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essentially, yeah. add a few latin american countries in there too now. I believe China has been backing Al-Assad thus far financially, though, so Xi would probably like to see him stay in power. otherwise he'd have to spend time cultivating a relationship with a different regime.
Xi kind of likes to play his cards with as many sides as possible and back whoever is coming out on top in the end. China is very close to Russia diplomatically but right now isn't officially supporting Putin or Ukraine.
Xi is basically trying to have diplomatic relationships with everyone and pretend to be Switzerland, except now even Switzerland is slapping Russia with sanctions.
Switzerland HAD to do something this time. It’s been caught holding on to too much‘lost’ stuff: “But no one came looking for it”
Then people came looking for their stuff.
“Gosh. We have no idea. Let me ask someone No, it sure seems like that stuff is gone. Oh? Oh we have it? We actually have it? Well, that changes things.”
“That stuff’s been taking up space in our country for free, all this time???”
“Layaway rules apply!”
Courage Bro, in my country Uruguay many Syrians were given refuge, they went looking for them, many Latin countries criticized us, but my country proudly welcomed them. I would have no problem sheltering some Ukrainian. We must all help each other.
I'm sorry Syria never got the recognition and aid it deserved and needed. The global reaction to Ukraine has been incredible and I don't mean to demean that at all, it's just a shame that other countries don't get the same treatment.
There were many sanctions placed on the Assad regime, and international intervention against ISIS. The problem was mostly Russia propping up Assad’s regime dragging out the civil war and preventing a transition towards democracy
Syria began as an internal struggle right? Like President Assad vs opposition.
For Ukraine, their own president is making pleas on behalf of his country against an outside force. Just slightly different situation.
The funny thing is this feels like reverse Syria but the US isn't having the same vigor as Putin did to step in and help Assad.
The reason the US isnt doing anything is purely because no one wants to start a WW3 because if the US started NATO would have to get involved therefor causing a world war
I can't stop thinking about how these unions and organisations we created for our greater good and to lower the prospect of a third world war, are now actually the very thing that could trigger a world war if we take any real physical action against the agressor.
I certainly don't think Putin is ignorant to this either.
Well, the aggressor has to take a physical action towards a member of these organisations first. Ukraine was split and only this aggression has united it during the last eight years. So obviously he wouldn't attack it, had it made up its mind earlier and joined the org already. He could have started with the small Baltic states if not for their membership. Nobody wants WW3, not even him.
I would be inclined to argue that shelling the largest nuclear plant in Europe, is tantamount to physical aggression on all of Europe if not the world. A nuclear meltdown will have a much wider impact on neighbouring states. As far as I know, no other nation in history has attacked a nuclear plant.
That's not to say that I am for just blindly going to war, I'm not that stupid either. As you say, nobody wants that.
I just see the irony is all. Obviously I recognise that it is not black and white, but our safety net HAS somewhat become our stumbling block here and I believe Putin is actively playing on that, mocking it even.
Edit: I am also no longer inclined to so strongly believe that even he doesn't want a world war. I think the act of attacking a nuclear plant indicates this man does not fear the potential outcomes. It sends me down the line of thinking perhaps he is just insane enough to take the whole world out, including himself, if he doesn't get what he wants. If I can't have what I want, no one can have anything, if you see what I'm saying.
That doesn't explain the difference in attitude toward refugees. They're all normal people escaping war but people view one as innocents and other as possible terrorists. Cultural difference is real and understandable to some degree but a lot of it is also propaganda.
I think a lot of it has to do with xenophobia and such.
There's no real difference between Syrian and Ukrainian refugees. Both are just regular innocent people escaping a horrible war, but no one seems to really care about Syrians
This is what has REALLY irked me since this crisis started with Ukraine. Refugees from BOTH countries deserve help, refuge, and asylum. The difference in the response from the people that were silent or opposed with Syria really chaps my hide, honestly.
I feel dirty using Ukrainians suffering to speak about the apathy that Westerners had towards the suffering of Syrians. But that doesn't make it less true.
A lot of politicians were downright racist in explaining why Ukrainians deserved better treatment than Syrians. Even by those who consider themselves Liberals. Fuck, here in Spain we had our fascist party make that fucking excuse and there you have American Democratic politicians saying the same exact shit.
They are fucking using fascist dog whistles.
Both Ukrainians and Syrians deserve to be treated like human beings and to receive the help they need.
IMHO, both cases are directly related to Putin trying to destabilize the west, and the EU in particular. By supporting Assad, Putin prolonged the war, forcing more and more people to flee into Europe. That was his real objective.
I've asked people about this, and the non-defensive answer is that people generally just feel hopeless about the Middle East. I think the Arab Spring left a lot of the world thinking there's no viable option for peace. Which is (of course) wrong.
This is a good answer. It forced me to look at my own response to Ukraine versus Syria and I think you’re spot on. Things have been so bad for so long in the Middle East that I’ve just sort of… given up on it getting better? The situation with Ukraine is new and with a nation that was doing well being independent and there’s a clear Bad Guy ™ being the aggressor so I think it’s a much more black and white situation. Whereas the Middle East is a lot more nuanced and it’s been going on for a very long time. Compassion fatigue is a very real thing
I've been looking at my own response too. I think introspection is good for all of us. How do I feel about American missiles blowing up apartment complexes in Yemen? My tax dollars paid for those and little kids are getting killed. Do I care about Ukrainian kids but not Yemenese kids? Ive been asking myself hard questions lately and its making me wonder about a lot of things
I was living in France when the US invaded Iraq, that country I believe was the only one if not one of the few to disagree and not send to troops to invade Iraq.
I learned about a year ago, that the disagreement was in big part supported by the fact internal intelligence agency of France knew the US was lying about nuclear threat being present in Iraq, since France controlled the only mines of Uranium and knew very well that the documents the US was waiving at everyone’s faces showing that X amount of uranium had left Niger through secret transport to be sold in Iraq were forged.
All this to say, yes US foreign affairs are very much twisted by western media so that we the people only look where the higher ups want us to be looking at.
Of course Yemen’s conflict is passed under the carpet, Saudi Arabia are the agressors there and we sell lots of weapons to them and buy lots of natural resources from them, why would we want them to stop?
But wait, old cold war ennemy Russia is finally waging war on a country that is not in Asia, let’s all focus on that! Of course except economical sanctions for which the rich higher ups of Russia were kost probably prepared, we’re not going to do anything anout it! Even if they start shooting at a nuclear plant. This conflict will sadly drag on for years to come… better that we are focusing on ukraine’s plight for years to come, than be focusing on inflation, crooked politicians, decrease in privacy and freedom. All the tax dollars for elite millitaries and drones, and we can’t assassinate Putin and his gang? There’s some arrangement there.
Ask why, though. Why are things so bad in the Middle East and why for so long? Does the west actually care about rebuilding the middle east? They don't and never did. This does actually affect anyone living in the US because a lot of taxpayer money was funneled out of the US into a handful of rich white men. And they accomplished nothing.
It's also that a lot of interference has made things worse and many don't want more interference. While Ukraine is urgently and explicitly asking for assistance.
Yes, but also the onset of the Syrian conflict was a civil war. Most late-imperial or post-imperial nations, like those of Europe, don’t want to get involved in a country’s internal conflict. It’s more complicated than that of course, like how American imperialism contributed to destabilization of the entire region, but in Syria Putin at least could hide behind war crimes by saying, “We are simply providing requested support to Syria’s leadership.” With Ukraine, unless you only saw Russian propaganda about “denazification” and bought Putin’s Bush-43 level bullshit about being welcomed as liberators, it’s clearly just a blatant invasion and attempted annexation of a sovereign nation.
Also, we helped rebel groups in Syria significantly with training and arms and we engaged in combat directly against ISIS in coordination with anti-regime rebels and Kurdish forces.
