Palestine and Ukraine provide two diverging perspectives

The world is an unjust place where contradictory standards and political schisms are part of interstate realpolitik. States, international organisations and other entities shape the so-called rule-based order to fit their own interpretations of global affairs. Currently, this phoney system is clearly being manifested in the two bloody contemporary wars in Palestine and Ukraine where, despite clear similarities between the two, the international community is responding in a completely different manner.

Since the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories, the West has taken serious political and economic steps to punish Moscow for its violations of human rights and international law. Subsequently, the coalition of the US and Europe has been utilising every possible opportunity to isolate Russia by imposing sanctions, cutting-off trade and providing unconditional military support to Ukraine. Similarly, many Western nations, mainly the US, have initiated judicial procedures over alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces, and have been assisting Ukraine to boost its judicial capabilities. In May, the US announced the creation of the “Conflict Observatory” to provide evidence-based information about the war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, such as the use of anti-personnel mines in at least four regions of the country.

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However, these international principles are implemented and exercised selectively by the so-called champions of human rights. Palestinians have been living under the occupation of Israel’s apartheid regime with their survival at stake since at least 1967; many would say since 1948. Over that period, Israel has been violating human and religious rights as well as international law by building illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and transferring its own citizens there. Despite its inhumane killing of women and children and targeting of civilian infrastructure, no international body or state has condemned such actions in the strongest possible terms; sanctions of the kind imposed on Russia have probably never even been discussed, let alone imposed. Human Rights Watch has reported that Israel has been using white phosphorus bombs in the densely populated Gaza Strip since 2009. The use of such munitions against civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law. The reluctance of Western nations to take strong action or at least condemn Israel’s atrocities demonstrates their hypocrisy.

The role of the media is also shameful, with journalists demonising Russians and Palestinians while pushing the narratives of Ukraine and Israel respectively. Facts often matter little as propaganda comes to the fore. The media has become a potent tool for states to create false narratives, mobilise support and gain sympathy in a bid to justify their actions. With such selective coverage, Western media outlets add fuel to the fire and become biased mouthpieces of one side or the other.

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Palestinians have been facing such atrocities for decades

Since the start of the Ukraine war, the Western media has been highlighting Russia’s indiscriminate violence, and the targeting of residential and commercial buildings by Russian forces. Ukrainian refugees have been settled across Europe and welcomed with open arms and displays of support for their country. Palestinians have been facing such atrocities for decades, but the media coverage has been, and is, very different. The current bombing by Israel of the Gaza Strip and its 2.3 million population, mainly civilians, is an extension of what has been happening for the past seventeen years, at least. That’s when a siege was imposed by Israel on the territory; a siege which has been tightened as the bombs fall on Gaza. Eighty per cent of the Palestinians in Gaza are dependent on humanitarian aid which is not being allowed into the enclave by the occupation state. Israel has cut off electricity, water, fuel and food supplies. When Russia did this in Ukraine, Europe’s Ursula von der Leyen condemned it as “terrorism”. She has changed her tune now that Israel has done the same thing to the Palestinians in Gaza. Not all of this is reflected in the Western media’s coverage of Israel’s war against civilians.

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Another example of this hypocrisy is the favouring one nationalism over another. For the US and Europe, the principles of democracy and liberalism form the basis of their willingness to support any particular nation. Ukraine is a European country with similar values, so it enjoys the unconditional support of the West in its anti-Russian ethnic nationalism. This fits well with the Western objective of isolating Russia. In turn, this justifies Kyiv’s right to self-defence.

However, in the case of Palestine, the absence of liberal principles leads to prejudice and an unwillingness to condemn Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Despite its contempt for international law and violations thereof, Israel is backed without question by the likes of the President of the European Commission, von der Leyen, who said, “Israel has the right to defend itself, today and in the days to come.” She ignored the Israeli occupation and successive wars since 2008/9 against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Moreover, since the Hamas attack on 7 October, Israel has dropped 6,000 bombs on civilian infrastructure in Gaza. The Israeli air strikes have killed at least 2,800 people, one third of them children. When backing Ukraine’s right to self-defence, von der Leyen described Russian attacks against civilian infrastructure as “war crimes”. It is clear that double standards are applied by the supposed defenders of democracy and human rights.

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Such a discriminatory response is also evident in the Western response to Ukrainian and Palestinian refugees. Across Europe, “temporary protection directives” were issued to provide Ukrainians with rights of residence; medical and social welfare assistance; and access to children’s education. Similarly, the European Council also reached an agreement to exchange Ukrainian currency for Euros to ease the settlement of refugees. It goes without saying that no such response is anticipated to help Palestinian refugees from Gaza, either from the West or the Arab world. Egypt has serious economic problems, and has flatly refused the request of Western nations to allow Palestinians to cross the border from Gaza. The West in general has reacted in a similar fashion, noting that the Palestinian refugee problem “is not a United States refugee issue.”

Palestinian lives clearly are worth less than Ukrainian lives in what is a prime example of European racism. The reality is that the Palestine issue is the most protracted and sensitive occupation in the world that demands the immediate attention of the international community to hold Israel to account and provide Palestinians with their legitimate rights of return and self-determination.

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The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.