The following letter of solidarity from the Ukrainian people to the Palestinian people was first published in the Ukrainian socialist journal, commons. Its arguments reinforces the view that there can be no solution to the oppressed peoples through imperialist deals
UKRAINIAN LETTER OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE
We, Ukrainian researchers, artists, political and trade union activists and members of civil society, stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, who for 75 years have endured and resisted Israeli military occupation, separation, colonial violence, ethnic cleansing, land dispossession and apartheid. We write this letter from people to people. The dominant discourse at government level and even among solidarity groups supporting the struggles of Ukrainians and Palestinians often creates separations. With this letter, we reject these divisions and affirm our solidarity with all those who are oppressed and struggling for freedom.
As activists committed to freedom, human rights, democracy and social justice, and while fully recognizing power differences, we strongly condemn attacks on civilian populations – whether Israelis attacked by Hamas or Palestinians attacked by Israeli occupation forces and armed settler gangs. The deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime. However, it does not justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, the identification of all Gaza residents with Hamas and the indiscriminate use of the term “terrorism” applied to the whole of Palestinian resistance. Nor does it justify the continuation of the occupation. Echoing multiple United Nations resolutions, we know that there can be no lasting peace without justice for the Palestinian people.
On October 7, we witnessed Hamas’ violence against civilians in Israel, an event that is now being singled out by many to demonize and dehumanize the Palestinian resistance as a whole. Hamas, a reactionary Islamist organization, must be seen in a broader historical context, and in the context of Israel’s decades-long encroachment on Palestinian lands, long before the organization came into being in the late 1980s. During the Nakba (“catastrophe”) of 1948, over 700,000 Palestinians were brutally driven from their homes, and entire villages were massacred and destroyed. Since its creation, Israel has never ceased its colonial expansion. Palestinians have been forced into exile, fragmented and administered under different regimes. Some are Israeli citizens, victims of structural discrimination and racism. Those living in the occupied West Bank are subject to apartheid under decades of Israeli military control. Inhabitants of the Gaza Strip suffer from the blockade imposed by Israel since 2006, which restricts the movement of people and goods, leading to increased poverty and deprivation.
Since October 7 and at the time of writing, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to over 8,500. Women and children account for more than 62% of the victims, while more than 21,048 people have been injured. In recent days, Israel has bombed schools, residential areas, the Greek Orthodox Church and several hospitals. Israel has also cut off water, electricity and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip. There is a severe shortage of food and medicine, leading to the total collapse of the health system.
Most Western and Israeli media justify these deaths as mere collateral damage in the fight against Hamas, but remain silent when it comes to Palestinian civilians targeted and killed in the occupied West Bank. Since the beginning of 2023 alone, and before October 7, the death toll on the Palestinian side had already reached 227. Since October 7, 121 Palestinian civilians have been killed in the occupied West Bank. Over 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners are currently being held in Israeli jails. Lasting peace and justice are only possible with an end to the current occupation. Palestinians have the right to self-determination and resistance against Israeli occupation, just as Ukrainians have the right to resist Russian invasion.
Our solidarity comes from a sense of anger at injustice and a deep sorrow at the devastating effects of occupation, the bombardment of civilian infrastructure and the humanitarian blockade we have experienced in our homeland. Parts of Ukraine have been occupied since 2014, and the international community failed to stop Russian aggression then, ignoring the imperial and colonial nature of the armed violence, which consequently escalated on February 24, 2022. Civilians in Ukraine are bombarded daily, in their homes, in hospitals, at bus stops, in bread queues. As a result of the Russian occupation, thousands of people in Ukraine live without access to water, electricity or heating, and it is the most vulnerable groups who are hardest hit by the destruction of essential infrastructure. During the months of siege and intensive bombardment of Marioupol, there was no humanitarian corridor. As we watch the Israelis target civilian infrastructure in Gaza, the Israeli humanitarian blockade and occupation of the territory resonate painfully within us. From this place of pain, experience and solidarity, we call on our fellow Ukrainians around the world and all peoples to raise their voices in support of the Palestinian people and condemn the ongoing Israeli mass ethnic cleansing.
We reject the Ukrainian government’s statements expressing unconditional support for Israel’s military actions, and consider the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s appeals to avoid civilian casualties to be belated and insufficient. This position represents a retreat from support for Palestinian rights and condemnation of the Israeli occupation, which Ukraine has followed for decades, including by voting at the UN. Aware of the pragmatic geopolitical reasoning behind Ukraine’s decision to echo the Western allies on whom we depend for our survival, we consider the current support for Israel and rejection of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination to be at odds with Ukraine’s own commitment to human rights and the struggle for our land and freedom. As Ukrainians, we should stand in solidarity not with the oppressors, but with those who suffer and resist oppression.
