Ukraine war and Palestine issue have no similar circumstance. A deep insight into the recent remarks, however, may prove enlightening.
From the early morning of February 24, Russia launched an attack against Ukraine. The entire world has been in wonder of the Ukrainian’s courage and perseverance during the first weeks.
Tens of thousands of non-military people grabbed up guns and joined Ukrainian military immediately after the first troops from Russia stepped in Ukraine. They possessed the resolve to protect their motherland against a military force that was undeniably stronger.
Even as bombs began raining down on towns, destroying military equipment and civilian neighborhoods, heroic servicemen and people kept defending their land. They stated unequivocally that they will battle for their country’s independence till they die.
Politicians and officials from all over the globe rushed to denounce Russia’s violence following this demonstration of decency and valor. They notably urged everybody to join Ukraine’s resistance troops.
The Foreign Minister of Israel was one of the leaders who joined the expressions of support for Ukrainians under Russian shell. Lapid went even further to describe the Russian war as “a serious violation of the international order.”
“Israel condemns that attack and is ready and prepared to offer humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian citizens. Israel is a country that has experienced wars, and war is not the way to resolve conflicts,” Israeli PM asserted.
Many people who are watching the fight from afar are unlikely to have noticed carefully the gist of what the Israeli prime minister has said. They may have also criticized him as simply another demagogue attempting to win political gain by making hollow promises of unity.
For people in Palestine, on the other hand, his solidarity with Ukraine and its people was a more shocking than the war.
Don’t Die in Palestine
Lapid’s words were an obvious show of dishonesty for Palestinian people. They have lived under Israeli rule and apartheid, as Amnesty labeled it, for seven decades.
Yair Lapid was not the only one who decried Russia’s incursion while overlooking Israel’s own conduct. Hundreds of Israeli people marched through Tel Aviv voicing support for Ukraine. Palestinian citizens of the capital stared astonished as they were passing, holding flags of Ukraine in hand and shouting “Free Ukraine.”
During the seven decades of its emergence, Israeli people has never march for the people in Palestine. More disappointing is that Israeli people certainly know what expects people in Palestine when they take to the street to shout “Free Palestine.”
The astonishment of the people in Palestine does not take roots only from Israel’s curious response. Western leaders and mainstream media has responded the Russian war in Ukraine in an unprecedented way following the WWII.
It seems that concepts like the Significance of Independence and National Identity and the criminalization of Occupation just took shape after aggressions against Ukraine. Ukrainian people have the right to fight occupiers using armament, but Palestinians don’t.
Palestinian have learnt much from the Ukraine war. They discovered that international regulating system exists and operates. When one population invades another’s territory, governments have the power and will to respond. Palestinians discovered that sanctions may quickly penalize the aggressors effectively. They discovered that civilian mortality is more than simply figures; they are real, live individuals who exist.
The insight has a deeper, and, filthy aspect. Politicians and media don’t serve all people in the world. They are at the service of special groups in specific geographical zones. If you want to die in a war, try to die in Ukraine, not Palestine, Syria, Yemen, or Sudan.
