Everyone has come to the aid of the Ukrainian people and for good reason. But for people of south Asian, Black and Arabic descent, sympathy has been lacking, if not missing altogether.
As Ukrainians seek refuge from their war-torn homeland, aided by extensive volunteer organisations established in response to the conflict that began with the 2014 Donbas war, Polish authorities have extended a warm welcome. Unfortunately, the situation differs significantly for individuals of Black, South Asian, and Arabic descent.
The extreme brutality of the conflict in Ukraine reverberated across the globe. A neighbouring occupier, which had maintained control over significant portions of territory for almost eight years through a proxy conflict in Donbas and had unlawfully annexed the Crimea region, ultimately took the action that had long been a concern for many Ukrainians.
But the conflict has left everyone scratching their heads.
News outlets unabashedly made numerous veiled and, at times, overtly racist statements, suggesting distinctions between the events unfolding in Ukraine and those elsewhere. Comments from NBC’s reporter Charlie D’Agata, in particular, resonated due to their tone, underlying intentions, or perhaps even an acknowledgment of prejudice within his own remarks. He stated:
“This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively European […] city where you wouldn’t expect that, or hope that it’s going to happen.”
Another reporter declared: “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed” which others noted were words right out of Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf.’
But it didn’t stop there. Al Jazeera’s presenter Peter Dobbie said Ukrainians escaping war were “prosperous, middle-class people” who are “…not obviously refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war; these are not people trying to get away from areas in North Africa, they look like any European family that you would live next door to.”
Al Jazeera issued an apology, although their reporters, like many others, expressed their thoughts and feelings about non-white individuals. Whether it was accidental or deliberate, it seems unlikely to be mere slips of the tongue, as these remarks were articulated in complete paragraphs.
What western (largely white) reporters fail to mention are the countless wars that have been fought in Europe, without even counting European coup-d’etats. Here is a list of recent conflicts on European soil:
- The Serbian war against Bosnia where genocide against 14,000 Muslim people systematically killed for their religious beliefs occurred (1992 – 1995)
- The Georgian civil war between the Ossetia and Abkhazia (1991-1993)
- The war of Transnistria between Moldova, Russia and Transnistria (1992)
- Kosovo war (1998-1999)
- The Northern Ireland conflict between the UK & the IRA (1950s/60s – 1998)
- NATO conflict with Serbia (1999)
- Russo-Georgian war (2008)
- The Donbas war (2014 – present)
Fast forward to today, and we witness conflict across all of Ukraine, including regions that are commonly referred to as “civilised.” In these supposedly peaceful places, civil unrest has taken the form of riots, including incidents in the UK, France, Germany, and the USA. Notably, Britain dealt with insurgency from the IRA, and guerrilla warfare was a prevalent feature in Belfast during the period known as “the Troubles,” which only recently concluded.
The United States grapples with its own challenges, notably in the form of tragically frequent school shootings exacerbated by lenient gun laws. Additionally, there has been an increase in armed citizens, leading to armed confrontations involving federal agencies, law enforcement, cults, and militias. Not too long ago, a mass shooting occurred in Las Vegas, and a significant number of “civilised” individuals attempted to occupy the Capitol Hill building.
Many conflicts in the Middle East can be attributed to Western military intervention, including NATO’s involvement in Libya, the United States and British-led invasion of Afghanistan after years of support for the Taliban, the invasion of Iraq by the United States, Britain, and their allies after years of supporting Saddam Hussein, the rise of Daesh, the Syrian civil war following years of support for Bashar Al Assad, and U.S. involvement in Northern Iraq to oust Daesh from its territories. These are just a few examples of a much larger issue.
The occupation of Ukraine by Russia, which effectively began in 2014, shares similarities with Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Israel’s encroachment into Palestinian territory started in 1948, following its declaration of intent to establish a state, leading to the displacement of thousands, if not millions, of people from their homes through force, resulting in significant death and destruction. Israel’s actions, not representative of Judaism as a whole, have been widely criticised by the United Nations and numerous human rights organizations. These actions have even prompted investigations by the International Criminal Court due to concerns about human rights violations.
The difference between Palestine and Ukraine? Palestine’s people are not white and Israel did not face sanctions nor widespread condemnation from the European Union, only a mild tut in the direction of the Knesset. However, Ukraine’s invasion sparked mass international boycotts, whereas sanctions of Israeli products are largely illegal worldwide.
Volunteer fighters travelling to Syria to fight Assad’s regime including white, Arab and south Asian people from Europe were prosecuted upon their return home, despite NATO forces consistently facing Syria through military functions. However, fighters leaving Europe to resist the Russian army in Ukraine have been applauded for their actions.
As you read this, refugees fleeing war in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are sleeping on the border with the EU in freezing temperatures consistently at risk of hyperthermia. Their entry to seek refuge has been consistently denied. Though, for Ukrainians the story is colossally different.
This isn’t to say that what the Ukrainian people are going through isn’t noteworthy, because the magnitude of the their experience is inexplicably terrifying. However, selective justice is a telling example of not only imperialist protectionism, but how the West values different people.
What is happening is downright hypocritical. So we ask, when will extreme sanctions enacted upon Russia be placed upon Syria government for atrocities carried out upon its people? Myanmar for their genocide of the Rohingya, for China’s genocide of Uighur peoples, for Israel’s violation of international law? And quite possibly for the recent threats by Serbia against Bosnia? I will tell you where they’re stored – in a metaphorical bank reserved for White nations. ‘Whataboutisms’ are usually sneered at, but truthfully, they’re helpful in highlighting apathy and prejudice on both sides.
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