We strongly oppose the assimilation by some politicians of Western military aid to Ukraine and Israel. Ukraine is not occupying the territories of other peoples, but fighting against Russian occupation, and international aid therefore serves a just cause and the protection of international law. Israel has occupied and annexed Palestinian and Syrian territories, and Western aid to it confirms an unjust order and demonstrates a double standard in relation to international law.
We oppose the new wave of Islamophobia, such as the brutal murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian American child and the attack on his family in Illinois, USA, as well as the equation of any criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. At the same time, we oppose holding all Jews worldwide responsible for the policies of the State of Israel, and condemn anti-Semitic violence such as the mob attack on the plane in Dagestan, Russia. We also reject the revival of the “war on terror” rhetoric used by the US and the EU to justify war crimes and violations of international law that have undermined the international security system, caused countless deaths, and which has been borrowed by other states, notably Russia for the war in Chechnya and China for the genocide of the Uighurs. Today, Israel is using it to carry out ethnic cleansing.
Call for action
We urge the implementation of the ceasefire call put forward by the UN General Assembly resolution.
We call on the Israeli government to immediately cease attacks on civilians and to provide humanitarian aid; we insist on the immediate and indefinite lifting of the siege of Gaza and on an urgent relief operation to restore civilian infrastructure. We also call on the Israeli government to end the occupation and recognize the right of displaced Palestinians to return to their lands.
We call on the Ukrainian government to condemn the use of state-sanctioned terror and the humanitarian blockade against the civilian population of Gaza, and to reaffirm the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. We also call on the Ukrainian government to condemn the deliberate aggression against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
We call on the international media to stop pitting Palestinians and Ukrainians against each other, where hierarchies of suffering perpetuate racist rhetoric and dehumanize those under attack.
We have seen the world unite in solidarity for the Ukrainian people, and we call on everyone to do the same for the Palestinian people.
Signatures (as of 2023/11/06)
1. Volodymyr Artiukh, researcher
2. Levon Azizian, human rights lawyer
3. Diana Azzuz, artist, musician
4. Taras Bilous, editor
5. Oksana Briukhovetska, artist, researcher, University of Michigan
6. Artem Chapeye, writer
7. Valentyn Dolhochub, researcher, soldier
8. John-Paul Himka, professor emeritus, University of Alberta
9. Karina Al Khmuz, biomedical engineer programmer
10. Yuliia Kishchuk, researcher
11. Amina Ktefan, fashion influencer, digital creator
12. Svitlana Matviyenko, media scholar, SFU; Associate Director of Digital Democracies Institute
13. Maria Mayerchyk, scholar
14. Vitalii Pavliuk, writer, translator
15. Sashko Protyah, filmmaker, volunteer
16. Oleksiy Radynski, filmmaker
17. Mykola Ridnyi, artist and filmmaker
18. Daria Saburova, researcher, activist
19. Alexander Skyba, labour activist
20. Darya Tsymbalyuk, researcher
21. Nelia Vakhovska, translator
22. Yuliya Yurchenko, researcher, translator, activist
23. Iryna Zamuruieva, ecofeminist researcher, artist, climate & land policy project manager
24. Alisha Andani, history of art student
25. Daša Anosova, curator, researcher, UCL SSEES
26. Lilya Badekha, activist, culturologist, social media manager of the Spilne journal
27. Anastasia Bobrova, researcher
28. Anastasiia Bobrovska, dj, activist, digital strategy consultant
29. Mariana Bodnaruk, researcher
30. Yuriy Boyko, researcher, scientific assistant