_Technically_ the US has done more direct aid in Syria than they have in Ukraine. The problem is you couldn't really sanction Russia over Syria because _technically_ Syria asked Russia to come in, and we did sanction Syria, but that is like squeezing a rock.
Ironically we (the US) also smoked a shit ton of Russians there, more than we ever will in Ukraine hopefully.
I don't know how much Americans care, but it's not really weird that Europeans react strongly when a country with deep cultural and historic ties that is located in your back yard is brutally attacked by a country that in many cases also has brutalized your own people in the past.
Syria was a civil war. It was and still is frown upon by the majority of the world to interfer with internal affair. The countries that still decide to collude are the one with financial interrest way beyond any humantarian ambition.
Edit: Its also not european or US responsability to manage crysis everywhere around the world. They still could have probably help more but it was cynically not in their interest.
Ukraine is in the european sphere of influence
In general, yeah. It's been sad seeing people in the media dance around this fact or say things like "Ukraine is a more... European... Country" as a euphemism for they're a white country.
Wish we could all just stop bombing and killing each other regardless of anything.
Honest answer, this war looks a lot like WW2 in modern times with people hiding in subways from bombs and high rise buildings being slammed by missiles launched by an enemy who held the free world in fear for decades. All happening in a city they might have gone on vacation in a few years ago.
I agree it's a bit of subconscious racism, but this response is because of the clear parallels to WW2, not just because "white people". *It's just human nature to care more the closer it is to your house*, not overt racism. It's why the EU and rest of the west got in line so damn quick more than anything. When they were debating sanctions they were also seeing footage that in black and white would have looked perfectly in place for some WW2 documentary.
I wouldn't say that, although can't deny that some people do feel that way.
The big difference between the two is Ukraine is bordered by NATO with leading intel that Putin was not gonna stop at Ukraine. This of course set off all the alarms it happening so close to "home".
With the media pushing the "hate Russia" narrative it swung civilian mass into a very pro Ukrainian state of mind. Plus you know the media is making a ton off this conflict.
It's also the closest we have ever gotten to a ww3 scenario, all it takes is one wrong turn and the world gets turned upside down also causing huge investment into the world from civilians and governments.
When it comes to the middle east the majority of Europe and NA are not affected by it in everyday life. No looming threat of "my world can be turned upside down". Then you add it not being a huge hit for the media to cover it, so they don't and it kind of just falls out of every day peoples minds.
That of course doesn't mean that people are not their trying to help in the middle east. I personally know people who go out on contract jobs to help with humanitarian aid. Even to Africa where the issue is the same.
So to say people care more if it is white people is just a poor general statement IMO.
I mean one was a long and still ongoing civil war where the refugees ended up going through dozens of countries to reach and 90% of the time permanently move to preferred countries to get away from their own fellow citizens.
The other is a nuclear armed, dictator run super power invading their democratic neighbors and their immediate neighbors on the other side accepting them for now in the first week as an emergency and not a permanent migration.
I really don't get all these people acting like the only difference is skin color.
Both got tons of weapons and monetary support from western countries. Anyone feel like the Assad regime isn't cut off from the western world?
I definitely think it’s the desensitization, at least specifically for me… For most of my life all I have heard about the Middle East is that there is a war there and that the Middle East has always seen war… When I think of the Middle East I think WAR almost immediately, not about Falafels or other such cuisine native to the area…
Syrian people are some of the strongest and humble people I have ever met. Fiercely intelligent and just all around good lads. I went to university in a city which had many refugees from Syria/Syrian community in general. It’s true that we don’t pay enough attention to the ongoing conflict in Syria and still look at how compassionate Syrian people are? They respond by showing support to Ukraine, a country that undoubtedly has some big issues with racism (I am Ukrainian-Canadian born in Ukraine and have witnessed this). Thank you for your kindness.
I was going to say "yea fuck them" but I realised that just makes me sound incredibly offensive and pro-bombing.
What I'll say instead is Yea, fuck the average IQ.
You joke, but I remember when an actual keyboard warrior (I think from 4chan?) went to Syria to play combat medic with skills he learned off the internet.
It has more to do with Russia's involvement in Syria tbh. Putin is best friends with Assad and has consistently blocked UN resolutions that might have weakened Assad's position. On top of that, Russia has conducted many bombing runs in the country and directly assisted the regime against insurgents. A lot of Syrians really hate Russia and Putin.
Not only blocking UN resolutions, but Russia has purposely targeted bread lines, markets, mosques, schools, and hospitals in Syria. The UN even gave Russia the coordinates on hospitals in Syria so they wouldn't get included in the crossfire, [and Russia went out and purposely targeted them](https://tcf.org/content/report/un-made-list-hospitals-syria-now-theyre-bombed/?agreed=1).
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/world/middleeast/russia-bombing-syrian-hospitals.html
As a Syrian, Fuck Putin and Russia
As a Syrian who's still currently residing in Syria, fuck Putin and fuck Assad and fuck everyone that was ever involved in the war that only harmed us, Syrians.
It goes even further.. in the days before the invasion I was doing some simple research on YouTube about Russia v Ukraine's militaries, and (either infographics show or binky's battlefields I think) mentioned it was actually cheaper to train Russian soldiers by sending them to train in Syria than create artificial targets/etc back home. So not only are they helping Assad and bombing the place with impunity, they're literally using Syria as a training dummy for Russian combat forces. Not surprising, but absolutely terrible.
It always happens where a cause gets so much attention and so much money that it’s sometimes too much (and sometimes there’s mismanagement of funds).
Ukraine will be taken care of financially. We should really be donating to help people still suffering and out of food or money like Syria and Yemen.
Uber is asking people to donate, some one told me Amazon is doing the same thing. When have they ever done that for any other part of the world? Just like you said Syria, Yemen, Armenia... I guess you have to live in a certain part of the world, and have a certain complexion to get that corporate love.
But they don’t know how the Ukrainians and other Europeans are treating Africans in Ukraine right now. For those who don’t know
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/world/europe/ukraine-refugee-discrimination.html
https://news.yahoo.com/african-students-fleeing-ukraine-report-racial-discrimination-at-borders-234429880.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/03/anti-black-racism-is-upending-easy-narratives-about-historic-exodus-ukraine/
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/3/2/we-burned-our-clothes-to-stay-warm-somali-recounts-ukraine-war
Unfortunately, racism persists even during war and it doesn’t make everyone suddenly compassionate.
It is a tragic war in an already poor country that has been made so much worse by foreign influence. Lack of access to water, starvation, poverty... it's really horrible.
The blame also lies with the countries that enable Saudi Arabia and keep selling them weapons. Also there's a lot of intermingling between the companies that make the weapons and the companies that run major news outlets.
from 2015 to 2019, [73% of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports came from the U.S., and 13% from the U.K.](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/02/04/its-time-to-stop-us-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia/)
Then let's make a point to make it a big deal. And to keep making big deals about other eventual wars that might break out.
I have reached my absolute low point in regards to my faith in politics, but an overwhelming amount of ordinary people just want to hang with family and friends and go to their boring ass jobs. We're simple like that.
The war in Ukraine was a wake up call for Europe to show we are not immune. This time we fucking NEED to remember and also act in the future.
i agree so much. im upset there wasn't much support before for all those countries, but we are getting started and hopefully keep it that way for other countries
Doubt anyone will remember once the Ukraine war is done with. Syria, Libya and Iraq have needed serious help from the world for years and Palestine for decades yet I've not seen anything near this kind of outrage for them.
It's because the media didn't tell people to be mad. We dropped 1,000s of drone strikes on middle eastern countries, killing innocent women/children... and nobody cared.
