Pro-Ukraine Activists Stand with Palestine
I am proud to be a member of the Ukraine Socialist Solidarity Campaign and to have participated in writing this statement which urges President Zelensky to take a stand against the terrible actions being conducted by the Israelis.
The statement follows:
The Ukraine Socialist Solidarity Campaign was formed to build support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s imperialist invasion. However, we cannot ignore the situation in Palestine/Israel.
The forcibly displaced Palestinian people living in Gaza have been enduring and fighting back against Israel’s US-backed genocidal attacks for 75 years, just as Ukrainians are fighting back against Putin’s genocidal invasion. As Palestinian researcher Dana El Kurd states in this interview, “Palestinians are tied to this particular place like Ukrainians are tied to theirs.” The Ukrainian socialist organization, Social Movement (Соціальний рух/Sotsialnyi Rukh), also acknowledges this commonality and expresses solidarity between Ukraine and Palestine. In August 2022, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, Yevhen Korniichuk, tweeted support for Israel while Israel was attacking and killing Palestinians. We sent an open letter to Zelensky criticizing his government for taking such a position. Now, Ukrainian President Zelensky has expressed unconditional support for Israel. He has even gone so far as to say that the situation of Israel is the same as Ukraine’s. The situation is in fact the opposite:
- It is the Palestinian people living in Gaza who face genocidal war aimed at their entire civilian population.
- It is the Palestinian people of the West Bank who face land theft as well as cultural genocide, in the form of attacks on the al Aqsa Mosque for example.
- It is the Palestinian people of Israel who face continuing apartheid, discrimination and oppression.
- The Ukraine Socialist Solidarity Campaign’s stance in support of Ukraine does not falter when we voice our opposition to Zelensky’s support for Israeli racism and imperialism, or when we voice our opposition to Zelensky’s neoliberal economic policies. Just as we stand on the side of the Ukrainian people against the Russian invasion and occupation, we stand on the side of the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation.
- We oppose all indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, including by Hamas, but the magnitude of such attacks have been initiated by Israel’s “siege.”.
- We denounce Israel’s war on Gaza and the evacuation order of Northern Gaza.
- We condemn Israel’s blockade of water, food, and medical aid to Gaza.
- We urge all genuine supporters of the Ukrainian people’s just struggle against Russian imperialist invasion and occupation — both inside and outside of Ukraine — to join us in condemning Zelensky’s unconditional support of Israel.
