Popular family ties between Israelis and
Ukrainians have a history perhaps as long as the state of Israel itself. Many
holocaust survivors who were able to escape to Israel after the war had been
residents of Ukraine. In the latter stages of the Soviet era many Ukrainians
(not all in fact Jewish) were able to escape the USSR via Israel. There is as a
result a strong sense in Ukraine of the state of Israel being “one of the good
guys.” Similar, in fact, to the Ukrainian perspective on the actions of the
United States on the world scene.
As a result since the days of the Maidan
revolution, there have been references in Ukraine to Israel’s ‘success’ at
combating 'rebel armies' with their strong military force. This has always
made my skin crawl. Now, responding to Israel's Operation Protective Edge -- the all
out offensive against Gaza, now in it's fifth day -- the parallels
emerge but not between the actions of the Ukrainian and Israeli states, but rather
between the fate of the Palestinians and the fate of the civilians who do not
submit to Russian instigated separatists.
Ukrainians must inform themselves,
educate themselves about the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. About Israel's
incitement of violence and hatred towards Palestinians. Ukrainians have too
long feared contradicting the United States 'party-line' on Israel. Now the
parallels are clear between the on-going all-out attack (slaughter) on
Palestinians, and what Ukrainians can only fear will happen should the
annexation of Crimea continue and the terrorist, so-called separatists,
continue their hold on Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainians must show solidarity
with Palestinians.
Palestinians are denied their
humanity by Israel. A similar denial is evident in the Russian government's
treatment of the Crimean Tatars. Could this have been written about Russia in
Ukraine?:
'Israel
never really wanted peace. Israel has never, not for a minute, treated the
Palestinians as human brings with equal rights. It has never viewed their
distress as understandable human and national distress. The change will not
happen on its own terms within Israeli society, as long as that society
continues to behave as it does. The Palestinians have made more than one
mistake, but their mistakes are marginal. Basic justice is on their side, and
basic rejectionism is the Israelis' puview. The Israelis want occupation, not
peace.' Gideon Levy
A few details about the current siege on Gaza:
The overall death toll had passed
120, with 920 wounded. The Israeli army Twitter account said overnight strikes
“hit over 60 terror targets, making a total of 1,160 since the beginning of
Operation Protective Edge”. Israel has vowed no easing of its aerial
bombardment of Gaza.
These events aren’t random,
unexplained or isolated. They are an integral part of Israel’s military support
for illegal settlements, its denial of basic Palestinian human rights, and
a web of racist and apartheid laws and practices. The Israeli state
violates UN resolutions and international law with impunity. Over 500,000
Israeli settlers live in illegal settlements in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, travelling on roads, built on
Palestinian land, that Palestinians are banned from using, to their homes,
built on stolen Palestinian land. Palestinians are subjected to home
demolitions, checkpoints, arrests, and indefinite detention – not
randomly and occasionally, but daily and systematically.
**
In Ukrainian news, the
Ukrainian military has said 23 servicemen have died
in clashes with pro-Russian separatists across the east. This development threatens
to shatter slim western hopes of a truce in the three-month insurgency. Russia
is not backing down. International attention has shifted elsewhere, but the
abductions, kidnapping, torture and violence against civilians and between
'armed groups' continues.
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