In Scotland, when someone is on shaky ground or skating on thin ice they are said to be hanging by a “shoogly peg”. That is exactly where Israel has found itself over the crisis in Ukraine as the hypocrisy of Tel Aviv and its Zionist allies is exposed for the whole world to see.
According to them all — the US, the UK, the EU and Israel itself — Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty are sacrosanct. Why, though, do each and every one of them not apply the same principle to Palestine and the Palestinians? Aren’t the people of that occupied land not entitled to their own territorial integrity and sovereignty without the reality of daily armed incursions by the aggressively-colonial state of Israel, a country which has never declared where its borders lie because its founding Zionist ideology demands its constant expansion into neighbouring counties, not just the land of Palestine?
Until the UN and NATO roll out a level playing field when it comes to human rights, sovereignty and respect for borders, we can expect to witness more invasions and land grabs as powerful states continue to act with impunity.
The old adage that truth is the first casualty of war is playing out before our eyes. It is hard to know what is really happening in Ukraine, with Russia Today taking an obvious pro-Moscow position, while the BBC has gone “full tonto” to use the unfortunate, testosterone-filled, macho language of Britain’s Defence Minister Ben Wallace. Trustworthy sources of news are thin on the ground.
Russian President Vladimir Putin insists that his army is lending support to the breakaway republics of Donbass and Lugansk, but he would say that wouldn’t he? Meanwhile, his US counterpart, Joe Biden, is accusing the Russian leader of a full-scale invasion, but he would say that, wouldn’t he? With reckless calls on all sides inciting other powers to take military action, where is this heading?
READ: The crisis in Ukraine and its implications for the Arab countries
The people of Taiwan must be very worried, in case China follows Russia’s example and invades the island, which Beijing believes is legitimate Chinese territory. On Thursday, fighter jets were scrambled because Chinese aircraft were in Taiwanese airspace.
The Palestinians have every right to ask why Western leaders, led by Biden, are imposing crippling sanctions on Moscow and threatening more retaliatory action if it continues with its invasion of Ukraine, but don’t take similar action against Israeli colonialism. These are the same leaders, remember, who turn a blind eye to Israel’s ongoing theft of Palestinian land, and its military offensives against the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. Israel stands accused of implementing the crime of apartheid in occupied Palestine by B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International; committing war crimes in Gaza; and using white phosphorous and other prohibited weapons in the heavily-populated civilian areas of the Strip. Moreover, the Zionist state has still to be held to account for bombing the Associated Press media centre in Gaza.