An email to my MP
Dear XXXXX XXXXX M.P.
I write because, once again, I am driven to it despite my feeling that it is a pointless act. My concerns are always out of step with those of the media (and therefore the population and the politicians which absorb its message) and particularly out of step when it comes to which people in the world we are happy to see slaughtered.
Currently, I think it is fair to say, the world is properly appalled at the cruelty being poured out on Gaza but will do nothing because the ruling classes favour Israel. However, at least the people of Palestine have the benefit of having their suffering documented.
Meanwhile the people of East Ukraine are also being shelled and injured and killed but by the people who call themselves their government and we see and hear almost nothing. There are many differences between the situations, of course, but many similarities in the propaganda used to justify the violence.
In both cases we blame the victims and call them terrorist to justify killing them. In both cases the victims are people who want their autonomy from governments we have decided to support. While the death toll in Palestine has risen to almost 2000 now the UN acknowledges that at least 1200 people have been killed in East Ukraine.
In both cases we claim that the aggressor has a "right" to be killing people.
In Palestine Israel has a "right" to self defense but Palestinians are never afforded any such right despite living under an eight year siege and decades of displacement after being militarily driven from their land.
In Ukraine we say that the Kiev regime has the "right" to exercise their sovereignty. Technically this is even correct yet this was the situation in Libya when rebel forces took over Benghazi but we did not say that Gaddafi had a right to exercise sovereignty and nor do we seem keen to extend that right to Assad. But in Ukraine the situation is even more egregious because the rebels in Donbass, unlike the rebels we supported in Libya and the rebels we support in Syria (which are also the rebels we don't support in Iraq) are not interested in anything but their right to self determination.
In Libya the rebels we supported were intent on sweeping across the country to take Tripoli and topple the regime there. In Syria the rebels we support are intent on sweeping across the country to take Damascus and topple the regime there.
In Ukraine, the rebels we do not support are intent only on making their region independent from Kiev. They have made no move whatsoever to push across the country and topple the regime we support in Kiev.
All through this troubled time in Ukraine we have heard the powers that be tell Russia to de-escalate the situation but only one party has been in a position to de-escalate and that is the government in Kiev. They are the ones who are attacking East Ukraine. Defenders cannot de-escalate, only aggressors can. Imagine coming across someone being raped and instead of taking on the rapist we tell the victim that fighting back is only making it worse for her. It would be impossible, I would hope, for any normal person to take that position (unless they themselves also feared the rapist) because the fundamentals of the situation would be plain. The fundamentals in Ukraine are equally plain to me.
I understand that many people do not see it the way I see it because many people look no further than what they are told and the people are chastised for "swallowing Russian propaganda" just as they once were chastised for swallowing Palestinian propaganda once upon a time if they pursue other than the specially selected news.
I know one email cannot change a mind - I watch our media too and I can see the attractiveness of the narrative, but underneath that storyline is a bloody reality that is markedly different.
I don't expect any change to come from this email. I don't expect to save a single life, but I must write it because I have no power to do anything more as far as I can see but I refuse to have done nothing at all.
Sincerely
I write because, once again, I am driven to it despite my feeling that it is a pointless act. My concerns are always out of step with those of the media (and therefore the population and the politicians which absorb its message) and particularly out of step when it comes to which people in the world we are happy to see slaughtered.
Currently, I think it is fair to say, the world is properly appalled at the cruelty being poured out on Gaza but will do nothing because the ruling classes favour Israel. However, at least the people of Palestine have the benefit of having their suffering documented.
Meanwhile the people of East Ukraine are also being shelled and injured and killed but by the people who call themselves their government and we see and hear almost nothing. There are many differences between the situations, of course, but many similarities in the propaganda used to justify the violence.
In both cases we blame the victims and call them terrorist to justify killing them. In both cases the victims are people who want their autonomy from governments we have decided to support. While the death toll in Palestine has risen to almost 2000 now the UN acknowledges that at least 1200 people have been killed in East Ukraine.
In both cases we claim that the aggressor has a "right" to be killing people.
In Palestine Israel has a "right" to self defense but Palestinians are never afforded any such right despite living under an eight year siege and decades of displacement after being militarily driven from their land.
In Ukraine we say that the Kiev regime has the "right" to exercise their sovereignty. Technically this is even correct yet this was the situation in Libya when rebel forces took over Benghazi but we did not say that Gaddafi had a right to exercise sovereignty and nor do we seem keen to extend that right to Assad. But in Ukraine the situation is even more egregious because the rebels in Donbass, unlike the rebels we supported in Libya and the rebels we support in Syria (which are also the rebels we don't support in Iraq) are not interested in anything but their right to self determination.
In Libya the rebels we supported were intent on sweeping across the country to take Tripoli and topple the regime there. In Syria the rebels we support are intent on sweeping across the country to take Damascus and topple the regime there.
In Ukraine, the rebels we do not support are intent only on making their region independent from Kiev. They have made no move whatsoever to push across the country and topple the regime we support in Kiev.
All through this troubled time in Ukraine we have heard the powers that be tell Russia to de-escalate the situation but only one party has been in a position to de-escalate and that is the government in Kiev. They are the ones who are attacking East Ukraine. Defenders cannot de-escalate, only aggressors can. Imagine coming across someone being raped and instead of taking on the rapist we tell the victim that fighting back is only making it worse for her. It would be impossible, I would hope, for any normal person to take that position (unless they themselves also feared the rapist) because the fundamentals of the situation would be plain. The fundamentals in Ukraine are equally plain to me.
I understand that many people do not see it the way I see it because many people look no further than what they are told and the people are chastised for "swallowing Russian propaganda" just as they once were chastised for swallowing Palestinian propaganda once upon a time if they pursue other than the specially selected news.
I know one email cannot change a mind - I watch our media too and I can see the attractiveness of the narrative, but underneath that storyline is a bloody reality that is markedly different.
I don't expect any change to come from this email. I don't expect to save a single life, but I must write it because I have no power to do anything more as far as I can see but I refuse to have done nothing at all.
Sincerely