Britain’s Overseas Secretary Liz Truss has said that she is going to help anybody who needs to go to Ukraine to hitch a world brigade of fighters towards Russia. She described such a mission as participating in a battle “for freedom and democracy”.
I am unable to assist however surprise, although, about those that’ve left British shores to combat abroad solely to have their citizenships revoked by an unsympathetic British authorities. The one distinction I can see between those that need to combat in Ukraine and those that need to combat in Palestine, Syria, Libya or Iraq is pores and skin color and religion.
There are at the least 100,000 Muslims dwelling in Kyiv. Is Truss going to help their British and European brothers and sisters who need to exit to combat alongside them within the Ukrainian capital? She instructed the BBC on Sunday morning that it was as much as individuals to make their very own selections in such conditions; she additionally mentioned that the Ukrainians are preventing for freedom, “not only for Ukraine however for the entire of Europe.”
Why, I’m wondering, are democracy and freedom extra treasured in Europe than, say, in Syria, the place dictator Bashar Al-Assad is attempting to crush the final vestiges of a revolution through which Syrians dared to dream about their very own democratic state? And why are Palestinians who resist Israel’s brutal occupation demonised as “terrorists” and shunned by the “democratic” and apparently freedom-loving West? I do know many individuals who wish to exit and be part of the Palestinians in defence of their legit rights as they combat for survival towards apartheid Israel.
As Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urges international nationals “to hitch the defence of safety in Europe”, his authorities is able to arm an “worldwide” legion of volunteer foreigners who want to be part of the Ukrainian military in its combat towards Russian forces. “This isn’t simply Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he identified on his official web site. “That is the start of a warfare towards Europe. Towards European unity.”
Palestinian leaders have made comparable statements about securing the way forward for Islam’s third holiest web site, the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, which is below assault by Israeli occupation forces, together with unlawful settlers. If a world name was made for hundreds of thousands of Muslims throughout the West to guard Al-Aqsa from the murderous designs of the Israelis, would Overseas Secretary Liz Truss approve? Someway, I doubt it. As I wrote a few days in the past, “The disaster in Ukraine exposes the hypocrisy of Israel and its Zionist allies.” Among the many latter stands Truss and the federal government through which she has a senior position.
“Everybody who needs to hitch the defence of safety in Europe and the world could come and stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians towards the invaders of the twenty first Century,” mentioned Zelenskyy. Now think about that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh — whose democratic election as Palestinian Prime Minister in 2006 was rejected by those self same Zionist allies — issued such an invite to Muslims world wide, and Britain specifically, to guard the individuals of occupied Palestine from Israel and its settler-colonialism. Apartheid, bear in mind, is akin to against the law towards humanity, and the annexation of territory by navy motion is prohibited; Israel is responsible of each.
Furthermore, among the settlers and troopers who bolster and implement Israel’s occupation of Palestine maintain British and different European passports. However hey, that is OK it appears, as a result of they’re white and Jewish, whereas those that oppose them are “solely” Arabs.
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In 2019, I visited an amputee clinic the place traumatised Syrian youngsters had been being taught to stroll once more. I met British docs, lecturers and help employees who’ve had their citizenship revoked as a result of they had been working in rebel-held Idlib. Unable to make a authorized problem towards the British authorities’s determination from a warfare zone, they’re now in a authorized black gap.
They did not choose up weapons or exit to combat; they merely needed to assist the abnormal Syrian individuals of their battle for democracy and the easiest way they might do that was by utilizing the abilities that they’ve. They have to all be questioning why the British authorities which stripped them of their passports is able to again these seeking to do the identical in Ukraine, and even take up arms there. Can there be any extra blatant instance of hypocrisy, Islamophobia and racism than that being displayed by Liz Truss and, presumably, her boss Boris Johnson and their cupboard colleagues?
When individuals are in hassle it’s human nature for individuals to need to assist in any means they’ll. I might not dream of criticising anybody who needs to hitch a world brigade to assist Ukrainians of their battle. But when that is OK, then it also needs to be OK for others to go to assist the individuals of Palestine, Chechnya, Libya, Syria, Yemen, occupied Kashmir and different hassle spots.
Within the Nineteen Thirties, round 60,000 younger individuals left North America and Europe to hitch the Worldwide Brigade, teams of international volunteers who fought on the Republican aspect towards the fascist Nationalist forces throughout the Spanish Civil Battle (1936–39). What isn’t reported is that whereas many left Britain to combat for the republicans, there was additionally a couple of who fought alongside the fascists. Neither confronted any issues once they returned to Britain.
Whereas Truss and UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace insist that British troopers won’t be despatched to Ukraine to combat, the place of British residents who resolve to hitch the worldwide brigade must be clarified. The international secretary wants to elucidate why the defence of democracy in Ukraine is appropriate, however standing up towards tyrants, dictators and authoritarian regimes elsewhere isn’t. We’ve a proper to know. Extra to the purpose, so do the individuals of occupied Palestine and Syria. If the Ukrainians may be helped by a world brigade, why cannot they?
Opinion: The crisis in Ukraine exposes the hypocrisy of Israel and its Zionist allies
The views expressed on this article belong to the creator and don’t essentially replicate the editorial coverage of Center East Monitor.