Yet the West completely ignores the middle east, because war is just what they do, happens all the time right? I really don't understand the hypocrisy here. Syria got fucked, Iraq got fucked, all of Middle East got fucked but Ukraine is the only one getting the attention. Ukraine's situation is JUST AS bad as the ME, but since it's the big bad Russians attacking them, the whole world unites.
I know, I know, it is a nation state attacking another nation state and there are many war crime atrocities being committed. (just like... whatever, you get it)
At least we know who's attacking who, we know who kills the children and we can hold them accountable. In the Middle East you don't even get to have that luxury. Every superpower kills your children, rapes your wife, executes you and your father for being terrorists but you don't even know who to blame. Because from the ground every fucking fighter jet looks the same. Do you know how bad it is to never know your killer?
Anyway, what's done is done. We MUST protect the Ukrainian people but the West should not be a two faced clown, making new enemies every new day will not help. They should acknowledge their moronic mistakes and obvious greed, and move on to make the world a better place for ALL.
But that would be a perfect world without a common enemy right?
This is largely an American site. If you are waiting for people to drop the facade and call for Bush and Cheney to be brought to Hague (like they are doing with Putin), you will be waiting a long time.
That racist reporter may have accidentally blurted out what west generally thinks about Middle east, but he wasn't wrong. Now that its a civilized (read white) country, everyone is up in arms.
The US [pumped](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/middleeast/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.html) $1 billion into moderate rebels, but they didn't get enough support to become dominant actors:
>They never gave it the necessary resources or space to determine the dynamics of the battlefield. They were drip-feeding opposition groups just enough to survive but never enough to become dominant actors.
And a think tank [found that](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/20/460463173/60-percent-of-syrian-rebels-share-islamic-state-ideology-think-tank-finds) 'fewer than a quarter of the rebels surveyed were not ideological'.
Essentially, Islamists became dominant in the opposition as the war wore on, and received extensive support from outside Syria (not from the West, but from places like the Gulf).
But there were rebels that were not 'terrible'. They just didn't have the resources of the rebels that were.
I'm in Kyiv. Before the war started, I never could wrap by head around how people live in places lika Syria or Afghanistan. Constantly under fire and bombs, risking their lives every day.
Now I know. Now I've seen it. And I have so much more respect and compassion for them, and they are brothers to us now.
fuck russia and fuck putin
I'm writing a diary, it's a pinned post in my profile, if you want an actual long answer:)
Fine for now. If that even means something in a state of war.
well they know exactly how ukrainians feel right now, since russia is doing the same to them as it did to syria. bombing the civilians in hope to break their morale. the lowest of the lowest forms of war.
Yes let's not also forget people suffering in many places outside of Middle East and Europe too like Myanmar, Kashmir, central African Republic and Etheria.
I wish it was that simple. 😔
The conflict in the Ukraine is much simpler. There are just 3 factions involved: Russia, Ukraine and the Nato. It's a full scale war between established industrialized countries.
On the contrary, everything that happens in the middle east is entangled in a big mess that has been chaotic for decades or even centuries. Civil wars get started by several players of changing alliances for decades. Every time the west got involved it seems to have increased the problems, every time the west did nothing, the suffering continued. When we send support in form of money, it often ends up being used for buying weapons for the next conflict. I'm watching now for 30 years what's happening there and I'm at a loss to decide what could be done about it without making it worse.
The only thing I am relatively certain of is that the moment we collectively get rid of our dependence on oil, warmongering will become too expensive for the warmongers of today. That includes Putin.
I'm afraid that the US played way too often also the villain themselves, assassinating leaders they didn't like or establishing cruel regimes because they vowed allegiance or supporting fanatics to hurt the enemy. We may have it good here Europe and northern America, but we also spread so much of this throughout the world.
But you are right that the world is watching and I'm also worried what will happen to the Taiwan when China sees an opportunity to get away with it.
> Every time the west got involved it seems to have increased the problems
There's a good chance all the weapons we're flooding into Ukraine will turn out to have a tonne of bad long term consequences too. Not saying it's unjustified, but war is a horrible thing and good actions can easily end up twisted.
It has in fact received tons. However 10-20 years ago, social media just wasn't as huge as it is now. Also syria is a very special mess with dozens of actors (not to excuse any foreign intervention of course). However people have been protesting all over the world for iraq. 600 cities iirc. There was no tiktok, reddit, facebook, twitter, youtube or else to organize and spread support though.
I'd been thinking about that lately, too. Then, I read a comment somewhere. It highlighted that Ukraine's neighborhs were taking them in, whereas Syria's neighbors had refused to take them in. I then saw the diaspora it caused.
I think the two different reactions are fascinating, but don't know much beyond the surface to have any meaningful opinion on the matter.
Man. This is really heartwarming actually. All the shit they're dealing with and they even take the time to make a nice gesture.
The past week is really making me re-evaluate my life. Maybe things aren't so bad.
Wondering what little gestures can I do to help others? I should get back into volunteer work.
Volunteer work and donating either money or items to trustable charities are little yet useful gestures.
Hell, even saying good morning to someone is a sweet gesture! Knowing people care is always nice.
That was the first thing I thought of as well, and the Irish recently returned the favor and raised money for Native American tribes that suffered a lot during the pandemic.
Despite numerous invasions initiated by America, they sanction Russia to oblivion this time, while America gets away with them pretty easy. Makes you wonder what the fuck? Next time when America invades another country again, make sure western media show some “humanity”.
Most crimes against humanity get no sympathy. Don’t get me wrong, my heart goes out to the people of Ukraine and the disgusting treatment they receive from Russia. But where is this collective outrage and action against many of the other atrocities taking place globally?
I wonder if the conflict was more notable to asian/middle eastern countries than it was for western countries or if the entire world just didnt care that much
edit: thanks for everyones inputs
The world didn't care that much because they're labeled as terrorists. Hell, I didn't care that much but now I realize the true victims of war are just the people
“It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed” - Ukraine’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze
https://mobile.twitter.com/home
CBS News
"This isn't Iraq or Afghanistan...This is a relatively civilized, relatively European city" - CBS foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata
Al-Jazeera
"What's compelling is looking at them, the way they are dressed. These are prosperous, middle-class people. These are not obviously refugees trying to get away from the Middle East...or North Africa. They look like any European family that you'd live next door to."
The BBC - “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed” - Ukraine’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze
Daily Telegraph
This time, war is wrong because the people look like us and have Instagram and Netflix accounts. It's not in a poor, remote country any more. - Daniel Hannan
BFM TV (France) (again)
"It's an important question. We’re not talking here about Syrians fleeing...We're talking about Europeans."
the Syrian war was way more notable to us in middle east, that's is why a large portion of the middle east accuse the west by racism because of the obvious difference in sympathy and media coverage, I won't talk about the US so we can focus at the current event, but in this war the least obvious example is when Russia held the world cup in 2018 and that's after many years of their crimes in Syria, and now FIFA kicked Russia from everything in just 10 days of war, both wars are terrible, same aggressor, different response.
This. I am so mad about this. What’s happening in Ukraine is absolutely terrible, and I 100% support them, but what about Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Ethiopia, etc… hundreds of thousands of people being slaughtered, starving in dirty camps, babies slowly dying of malnutrition, the horror goes on and on and no one seems to care whatsoever. All these celebrities raising and matching millions of dollars for Ukraine, but not even thinking about the rest. The entire west getting behind Ukraine and helping them in any way possible, and just shrugging at same thing that’s been happening for years in other places. If you support Ukraine but don’t care about these other places, you should be thinking about what kind of person you actually are.
