What Russia is doing to Ukraine is horrific and should be condemned. There are thousands of Russians taking to the streets to oppose this war. All of them deserve our support unequivocally and without prejudice.
But when people in the Global South, be it Palestine, or Libya, or Yemen, or Somalia, or Iraq, or Afghanistan, do the same, they are often ignored or maligned by Western media. In fact, the oppression or war crimes they experience, especially when produced by or approved of by Western states or NATO, is often whitewashed. As Orwell inferred, it is as if it “never happened.”
We need to see through the ruse. All human beings deserve a life free of occupation, apartheid, cruelty and state violence, whether they live in Kiev or Gaza. Cry for Ukraine, but don’t let your tears or sympathy be coopted by our own merchants and profiteers of war.
Kenn Orphan, March 2022
Kenn Orphan 