31. Vladislava Chepurko
32. Daria Demia, artist
33. Olena Dmytryk, researcher
34. Olha Dobrovolska, teacher, culture researcher
35. Svitlana Dolbysheva, artist, filmmaker
36. Hanna Dosenko, anthropologist
37. Vitalii Dudin, activist of NGO ‘Sotsialnyi Rukh’
38. Oksana Dutchak, sociologist
39. Nastya Dzyuban, choreographer and performer
40. Kateryna Farbar, journalist
41. Taras Gembik, culture worker, co-organizer of SDK Slonecznik at Musuem of Modern Art in Warsaw
42. Anna Greszta researcher, co-founder of Collect4Ukraine
43. Olenka Gu, sociologist
44. Nataliya Gumenyuk, journalist
45. Tetiana Hanzha, documentary film director
46. Andrii Hulianytskyi, researcher
47. Serhii Ishchenko, journalist
48. Hanna Karpishena
49. Milena Khomchenko, curator and writer, chief editor of SONIAKH digest
50. Daria Khrystych, researcher, activist
51. Amira Khussein, fashion business manager
52. Kyrylo Klymenko, historian
53. Lyuba Knorozok, producer, documentary filmmaker
54. Oleksandra Kokhan, researcher
55. Vladyslav Kononok, project manager
56. Mariia Kosenko, translator
57. Olga Kostyrko, independent researcher, activist, editor
58. Iaroslav Kovalchuk, PhD Candidate, historian
59. Anna Kovtoniuk, software developer
60. Dmytro Kozak, PhD candidate, anthropologist
61. Ruslana Koziienko, PhD candidate, social anthropologist
62. Yustyna Kravchuk, cultural worker, translator
63. Yulia Krivich, artist, co-organizer of SDK Slonecznik at Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, PhD fellow at Academy of Arts in Krakow, Poland
64. Amir Ktefan, personal translator and voice over artist
65. Olexii Kuchanskyi, researcher, film programmer
66. Veronika Kulak, student of business economics
67. Yuliia Kulish, researcher
68. Kateryna Lysovenko, artist
69. Kostiantyn Maleoniuk, activist
70. Daryna Mamaisur, filmmaker, visual artist, researcher
71. Daniil Marchenko, bike messenger, cook
72. Anastasia Marusii, art historian
73. Mykyta Mikhalkov, student, volunteer
74. Andrii Myroshnychenko, cultural manager and translator
75. Pavlo Molochko, signaller in the AFoU
76. Andriy Movchan, publicist
77. Serhii Movchan, left activist, volunteer
78. Zarina Netovkina
79. Zhanna Ohanesian, researcher, humanitarian worker
80. Kateryna Olieshko, artist, activist, creative producer
81. Olga Papash, researcher, producer, volunteer
82. Anton Parambul, soldier
83. Mariia Pastukh, activist, head of Ukraine solidarity collective “Vsesvit”
84. Valerii Petrov, game maker
85. Julie Poly, artist
86. Mariia Ponomarova, film director, creative producer
87. Zakhar Popovych, activist
88. Nina Potarska, researcher
89. Dariia Puhach, computer linguist
90. Olha Pylypenko, art manager
91. Anna Rebrii, journalist, PhD student, activist
92. Maksym Romanenko, doctor
93. Marta Romankiv, artist, researcher, PhD fellow at Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk
94. Betya Roytburd, artist, organizer, curator
95. Kseniia Rybak, researcher
96. Bohdana Rybenchuk
97. Mariia Salan, artist
98. Abdula Sarkhan, digital artist
99. Yulia Serdyukova, film producer
100. Mariia Shynkarenko, researcher
101. Maria Sonevytsky, professor, researcher
102. Veronika Stancheva, psychologist
103. Vladyslav Starodubtsev, historian
104. Oleksandr Svitych, researcher
105. Olena Syrbu, researcher, cultural worker
106. Nast’ey Teor, graphic artist and designer
107. Natasha Tseliuba, feminist, activist, artist, curator
108. Dr. Nataliya Tchermalykh, University of Geneva
109. Marharyta Tokarieva researcher, filmmaker
110. Leo Trotsenko, artist
111. Viacheslav Tsyba, philosopher, translator, editor
112. Elen Udud
113. Tetiana Usova, translator, filmmaker
114. Kateryna Volochniuk, researcher
115. Valeriia Voronova fashion influencer, digital creator, interior designer
116. Bogdana Yakovenko, photographer, activist, volunteer
117. Mariana Yaremchyshyna, culture worker, activist
118. Aisha Yusupova, psychologist, creator