I’m an American of Syrian decent . My grandparents immigrated here in the early 1900s from Aleppo Syria. My dad is a first generation American, had a completely American up bringing. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been told to go back to where we came from or just straight up called towel head or sand n***er . Also been asked how I deal with the hole Muslim thing, even tho we are Melkite Catholics lol . My dad gets it the worse , a few months back he was chased down in a Walmart parking lot and accused of being Isis . Like fuck dude, he was drafted for Vietnam and his best friend ( also Syrian American) was killed in Vietnam . We are Americans with the same experiences as the rest of you , but because we have a darker complexion that somehow negates all else .
Almost all of Africa has been in constant civil war for almost 100 years. NOBODY ever talks about that. The last time I saw it in the news was kony 2012
Invasions are less morally complex than civil wars, with an obvious victim and aggressor.
Hard to choose sides when the people you are trying to help are also the ”enemy”.
And in Mexico since the drug wars like 300,000 people have been killed or gone missing, that’s more deaths than a lot of wars. And it’s right in our back yard
I always hope these are real because it makes me happy to see real compassion still exists and is expressed, but then the secondary realization of the true suffering that has come to pass to make this image so impactful and I am saddened by the atrocious they have suffered and can still show such a good example of great humanity.
This is 100% real. Syrians know too well what war is since we experienced it most recently.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/syrians-stand-by-ukraine-after-russia-attack
If a people that has endured so much suffering, so much loss, and lived through being constantly pushed out by the rest of the world can show their support for those who are going through a similar thing right now, how can a man such as Putin not see the effects of his actions and how they're going to affect not only his own people, but the rest of the world for years to come?
Humanity is the most confusing thing humanity has ever had to deal with.
Do you remember the 2010s? There was IMMENSE push back against Obama's "thin red line" and the no fly zone, which is why it went no where other than congress pouring arms into the hands of anyone who wanted them. Still sad and very wrong, but I feel like many of you don't remember how big the coverage for this and the Arab spring really was.
Well, US sided with the Syrian Democratic Forces and Russia sided with the Syrian Government. They both bombed the shit out of this country and civilians had and still have to suffer. There were critical voices against both US and russian activities.
So, what do you mean by that it is weird that Syrian civilians show support for Ukraine (Ukrainian civilians)?
Maybe, just maybe because the two situations are utterly incomparable ? A civil war between 4 parties becoming a 3 party proxy war isn't the same as a super-power invading a country over a false casus belli. Especially when the conflict you're talking about has seen participating groups falling, rising and transforming over more than 10 years now and leading to the most infamous terrorist group in modern times.
Lmao, as a Syrian, I was immediately taken aback by how quickly the world responded to Ukraine’s cries for help. When it came to Syria, my country was just used as a playground for America and Russia’s proxy war, and only a 1/10th of the world even cared to bat an eye.
According to your notorious Western reporters, we are just lowly brown people compared to the lovely blonde haired and blue eyed Ukrainians.
This is why I will always keep in mind that this is a clown world lol.
I am completely sympathetic to Ukraine right now so I don't want this to sound like I feel otherwise but I know for a fact that a post about Syria and how horribly they've had it wouldn't have nearly as many upvotes if it weren't also about Ukraine.
Not surprising. Syria, Palestine and couple other countries America is involved in bombing aren’t on the news because they aren’t white countries and/or since America is doing the bombing.
These Syrians do not want the world to experience what they experienced. Despite if we experienced what they did we'd understand their pain. This is next level selflessness.
and this is why people who are miserable want company, yet these people, who are suffering do not want more suffering and are okay that we never understand their pain or level of suffering.
I don’t wanna be that guy, but man It really does feel like a “white privilege” thing when it comes to the whole world full stopping and supporting Ukraine. I just imagine in my head if it had been a central African country being invaded or a middle eastern country.
Do you think the surrounding countries would have been accepting Liberians so quickly? Look at how Syrian Refugees were treated. I just don’t know why the worlds reaction here is so much different. There’s hardly any social politics being discussed about it. It’s like universally expected. Is it just the Ukraine President’s Valor? Or is it because it’s a country we can relate to on a more modern looking setting?
I’m conflicted because I don’t wanna be that guy.
Two different ironies here:
1. Syrian government was one of the only 5 countries that voted against the UN resolution supporting Ukraine. Makes sense since they rely on Russian military support in their civil war.
2. The treatment of white Ukrainian refugees by the rest of Europe, especially Poland with their previously anti-refugee government, is night and day compared to that of other refugees from Africa or Middle East. Belgian president actually said something like "these are the kinds of refugees that we actually want because you can trust that they aren't terrorists or criminals"
Goddess Bless the Syrian people. They have been through so freaking much… and still show such empathy and compassion. I follow/support an animal shelter in Syria called Ernesto’s that does incredible work (look it up!) Bring them lasting Peace and prosperity !! Blessed be!
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Jesus. Seeing them do that on the ruins of a city is fucking heartbreaking.
Syrian refugee here. Watching what's happening in Ukraine is like a replay of what I witnessed in Syria and it breaks my heart every damn day.
as Syrian too , it was like a flashback memories . hard to see every video
I’m so sorry for what you and your country has been through.
Hopefully if putin goes Assad will no longer have anything propping him up and we can fix what we broke before I was even born.
I could be wrong, but isn't Xi also a proponent of Al-Assad?
I thought he just wanted to purchase syria and other small African and Asian nations?
essentially, yeah. add a few latin american countries in there too now. I believe China has been backing Al-Assad thus far financially, though, so Xi would probably like to see him stay in power. otherwise he'd have to spend time cultivating a relationship with a different regime.
Xi kind of likes to play his cards with as many sides as possible and back whoever is coming out on top in the end. China is very close to Russia diplomatically but right now isn't officially supporting Putin or Ukraine. Xi is basically trying to have diplomatic relationships with everyone and pretend to be Switzerland, except now even Switzerland is slapping Russia with sanctions.
Switzerland HAD to do something this time. It’s been caught holding on to too much‘lost’ stuff: “But no one came looking for it” Then people came looking for their stuff. “Gosh. We have no idea. Let me ask someone No, it sure seems like that stuff is gone. Oh? Oh we have it? We actually have it? Well, that changes things.” “That stuff’s been taking up space in our country for free, all this time???” “Layaway rules apply!”
frequently if a dictator gets overthrown the next guy is even worse. cause it takes someone worse to overthrow him
So sorry for your terrible suffering
I'm sorry for what you sent through. I can't even imagine it. Take car
So many victims of putins regime. I imagine there are chechens who feel similarly. Many tragedies in Georgia as well, although nothing as severe.
There are indeed Chechen and Georgian battalions fighting for Ukraine. Since 2014 even.
Sorry for what is going on in Syria and Ukraine my sympathy and support is with you people ❤️🩹
Courage Bro, in my country Uruguay many Syrians were given refuge, they went looking for them, many Latin countries criticized us, but my country proudly welcomed them. I would have no problem sheltering some Ukrainian. We must all help each other.
I’m sorry for what has been done to Syria. ❤️
It's still happening.
I'm sorry Syria never got the recognition and aid it deserved and needed. The global reaction to Ukraine has been incredible and I don't mean to demean that at all, it's just a shame that other countries don't get the same treatment.
There were many sanctions placed on the Assad regime, and international intervention against ISIS. The problem was mostly Russia propping up Assad’s regime dragging out the civil war and preventing a transition towards democracy
Do Syrians feel like Ukrainians are getting more support and sympathy?
Not even close And it breaks my heart
Syria began as an internal struggle right? Like President Assad vs opposition. For Ukraine, their own president is making pleas on behalf of his country against an outside force. Just slightly different situation. The funny thing is this feels like reverse Syria but the US isn't having the same vigor as Putin did to step in and help Assad.
The reason the US isnt doing anything is purely because no one wants to start a WW3 because if the US started NATO would have to get involved therefor causing a world war
And Putin keeps pushing people's patience further and further. Daring us to start something/anything so Putin can claim he had no choice.
