Zelensky addresses Knesset; supports the occupation
JVL Introduction
This Opinion piece published in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz outlines some serious concerns about the double standards in Zelensky appealing for support from an Israeli Knesset that continues to treat Palestinians appallingly. We back all calls to end the war on Ukraine but it is vital that we also call for an end to hypocrisy if we are to end war and not just this war. Like the author, we recognise the courage of the Ukrainian people and offer our solidarity but must also note that Zelensky has nationalised all TV news and restricted opposition parties
This article was originally published by Ha'aretz on Mon 21 Mar 2022. Read the original here.
Why I Didn’t Listen to Zelensky’s Speech to Israel
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I wholly understand and sympathise with Odeh’s point of view.
If you recognise Zelensky isn’t perfect, nor a super-hero, but simply a talented, principled, flawed human being doing his absolute utmost to stop Putin obliterating Ukraine (and human decency) within the next few weeks, then it may be easier to forgive him his narrowly focused pragmatism.
Zelensky always pitches his communications very precisely at the emotions of the particular audience he’s addressing – WW2 and Churchill for us, Pearl Harbour for the USA, etc. That’s what he HAS to do, if Ukraine is to coax from the rest of the world the weaponry, sanctions and diplomatic support necessary to defeat a much bigger, much better armed and totally ruthless enemy.
Israel is a particularly important audience for Zelensky as the Iron Dome technology Israel controls may provide Ukraine’s only possible substitute for the “No Fly Zone” NATO rightly won’t offer.
Like Odeh (probably), I cringed somewhat when Israel offered to host the thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Putin’s violence. It’s shamingly ironic that such refugees would most likely be forcibly “resettled” on Palestinian land, to the further detriment of the Palestinian population suffering from Israeli violence. I can only hope the displaced Ukrainians gain refuge in other nations …
Excellent piece from Odeh Bisharat, Zelensky has some serious quesions to answer. He should be likening Russia’s attack on Ukraine to Israel’s attack on Gaza, killing thousands of innocent people. It’s yet another example of how supporters of the racist State of Israel can turn fact on its head and get others to believe it.
Odeh Bisharat has eloquently and succinctly expressed what many of us have been saying since the beginning of the Russian invasion -especially as we remember that it was Zelensky who talked of the ‘poor Israelis’ as they hammered Gaza! His point about the bolstering of Jewish settlements is more than well made.
At least the situation does give us ample opportunities to compare and contrast the sufferings of the Ukrainians and Palestinians. Indeed, when the Russia – Ukraine conflict comes to an end and the intense spotlight on it becomes dimmer, I would hope that a much brighter spotlight will be able to be focused on Israel/Palestine. In the meantime, of course, the legal battles with the likes of the EHRC and the Labour apparatchiks need to be supported.
How beautifully Odeh Bisharat expresses the situation
Well done JVL for relaying this opinion piece.
Being constantly bombarded with propaganda, it becomes difficult to distinguish between our natural human/humane instinct to identify with people, or a people, in distress and the propaganda driven “must” to take sides with one regime or another. What if we reject both regimes involved in a conflict? Mr Bisharat links the situation in Ukraine to that in Palestine and in Syria. Rightly so. We may well wish to support a people and condemn the crimes a given regime or another commits against them, without having a single “racist” streak in our bones. Which is why being anti-Israeli is not being antisemitic…
This honest hard-hitting article in Ha’’aretz depressingly exposes the hypocrisy around the Israeli – Palestine ‘conflict’ . In his desperate appeal to the Israeli Government to protect Ukrainian Jews, President Zelensky appears blind to the parallel treatment of Palestinians ( including vulnerable women and children) driven relentlessly from their homes by the Israeli occupiers over so many decades.
An excellent article, Odeh Bisharat has very clearly spelled out the hypocrisy and double standards employed here.
Excellent informative article. Thank you.
Excellent article – and yes Zelensky does appear to have a double standard. Is he really so ignorant of the history of the Palestinians?
This article in Aljazeera explores some of the complexities:
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/3/18/indifference-to-ukrainian-suffering-could-prove-costly-for-israel
and it relates to – within Israel – anger of Israelis in that their govt should do more. It also (like Odeh Bisharat) draws a comparison with the situation of the Palestinians.
There’s so much more to the tragedy of Ukraine than we commonly are cognisant of. “Russian propaganda” is bandied about as if we weren’t also aware that propaganda is equally a weapon of words the West is so good at strewing around on our TVs, radios and in news bulletins. One only has to view Oliver Stone’s documentary film ‘Ukraine On Fire’ supplying a humdinger of recent Ukrainian history indicating how messed-up Ukraine is. The USA in Stone’s film is seen very much manipulatively embroiled in Ukraine. Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGQfiImnZHE Also, Russell Brand’s channel has thoughtful comments on Ukraine here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ZXTF2phNU An absolute ‘must’ to view and hear is USA journalist Lara Logan’s jaw-dropping exposition of her views on Ukraine link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvfyBBnHABE
Surely the other elephant in the room is that there are some very right-wing elements operating in Ukraine, which doesnt get Putin off the hook of course, but the Western media and political class are silent on it. They did this with Syria and Libya, calling Jihadis ‘rebels/freedom fighters’ and anyone who pointed out this fact was called an ‘Assadist’ or Gaddaffi apologist. We need working class opposition and its unlikely that labour will offer it, especially under Sir Keir.