119. Fattukh Zhalal, student of international economic relations
120. Roma Zimenko, humanitarian worker
121. Yevheniia Stepko, editor
122. Oksana Karpovych, filmmaker
123. Rita Adel, research analyst
124. Olena Martynchuk, cultural anthropologist
125. Kris Maslyuk, student
126. Oleksandra Hryhorenko, translator
127. Arsenii Kniazkov, film researcher
128. Olena Mykhaylova, researcher
129. Islam Dabank, poet and company manager
130. Diana Khalilova, artist
131. Sylvestr Kozurak, artist
132. Vitalii Zalozetskyi, philosopher
133. Denys Gorbach, social researcher
134. Mykhaylo Maliarenko, military
135. Alexandra Paul Zotov, Museum
136. Tasha Gnatenko
137. Ira Tantsiura, activist, researcher
138. Oleksandra Chernomashyntseva, volunteer, stage designer
139. Ostap Bohoslavets, researcher
140. Anton Karyuk, artist
141. Tania Banakh, historian
142. babych kateryna, activist
143. Stepan Bilousov, student
144. Iryna Tsiuk, proofreader
145. Mila Teshaieva, photographer, film director,
146. Oleksiy Godz, architect
147. Mariia Goubernik, psychotherapist, activist
148. xenia mil’ushkina, activist, online influencer
149. Anna Zakharchenko, student
150. Alyssa Naryzhny
151. Marta Iwanek, photographer, filmmaker
152. elliott miskovicz
153. Anna Lykhohliad, researcher
154. Diana Yehorova, researcher and artist
155. Polina Piddubna, director
156. Tetiana Sokolnykova, arts mediator, coordinator and facilitator of socio-cultural projects
157. Mariia Kovtun
158. Anna Nykytiuk, artist
159. Maria Panchenko, cultural worker
160. Julia Kosova, social activist
161. Daryna Miahka, activist
162. Madina Mahomedova, multimedia artist & graphic designer
163. Varvara Spilt, student, artist, director
164. Oleksandra Marushchak, animator
165. Roman Levin, activist
166. Katia Denysova, art historian and curator
167. Di Horban, artist
168. Sam Veremchuk, PhD student
169. Antonina Mambyk, public sector
170. Olena Lyubchenko
171. Bohdana Andrieieva, web-designer
172. Bogdana Yakovenko, photographer, activist, volunteer
173. Artem Remizovskyi, culturologist, trade union activist “Direct Action”
174. Khromyi Denys, anarchist, translator, student, essayist
175. Filyuk Kateryna, curator
176. Oleksii Popovych, student
177. Oksana Demidova, artist
178. Nataliya Gubenko, business consultant
179. Yelyzaveta Monastyrova, PhD candidate
180. Marty Horobiichenko, artist
181. Aldushchenkov Evgen, worker
182. Nina Sodin, animator
183. Daryna Prudnikova, student
184. Mohsen Timoor Raphatovich, student
185. Mosiychuk Andriy, web designer
186. Kyrylo Chehrynets
187. Michael Nikitiuk, cook
188. Yuliya Gwilym, illustrator and author
189. Aliona Sydorenko, clinical counsellor
190. Sakara Oleksandra, freelancer
191. Valeriia Bondarieva, climate justice activist
192. Kateryna Kasianenko, researcher
193. Iryna Kulinich, digital artist
194. Yevheniia Vasylenko, compliance specialist
195. Ivan Bychkov, student
196. Asia Tsisar, curator, researcher
197. Alice Zhuravel, social actor and entrepreneur
198. Karolina Gulshani, artist
199. Kachan Anna, QA engineer
200. Mariia Zadvorna
201. Ganna Zakharchenko, architect, artist
202. Leontyuk Yuliia, legal scholar
203. Viktoriia Markova, volunteer, graphic designer
204. Anastasia Orydoroha
205. Anya Tsaruk, photographer
206. Iuliia Kandaurova
207. Kate Zavertailo, translator
208. Maksym Shumakov, activist
209. Yuliia Palamarchuk, architect
210. Katya Gritseva, artist
211. Khrystyna Slobodianyk, doctor
212. Slobodianiuk Daryna, mama
213. Iryna Ullah, home wife
214. Alla Zhyvotova, artist
215. Rachitska Katerina
216. Iryna Krupenko, bartender
217. Larisa Sayej, doctor
218. Alisa Pogrebna-Raizman, PhD student at the University of Warsaw
219. Olena Mykhalska
220. Azarova Kateryna, IT programmer
221. Oksana Arkhypchuk, educator
222. Olena Haies, housewife
223. Viktoria Sergienko, director of educational centre
224. Balytska Yana
225. Maryna Shapovalova, housewife
226. Alieva Viktoriia, pedagog
227. Asiya Umm Yahya, kids writer