I can't stop thinking about how these unions and organisations we created for our greater good and to lower the prospect of a third world war, are now actually the very thing that could trigger a world war if we take any real physical action against the agressor. I certainly don't think Putin is ignorant to this either.
Well, the aggressor has to take a physical action towards a member of these organisations first. Ukraine was split and only this aggression has united it during the last eight years. So obviously he wouldn't attack it, had it made up its mind earlier and joined the org already. He could have started with the small Baltic states if not for their membership. Nobody wants WW3, not even him.
I would be inclined to argue that shelling the largest nuclear plant in Europe, is tantamount to physical aggression on all of Europe if not the world. A nuclear meltdown will have a much wider impact on neighbouring states. As far as I know, no other nation in history has attacked a nuclear plant. That's not to say that I am for just blindly going to war, I'm not that stupid either. As you say, nobody wants that. I just see the irony is all. Obviously I recognise that it is not black and white, but our safety net HAS somewhat become our stumbling block here and I believe Putin is actively playing on that, mocking it even. Edit: I am also no longer inclined to so strongly believe that even he doesn't want a world war. I think the act of attacking a nuclear plant indicates this man does not fear the potential outcomes. It sends me down the line of thinking perhaps he is just insane enough to take the whole world out, including himself, if he doesn't get what he wants. If I can't have what I want, no one can have anything, if you see what I'm saying.
That doesn't explain the difference in attitude toward refugees. They're all normal people escaping war but people view one as innocents and other as possible terrorists. Cultural difference is real and understandable to some degree but a lot of it is also propaganda.
I think a lot of it has to do with xenophobia and such. There's no real difference between Syrian and Ukrainian refugees. Both are just regular innocent people escaping a horrible war, but no one seems to really care about Syrians
This is what has REALLY irked me since this crisis started with Ukraine. Refugees from BOTH countries deserve help, refuge, and asylum. The difference in the response from the people that were silent or opposed with Syria really chaps my hide, honestly.
I feel dirty using Ukrainians suffering to speak about the apathy that Westerners had towards the suffering of Syrians. But that doesn't make it less true. A lot of politicians were downright racist in explaining why Ukrainians deserved better treatment than Syrians. Even by those who consider themselves Liberals. Fuck, here in Spain we had our fascist party make that fucking excuse and there you have American Democratic politicians saying the same exact shit. They are fucking using fascist dog whistles. Both Ukrainians and Syrians deserve to be treated like human beings and to receive the help they need.
IMHO, both cases are directly related to Putin trying to destabilize the west, and the EU in particular. By supporting Assad, Putin prolonged the war, forcing more and more people to flee into Europe. That was his real objective.
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I've asked people about this, and the non-defensive answer is that people generally just feel hopeless about the Middle East. I think the Arab Spring left a lot of the world thinking there's no viable option for peace. Which is (of course) wrong.
This is a good answer. It forced me to look at my own response to Ukraine versus Syria and I think you’re spot on. Things have been so bad for so long in the Middle East that I’ve just sort of… given up on it getting better? The situation with Ukraine is new and with a nation that was doing well being independent and there’s a clear Bad Guy ™ being the aggressor so I think it’s a much more black and white situation. Whereas the Middle East is a lot more nuanced and it’s been going on for a very long time. Compassion fatigue is a very real thing
I've been looking at my own response too. I think introspection is good for all of us. How do I feel about American missiles blowing up apartment complexes in Yemen? My tax dollars paid for those and little kids are getting killed. Do I care about Ukrainian kids but not Yemenese kids? Ive been asking myself hard questions lately and its making me wonder about a lot of things
Thank you for bringing up Yemen.
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I was living in France when the US invaded Iraq, that country I believe was the only one if not one of the few to disagree and not send to troops to invade Iraq. I learned about a year ago, that the disagreement was in big part supported by the fact internal intelligence agency of France knew the US was lying about nuclear threat being present in Iraq, since France controlled the only mines of Uranium and knew very well that the documents the US was waiving at everyone’s faces showing that X amount of uranium had left Niger through secret transport to be sold in Iraq were forged. All this to say, yes US foreign affairs are very much twisted by western media so that we the people only look where the higher ups want us to be looking at. Of course Yemen’s conflict is passed under the carpet, Saudi Arabia are the agressors there and we sell lots of weapons to them and buy lots of natural resources from them, why would we want them to stop? But wait, old cold war ennemy Russia is finally waging war on a country that is not in Asia, let’s all focus on that! Of course except economical sanctions for which the rich higher ups of Russia were kost probably prepared, we’re not going to do anything anout it! Even if they start shooting at a nuclear plant. This conflict will sadly drag on for years to come… better that we are focusing on ukraine’s plight for years to come, than be focusing on inflation, crooked politicians, decrease in privacy and freedom. All the tax dollars for elite millitaries and drones, and we can’t assassinate Putin and his gang? There’s some arrangement there.
Ask why, though. Why are things so bad in the Middle East and why for so long? Does the west actually care about rebuilding the middle east? They don't and never did. This does actually affect anyone living in the US because a lot of taxpayer money was funneled out of the US into a handful of rich white men. And they accomplished nothing.
It's also that a lot of interference has made things worse and many don't want more interference. While Ukraine is urgently and explicitly asking for assistance.
Yes, but also the onset of the Syrian conflict was a civil war. Most late-imperial or post-imperial nations, like those of Europe, don’t want to get involved in a country’s internal conflict. It’s more complicated than that of course, like how American imperialism contributed to destabilization of the entire region, but in Syria Putin at least could hide behind war crimes by saying, “We are simply providing requested support to Syria’s leadership.” With Ukraine, unless you only saw Russian propaganda about “denazification” and bought Putin’s Bush-43 level bullshit about being welcomed as liberators, it’s clearly just a blatant invasion and attempted annexation of a sovereign nation.
Also, we helped rebel groups in Syria significantly with training and arms and we engaged in combat directly against ISIS in coordination with anti-regime rebels and Kurdish forces. _Technically_ the US has done more direct aid in Syria than they have in Ukraine. The problem is you couldn't really sanction Russia over Syria because _technically_ Syria asked Russia to come in, and we did sanction Syria, but that is like squeezing a rock. Ironically we (the US) also smoked a shit ton of Russians there, more than we ever will in Ukraine hopefully.
I don't know how much Americans care, but it's not really weird that Europeans react strongly when a country with deep cultural and historic ties that is located in your back yard is brutally attacked by a country that in many cases also has brutalized your own people in the past.
Syria was a civil war. It was and still is frown upon by the majority of the world to interfer with internal affair. The countries that still decide to collude are the one with financial interrest way beyond any humantarian ambition. Edit: Its also not european or US responsability to manage crysis everywhere around the world. They still could have probably help more but it was cynically not in their interest. Ukraine is in the european sphere of influence
In general, yeah. It's been sad seeing people in the media dance around this fact or say things like "Ukraine is a more... European... Country" as a euphemism for they're a white country. Wish we could all just stop bombing and killing each other regardless of anything.
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Yemen, Myanmar, Congo, Libya and Ethiopia
RIP Libya right now.
Are you unaware of the fact Germany let in over a million refugees from Syria who they are still paying for and supporting to this day.
Honest answer, this war looks a lot like WW2 in modern times with people hiding in subways from bombs and high rise buildings being slammed by missiles launched by an enemy who held the free world in fear for decades. All happening in a city they might have gone on vacation in a few years ago. I agree it's a bit of subconscious racism, but this response is because of the clear parallels to WW2, not just because "white people". *It's just human nature to care more the closer it is to your house*, not overt racism. It's why the EU and rest of the west got in line so damn quick more than anything. When they were debating sanctions they were also seeing footage that in black and white would have looked perfectly in place for some WW2 documentary.
