Russia-Ukraine: Back the people, not the government

Russia’s attack on Ukraine is decried by civilised beings. I count myself part of them. Nobody wins a war.

The frenzied onslaught against Russia in the form of petitions, sanctions and promises of weaponry, presupposes that Russia is the only culprit in the scheme of things. So it needs to be taught a hard lesson.

Ukraine, on the other hand, is labelled the victim. But in ignorance we’re missing the full picture. Russia – together with other dictatorships or quasi democracies like China – has a history of human rights violations.

But what of Ukraine? Did you know that as recently as July 2016, Poland’s parliament passed a resolution recognising the massacres against Polish minorities in Eastern Galicia and Polesia by Ukraine from 1943-45 as genocide? According to reports, many of the Polish victims were tortured before being killed; some of the methods included rape, dismemberment or immolation.

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Evidently, these actions resulted in about 100 000 deaths. Apparently there are still manifestations against ethnic and religious minority communities. In Donetsk, leaflets have been distributed calling for Jews to register their religion and list property and Molotov cocktails have been thrown at a synagogue in Mykolaiv. In Sloviansk, armed separatists allegedly invaded Romani houses, beating and robbing inhabitants.

Armed with this unpalatable and disconcerting knowledge of Ukraine, would we’ve been keen to sign petitions against Russia? A moot point. But what we should’ve done is gunning for both Russia and Ukraine’s governments who have and are still the source of the troubles.

Both leaders are bad for their people and it is they who should be put down (figuratively speaking, that is). It’s still not too late for us to change tactics.

Let the petitions continue, but with a revised text. Let’s place the emphasis on supporting the people and not the government of Ukraine. Include Russia in this context.

What about SA? Xenophobia is slowly but surely taking root. Innocent people are being murdered and tortured on a daily basis. So, before we rush into petitioning, let’s be clear who and what we’re targeting.

We owe it to the people.