228. Polina Skrynnikova, assistant, humanitarian NGO
229. Diana Bishtavi, dentist
230. Iryna Baraniuk, mother
231. Tetik Serafyma, teacher
232. Alina Volosiuk, engineer, in maternity leave
233. Olena Malakhova
234. Maria Dibrova, finance student
235. Orlova Anastasiia, owner of small business
236. Yevheniia Holovachova, beauty master
237. Nadiia Guzenko, teacher
238. Iryna Refahi, journalist
239. Guseynova Mate
240. Anastasiia Onufriv, climate activist
241. Alona Aljadaan, public figure
242. Yelyzaveta Riznychenko, student
243. Valentyna Chehlatonieva, dancer
244. Lozinska Yana
245. Dinara Abdo, UX/UI web designer
246. Victoriia Abuiaiia
247. Victoriia Bratushkina
248. Olha Chychko, pensioner
249. Alina Babaieva, mom is on maternity leave
250. Venzovska Victoria, lawyer
251. Vladyslav Taratutenko, logistics dispatcher
252. Diana Maksymenko, translator and book blogger
253. Strashynska Tetiana
254. Ivanna Kosteniuk, finance and operations manager
255. Valeriia Zurigat, psychologist
256. Yana Maletska, student
257. Gavrilitsia Hanna, doctor
258. Bogdana Kosmina, architect, artist, curator
259. Masha Vlasenko, mathematician
260. Ruslan Kulevets, author, cinephile
261. Biduliak Lilia, psychology
262. Polina Sobos
263. Ihnatiuk Valeriia, visual communication
264. Tsymbalyuk Victoria
265. Albina Bykova, housewife
266. Tatyana Gagina
267. Kukunina Kateryna, software developer
268. Ivanna Bykova, housewife
269. Fedir Horash, seafarer, activist of Inicjatywa Pracownicza trade union
270. Valeriia Ganicheva, designer
271. Sasha Zakrevska, musician
272. Alyona Kobel, manager International tourism
273. Anastasia Muntyan, Unemployed
274. Alina El Assadi, artist
275. Maritchka Ryniejska, researcher
276. Bohdan Diedushkin, teacher
277. Sofiya Taranenko, student
278. Nadiya Kachmar, student of political science
279. Oleksii Poliakov, software developer
280. Daria Pochepnia
281. Mameedova Natalia Igorivna
282. Aisha Zankidaeva
283. Daryna Kolesnyk, chambermaid
284. Svitlana Al-Azzawi, teacher
285. Derbin Serhiy, architect
286. Siver Iryna Rawilivna, orchestra artist
287. Anna Skrypnyk, pharmacist
288. Serhieieyva Kasia
289. Mstyslava Nesteruk, HR
290. Anna Matsuka, translator
291. Nastasya Yaremchuk, musician, Slavic Studies student
292. Natalka Gurba, activist
293. Obertynska Iryna
294. Anastasia Petriuk
295. Аsyenye Bulatova
296. Kutsenko Iuliia, teacher
297. Yermolayeva Kateryna, artist
298. Mahmuda Ruzieva
299. Kovalenko Daria, beauty therapist
300. Stanislava Ovchinnikova, interdisciplinary artist and curator
301. Mariya Bokhonko
302. Liubov Kuibida, programmer
303. Yusuf Baysangurov
304. Olena Mogylna, designer
305. Mehrabi Dariia, international relationship
306. Hanna Bodnarchuk, choreographer
307. Diana Romanenko, ingenieur assistant
308. Amaliia Mamedova, student
309. Vsevolod Kazarin, photographer
310. Hanna Horbasenko, interpreter
311. Hrodzitska Veronika, photographer & volonteer
312. Taras Fedirko, anthropologist, researcher
313. Daria Pysaruk, student
314. Anna Schlegel, employee
315. Polina Pysaruk, student
316. Victoria Levchenko, researcher, engineer, activist
317. Christina Cherniievska, artist
318. Sofiya Chotyrbok, artist
319. Tetiana Burlachenko
320. Vyacheslav Bondarenko, PhD student
321. Oksana Prokhorovych, PhD student, translator
322. Oksana Potapova, activist and feminist researcher
323. Alina Horodyska, photographer, psychology student
324. Fedir Khorkov, artist
325. Luke Ivanovich, activist, photographer
326. Zoriana Strockyj
327. Sonya Bilocerkowycz, writer
328. Paul Genyk-Berezowsky
329. Luca Iwasykiw
330. Maksym Khodak, artist
331. Petrenko Vlad, cultural studies, writer
332. Gromov
333. Yevhen Zaiats, director, video artist
334. Voitenko Arseniy, activist
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also see:
EL&SD Ukraine coverage since 2013
EL&SD coverage of Palestine, Zionism and Israel since 2002
EL&SD Coverage – Looking at the world through non-campist lenses