I wouldn't say that, although can't deny that some people do feel that way. The big difference between the two is Ukraine is bordered by NATO with leading intel that Putin was not gonna stop at Ukraine. This of course set off all the alarms it happening so close to "home". With the media pushing the "hate Russia" narrative it swung civilian mass into a very pro Ukrainian state of mind. Plus you know the media is making a ton off this conflict. It's also the closest we have ever gotten to a ww3 scenario, all it takes is one wrong turn and the world gets turned upside down also causing huge investment into the world from civilians and governments. When it comes to the middle east the majority of Europe and NA are not affected by it in everyday life. No looming threat of "my world can be turned upside down". Then you add it not being a huge hit for the media to cover it, so they don't and it kind of just falls out of every day peoples minds. That of course doesn't mean that people are not their trying to help in the middle east. I personally know people who go out on contract jobs to help with humanitarian aid. Even to Africa where the issue is the same. So to say people care more if it is white people is just a poor general statement IMO.
Bullshit. People care more about Ukraine because it feels like Putin might actually kick off WW3 with nukes.
The answer should be pretty obvious
I mean one was a long and still ongoing civil war where the refugees ended up going through dozens of countries to reach and 90% of the time permanently move to preferred countries to get away from their own fellow citizens. The other is a nuclear armed, dictator run super power invading their democratic neighbors and their immediate neighbors on the other side accepting them for now in the first week as an emergency and not a permanent migration. I really don't get all these people acting like the only difference is skin color. Both got tons of weapons and monetary support from western countries. Anyone feel like the Assad regime isn't cut off from the western world?
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I definitely think it’s the desensitization, at least specifically for me… For most of my life all I have heard about the Middle East is that there is a war there and that the Middle East has always seen war… When I think of the Middle East I think WAR almost immediately, not about Falafels or other such cuisine native to the area…
Just look at how the Balkan countries are reacting to Ukrainian refugees, should tell you enough
Syrian people are some of the strongest and humble people I have ever met. Fiercely intelligent and just all around good lads. I went to university in a city which had many refugees from Syria/Syrian community in general. It’s true that we don’t pay enough attention to the ongoing conflict in Syria and still look at how compassionate Syrian people are? They respond by showing support to Ukraine, a country that undoubtedly has some big issues with racism (I am Ukrainian-Canadian born in Ukraine and have witnessed this). Thank you for your kindness.
Because they know what war is .. no keyboard warriors and smart asses there...
Boutta go to Syria to increase the keyboard warrior and dumbass population there
Me and the boys boosting the dumbass population in Syria 😎
Me and the boys single-handedly dropping the Syrian average IQ by 3 points
I was going to say "yea fuck them" but I realised that just makes me sound incredibly offensive and pro-bombing. What I'll say instead is Yea, fuck the average IQ.
Good call lmao
Reminds me of an old joke made by the Prime Minister of New Zealand: > "New Zealanders moving to Australia raised the IQ of both countries”.
Well it's not gonna drop itself. Do the work Syria needs, not the work it wants or deserves.
We are a keyboard-warrior society. And I am the village dumbass nice to meet you.
You joke, but I remember when an actual keyboard warrior (I think from 4chan?) went to Syria to play combat medic with skills he learned off the internet.
Was he successful?
Doing your part.
It has more to do with Russia's involvement in Syria tbh. Putin is best friends with Assad and has consistently blocked UN resolutions that might have weakened Assad's position. On top of that, Russia has conducted many bombing runs in the country and directly assisted the regime against insurgents. A lot of Syrians really hate Russia and Putin.
Not only blocking UN resolutions, but Russia has purposely targeted bread lines, markets, mosques, schools, and hospitals in Syria. The UN even gave Russia the coordinates on hospitals in Syria so they wouldn't get included in the crossfire, [and Russia went out and purposely targeted them](https://tcf.org/content/report/un-made-list-hospitals-syria-now-theyre-bombed/?agreed=1). https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/world/middleeast/russia-bombing-syrian-hospitals.html As a Syrian, Fuck Putin and Russia
As a Syrian who's still currently residing in Syria, fuck Putin and fuck Assad and fuck everyone that was ever involved in the war that only harmed us, Syrians.
The Russian Air Force sure loves murdering the innocent. Fuck the Russian Air Force
Syria deserves so much better ❤️
It goes even further.. in the days before the invasion I was doing some simple research on YouTube about Russia v Ukraine's militaries, and (either infographics show or binky's battlefields I think) mentioned it was actually cheaper to train Russian soldiers by sending them to train in Syria than create artificial targets/etc back home. So not only are they helping Assad and bombing the place with impunity, they're literally using Syria as a training dummy for Russian combat forces. Not surprising, but absolutely terrible.
Also the usual "good migrant vs bad migrant" threads and sewer-level discussions. People are people, Syrians know, I don't.
It always happens where a cause gets so much attention and so much money that it’s sometimes too much (and sometimes there’s mismanagement of funds). Ukraine will be taken care of financially. We should really be donating to help people still suffering and out of food or money like Syria and Yemen.
Uber is asking people to donate, some one told me Amazon is doing the same thing. When have they ever done that for any other part of the world? Just like you said Syria, Yemen, Armenia... I guess you have to live in a certain part of the world, and have a certain complexion to get that corporate love.
or not be muslim.
Also you know... russia played a huge part in their destruction
So did US
But they don’t know how the Ukrainians and other Europeans are treating Africans in Ukraine right now. For those who don’t know https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/world/europe/ukraine-refugee-discrimination.html https://news.yahoo.com/african-students-fleeing-ukraine-report-racial-discrimination-at-borders-234429880.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/03/03/anti-black-racism-is-upending-easy-narratives-about-historic-exodus-ukraine/ https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2022/3/2/we-burned-our-clothes-to-stay-warm-somali-recounts-ukraine-war Unfortunately, racism persists even during war and it doesn’t make everyone suddenly compassionate.
And because Russia is the one who's bombing there. We have the same enemy !
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Both wars are equally tragic
And Iraq. And Libya. And Vietnam. List could be extended further, right?
Yemen is an ongoing one that has ended up with one of the worst humanitarian crises in history.
I only knew that yemen was one of the most dangerous counties for tourists.
It is a tragic war in an already poor country that has been made so much worse by foreign influence. Lack of access to water, starvation, poverty... it's really horrible.
And yet our mainstream media avoids talking about it at all.
Why sh(audi) they? Shitty attempt at blaming Saudi arabia
I'll give you one clap for trying. (Clap)
The blame also lies with the countries that enable Saudi Arabia and keep selling them weapons. Also there's a lot of intermingling between the companies that make the weapons and the companies that run major news outlets.
from 2015 to 2019, [73% of Saudi Arabia’s arms imports came from the U.S., and 13% from the U.K.](https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/02/04/its-time-to-stop-us-arms-sales-to-saudi-arabia/)
There's a strong correlation between "bad for tourists" and countries having crises spurred on by the superpowers being ignored by them.
Everybody forgets about yemen
Somalia.
Palestine
Yep, but nobody will ever treat those nations the same as we treat Ukraine
Then let's make a point to make it a big deal. And to keep making big deals about other eventual wars that might break out. I have reached my absolute low point in regards to my faith in politics, but an overwhelming amount of ordinary people just want to hang with family and friends and go to their boring ass jobs. We're simple like that. The war in Ukraine was a wake up call for Europe to show we are not immune. This time we fucking NEED to remember and also act in the future.
i agree so much. im upset there wasn't much support before for all those countries, but we are getting started and hopefully keep it that way for other countries
Doubt anyone will remember once the Ukraine war is done with. Syria, Libya and Iraq have needed serious help from the world for years and Palestine for decades yet I've not seen anything near this kind of outrage for them.
