she is a highly symbolic figure in the fight to reverse climate change and for the Palestinian cause. For all these reasons, I think it would be interesting if some Catalan institutions (academic, political, social, cultural, etc.) proposed her for the 2026 Nobel Prize, in a reasoned manner and before the end of the year.

There is also another motivation for this candidacy. Thunberg is no longer the 15-year-old girl who surprised and mobilized millions of young people. She is now 22 years old and represents a restless and vindictive youth. In recent months, in Nepal, Morocco, Kenya, the Philippines, Indonesia, Timor, Mongolia, Madagascar, Peru, Uruguay, and other countries, the so-called Generation Z has been mobilizing en masse to demand political, civil, and social change in their countries. There is a veritable global tsunami driven by young people, and a Nobel Prize for a charismatic person who represents them would be a boost to their demands. Young people want a future, not to be ignored. Furthermore, this youth demonstrating represents the complete opposite of what President Trump embodies, who denies climate change, promotes fossil fuels, and cuts budgets for healthcare, education, and cooperation. What Trump would deserve is a new Nobel Prize, the one for trade wars through the tariff system. He would surely win that one.

There has always been controversy surrounding the awarding of some Nobel Peace Prizes, such as those of Abiy Ahmed Ali (2019), Barack Obama (2009), and Henry A. Kissinger (1973), but in most cases, these have been given to individuals or institutions that, at the time of receiving the award, were champions of freedom. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize can be very useful for persecuted people and for those who lead necessary changes, promote peace processes, or denounce injustices. None of this falls on Mr. Trump, who lacks virtuosity and is excessively egotistical, but it does fall on Greta Thunberg and what she represents: values to be promoted everywhere and, as I said, especially among young people, who are also in the crosshairs of reactionary, populist, and racist forces. Please note: Norwegian Nobel Committee, Henrik Ibsens Gate 51, 0255 Oslo, Norway.