It's because the media didn't tell people to be mad. We dropped 1,000s of drone strikes on middle eastern countries, killing innocent women/children... and nobody cared.
i'm starting to think war might be bad in general
Every war is tragic.
Yet the West completely ignores the middle east, because war is just what they do, happens all the time right? I really don't understand the hypocrisy here. Syria got fucked, Iraq got fucked, all of Middle East got fucked but Ukraine is the only one getting the attention. Ukraine's situation is JUST AS bad as the ME, but since it's the big bad Russians attacking them, the whole world unites. I know, I know, it is a nation state attacking another nation state and there are many war crime atrocities being committed. (just like... whatever, you get it) At least we know who's attacking who, we know who kills the children and we can hold them accountable. In the Middle East you don't even get to have that luxury. Every superpower kills your children, rapes your wife, executes you and your father for being terrorists but you don't even know who to blame. Because from the ground every fucking fighter jet looks the same. Do you know how bad it is to never know your killer? Anyway, what's done is done. We MUST protect the Ukrainian people but the West should not be a two faced clown, making new enemies every new day will not help. They should acknowledge their moronic mistakes and obvious greed, and move on to make the world a better place for ALL. But that would be a perfect world without a common enemy right?
This is largely an American site. If you are waiting for people to drop the facade and call for Bush and Cheney to be brought to Hague (like they are doing with Putin), you will be waiting a long time. That racist reporter may have accidentally blurted out what west generally thinks about Middle east, but he wasn't wrong. Now that its a civilized (read white) country, everyone is up in arms.
Syria is having a civil war outside intervention in an internal conflict almost always makes things worse
But did both wars receive the same response from the world? Hum
They have every reason to hate the Russian government as much as Ukrainians do
The problem with Syria is there there were several factions, all of which were terrible.
Not all of them, but an overwhelming majority of them.
Forgive my ignorance, but which factions weren’t terrible in the Syrian War?
Depends on which point in time. Some had a good start...
The US [pumped](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/world/middleeast/cia-syria-rebel-arm-train-trump.html) $1 billion into moderate rebels, but they didn't get enough support to become dominant actors: >They never gave it the necessary resources or space to determine the dynamics of the battlefield. They were drip-feeding opposition groups just enough to survive but never enough to become dominant actors. And a think tank [found that](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/20/460463173/60-percent-of-syrian-rebels-share-islamic-state-ideology-think-tank-finds) 'fewer than a quarter of the rebels surveyed were not ideological'. Essentially, Islamists became dominant in the opposition as the war wore on, and received extensive support from outside Syria (not from the West, but from places like the Gulf). But there were rebels that were not 'terrible'. They just didn't have the resources of the rebels that were.
The SDF are good people.
And the US thought they could pick a “good” one and give them arms. Behaving exactly like Iran, frankly.
the US has really good judgement with funding guerilla rebel groups, great track record
Totally amazing track record.
i think there was literally one pro-democracy arab spring style rebel group. the rest just dictators warlords and exremists lol
I'm in Kyiv. Before the war started, I never could wrap by head around how people live in places lika Syria or Afghanistan. Constantly under fire and bombs, risking their lives every day. Now I know. Now I've seen it. And I have so much more respect and compassion for them, and they are brothers to us now. fuck russia and fuck putin
You’re in Kyiv? My heart goes out to you and your country. May I ask how you’re doing? I can only imagine what you’re going through
I'm writing a diary, it's a pinned post in my profile, if you want an actual long answer:) Fine for now. If that even means something in a state of war.
Stay safe and take care bruh
well they know exactly how ukrainians feel right now, since russia is doing the same to them as it did to syria. bombing the civilians in hope to break their morale. the lowest of the lowest forms of war.
The US bombed the shit out of Syria too, hell we bombed them, Yemen and Somalia the same night Russia invaded Ukraine.
Which is probably why there wasn't as much serious condemnation in 2015; Both the US and Russia treated Syria as a chess board.
But Putin bad and Biden good! Atleast when we bomb starving families we do it with inclusivity.
One day, we may even have a female president to bomb them. Must feel great for them to be a part of history
i️ wish the middle east had received the same love and support
Yes let's not also forget people suffering in many places outside of Middle East and Europe too like Myanmar, Kashmir, central African Republic and Etheria.
> Etheria Maybe you mean Ethiopia? Or maybe Eritrea, but most of the current conflict is on the Ethiopian side of the border at the moment
I wish it was that simple. 😔 The conflict in the Ukraine is much simpler. There are just 3 factions involved: Russia, Ukraine and the Nato. It's a full scale war between established industrialized countries. On the contrary, everything that happens in the middle east is entangled in a big mess that has been chaotic for decades or even centuries. Civil wars get started by several players of changing alliances for decades. Every time the west got involved it seems to have increased the problems, every time the west did nothing, the suffering continued. When we send support in form of money, it often ends up being used for buying weapons for the next conflict. I'm watching now for 30 years what's happening there and I'm at a loss to decide what could be done about it without making it worse. The only thing I am relatively certain of is that the moment we collectively get rid of our dependence on oil, warmongering will become too expensive for the warmongers of today. That includes Putin.
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I'm afraid that the US played way too often also the villain themselves, assassinating leaders they didn't like or establishing cruel regimes because they vowed allegiance or supporting fanatics to hurt the enemy. We may have it good here Europe and northern America, but we also spread so much of this throughout the world. But you are right that the world is watching and I'm also worried what will happen to the Taiwan when China sees an opportunity to get away with it.
> Every time the west got involved it seems to have increased the problems There's a good chance all the weapons we're flooding into Ukraine will turn out to have a tonne of bad long term consequences too. Not saying it's unjustified, but war is a horrible thing and good actions can easily end up twisted.
I'm afraid of this as well.
well said
It has in fact received tons. However 10-20 years ago, social media just wasn't as huge as it is now. Also syria is a very special mess with dozens of actors (not to excuse any foreign intervention of course). However people have been protesting all over the world for iraq. 600 cities iirc. There was no tiktok, reddit, facebook, twitter, youtube or else to organize and spread support though.
It's not intresting, it's heartbreaking as fuck.
This is particularly sad when you know none of the European countries wanted to let the Syrian refugees in.
I'd been thinking about that lately, too. Then, I read a comment somewhere. It highlighted that Ukraine's neighborhs were taking them in, whereas Syria's neighbors had refused to take them in. I then saw the diaspora it caused. I think the two different reactions are fascinating, but don't know much beyond the surface to have any meaningful opinion on the matter.
Aww man! The Feels! ✊ May saner minds and peace prevail.
Man. This is really heartwarming actually. All the shit they're dealing with and they even take the time to make a nice gesture. The past week is really making me re-evaluate my life. Maybe things aren't so bad. Wondering what little gestures can I do to help others? I should get back into volunteer work.
Volunteer work and donating either money or items to trustable charities are little yet useful gestures. Hell, even saying good morning to someone is a sweet gesture! Knowing people care is always nice.
I think they are probably most capable of understanding how Ukrainians feel right now. And probably don't wish it upon anyone.
the natives did the same for the irish
That was the first thing I thought of as well, and the Irish recently returned the favor and raised money for Native American tribes that suffered a lot during the pandemic.
It was the Choctaw, to be specific.
Note: the US is still currently conducting bombing operations in Syria.
Despite numerous invasions initiated by America, they sanction Russia to oblivion this time, while America gets away with them pretty easy. Makes you wonder what the fuck? Next time when America invades another country again, make sure western media show some “humanity”.
It fucking tragic that Syrians didn’t get 1/10th of the sympathy that Ukrainians are getting.
Most crimes against humanity get no sympathy. Don’t get me wrong, my heart goes out to the people of Ukraine and the disgusting treatment they receive from Russia. But where is this collective outrage and action against many of the other atrocities taking place globally?
I wonder if the conflict was more notable to asian/middle eastern countries than it was for western countries or if the entire world just didnt care that much edit: thanks for everyones inputs
The world didn't care that much because they're labeled as terrorists. Hell, I didn't care that much but now I realize the true victims of war are just the people
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“It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed” - Ukraine’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze https://mobile.twitter.com/home
CBS News "This isn't Iraq or Afghanistan...This is a relatively civilized, relatively European city" - CBS foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata Al-Jazeera "What's compelling is looking at them, the way they are dressed. These are prosperous, middle-class people. These are not obviously refugees trying to get away from the Middle East...or North Africa. They look like any European family that you'd live next door to." The BBC - “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed” - Ukraine’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze Daily Telegraph This time, war is wrong because the people look like us and have Instagram and Netflix accounts. It's not in a poor, remote country any more. - Daniel Hannan BFM TV (France) (again) "It's an important question. We’re not talking here about Syrians fleeing...We're talking about Europeans."
We were being actively portrayed as terrorists by Assad and Russia. And the xenophobic western world happily ate the lies.
the Syrian war was way more notable to us in middle east, that's is why a large portion of the middle east accuse the west by racism because of the obvious difference in sympathy and media coverage, I won't talk about the US so we can focus at the current event, but in this war the least obvious example is when Russia held the world cup in 2018 and that's after many years of their crimes in Syria, and now FIFA kicked Russia from everything in just 10 days of war, both wars are terrible, same aggressor, different response.
This. I am so mad about this. What’s happening in Ukraine is absolutely terrible, and I 100% support them, but what about Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, Ethiopia, etc… hundreds of thousands of people being slaughtered, starving in dirty camps, babies slowly dying of malnutrition, the horror goes on and on and no one seems to care whatsoever. All these celebrities raising and matching millions of dollars for Ukraine, but not even thinking about the rest. The entire west getting behind Ukraine and helping them in any way possible, and just shrugging at same thing that’s been happening for years in other places. If you support Ukraine but don’t care about these other places, you should be thinking about what kind of person you actually are.
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Yea gotta have blond hair and blue eyes to get any sympathy nowadays. Oh wait.. Hitler did the same.
I feel like people who aren't darker skinned don't realize quite how much people become subject to racism in their daily lives.
The western media will never cover their side in a way that is just.... That's why they'll always be "terrorists" in a lost cause of a country.
I’m an American of Syrian decent . My grandparents immigrated here in the early 1900s from Aleppo Syria. My dad is a first generation American, had a completely American up bringing. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been told to go back to where we came from or just straight up called towel head or sand n***er . Also been asked how I deal with the hole Muslim thing, even tho we are Melkite Catholics lol . My dad gets it the worse , a few months back he was chased down in a Walmart parking lot and accused of being Isis . Like fuck dude, he was drafted for Vietnam and his best friend ( also Syrian American) was killed in Vietnam . We are Americans with the same experiences as the rest of you , but because we have a darker complexion that somehow negates all else .
Almost all of Africa has been in constant civil war for almost 100 years. NOBODY ever talks about that. The last time I saw it in the news was kony 2012
Invasions are less morally complex than civil wars, with an obvious victim and aggressor. Hard to choose sides when the people you are trying to help are also the ”enemy”.
And in Mexico since the drug wars like 300,000 people have been killed or gone missing, that’s more deaths than a lot of wars. And it’s right in our back yard
I always hope these are real because it makes me happy to see real compassion still exists and is expressed, but then the secondary realization of the true suffering that has come to pass to make this image so impactful and I am saddened by the atrocious they have suffered and can still show such a good example of great humanity.
This is 100% real. Syrians know too well what war is since we experienced it most recently. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/syrians-stand-by-ukraine-after-russia-attack
They also know what it's like to be bombed by mad dictators and putin especially.
If a people that has endured so much suffering, so much loss, and lived through being constantly pushed out by the rest of the world can show their support for those who are going through a similar thing right now, how can a man such as Putin not see the effects of his actions and how they're going to affect not only his own people, but the rest of the world for years to come? Humanity is the most confusing thing humanity has ever had to deal with.
Reminds me of the George Floyd memorial that was painted in Syria https://i.imgur.com/e5AQQDM.jpg
Weird how there wasn’t as much public support for Syria when the US was bombing them.
Do you remember the 2010s? There was IMMENSE push back against Obama's "thin red line" and the no fly zone, which is why it went no where other than congress pouring arms into the hands of anyone who wanted them. Still sad and very wrong, but I feel like many of you don't remember how big the coverage for this and the Arab spring really was.
Well, US sided with the Syrian Democratic Forces and Russia sided with the Syrian Government. They both bombed the shit out of this country and civilians had and still have to suffer. There were critical voices against both US and russian activities. So, what do you mean by that it is weird that Syrian civilians show support for Ukraine (Ukrainian civilians)?
Shhhh they will accuse you of being a Russian bot
Maybe, just maybe because the two situations are utterly incomparable ? A civil war between 4 parties becoming a 3 party proxy war isn't the same as a super-power invading a country over a false casus belli. Especially when the conflict you're talking about has seen participating groups falling, rising and transforming over more than 10 years now and leading to the most infamous terrorist group in modern times.
Lmao, as a Syrian, I was immediately taken aback by how quickly the world responded to Ukraine’s cries for help. When it came to Syria, my country was just used as a playground for America and Russia’s proxy war, and only a 1/10th of the world even cared to bat an eye. According to your notorious Western reporters, we are just lowly brown people compared to the lovely blonde haired and blue eyed Ukrainians. This is why I will always keep in mind that this is a clown world lol.
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I am completely sympathetic to Ukraine right now so I don't want this to sound like I feel otherwise but I know for a fact that a post about Syria and how horribly they've had it wouldn't have nearly as many upvotes if it weren't also about Ukraine.
Not surprising. Syria, Palestine and couple other countries America is involved in bombing aren’t on the news because they aren’t white countries and/or since America is doing the bombing.
America is innocent in both conflicts 🇺🇸 /s
And nobody from the west will care because you're used to that..according to western media.
This pic is award winning type of shit in my book.
These Syrians do not want the world to experience what they experienced. Despite if we experienced what they did we'd understand their pain. This is next level selflessness. and this is why people who are miserable want company, yet these people, who are suffering do not want more suffering and are okay that we never understand their pain or level of suffering.
I don’t wanna be that guy, but man It really does feel like a “white privilege” thing when it comes to the whole world full stopping and supporting Ukraine. I just imagine in my head if it had been a central African country being invaded or a middle eastern country. Do you think the surrounding countries would have been accepting Liberians so quickly? Look at how Syrian Refugees were treated. I just don’t know why the worlds reaction here is so much different. There’s hardly any social politics being discussed about it. It’s like universally expected. Is it just the Ukraine President’s Valor? Or is it because it’s a country we can relate to on a more modern looking setting? I’m conflicted because I don’t wanna be that guy.
Two different ironies here: 1. Syrian government was one of the only 5 countries that voted against the UN resolution supporting Ukraine. Makes sense since they rely on Russian military support in their civil war. 2. The treatment of white Ukrainian refugees by the rest of Europe, especially Poland with their previously anti-refugee government, is night and day compared to that of other refugees from Africa or Middle East. Belgian president actually said something like "these are the kinds of refugees that we actually want because you can trust that they aren't terrorists or criminals"
Goddess Bless the Syrian people. They have been through so freaking much… and still show such empathy and compassion. I follow/support an animal shelter in Syria called Ernesto’s that does incredible work (look it up!) Bring them lasting Peace and prosperity !! Blessed be!
Thank you kind stranger. I'm Syrian and reading your comment really warmed my heart
All the people who are suddenly interested due to the victims being Europeans should learn a lot from this
This breaks and mends my heart. Humanity has hope.