Palestine solidarity in Ukraine is all about shared experiences

This article Palestine solidarity in Ukraine is all about shared experiences was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

As Russian attacks were keeping Kyiv’s residents awake most nights this summer, a group of Ukrainians gathered outside the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide to protest Israel’s siege of Gaza and aid blockade. The Palestinian population was being systematically starved, and millions around the world took to the streets to protest. Both Ukrainians and Palestinians have been facing their own similar struggles with war, occupation and ethnic cleansing, which is motivating Ukrainian solidarity with Palestinians. 

The symbolism of the protest location was important. The museum in Kyiv is a place commemorating all those who died in Ukraine due to a man-made, Soviet-induced famine in the 1930s. 

Nataliya Gumenyuk, a war journalist and co-founder of the Public Interest Journalism Lab, said, “among Ukrainians there is a particular sensitivity regarding the use of starvation as a weapon against humans.” The Public Interest Journalism Lab was one of the media organizations participating in the global action to protect press freedom in Gaza, which demonstrated international outcry for all Palestinian journalists killed while reporting in Gaza. During the campaign, which was organized by Avaaz and Reporters Without Borders, journalists and media outlets from all over the world held vigils and joined protests for their fallen colleagues, calling for the protection of Palestinian journalists and an end to Israeli impunity for systematically targeting them. 

When asked why it was important for her, as a Ukrainian, to protest what is happening to Gaza, Gumenyuk said that those who feel pain understand best those who feel the same. “I think the suffering doesn’t make you numb, but instead, it really lets you understand how horrible the situation is.” 

Gumenyuk explained that the solidarity actions outside the Holodomor Museum protested “the bombardment of the civic infrastructure, occupation, torture and arbitrary detention, which have become the reality of Palestinian women and men.” All of these realities Ukrainians also face. 

For Taras Bilous, an editor at Commons, a Ukrainian journal of social criticism, solidarity with the plight of Palestinians existed long before the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. “I became interested in the Palestinian issue in 2020,” Bilous said. “One of my friends fled from Donetsk to Israel in 2014, where he made friends among the Palestinians. It was much easier for him to communicate with them; he understood their experience of occupation.” His friend couldn’t find similar common ground with Israelis about his experiences with war. 

Bilous facilitated coverage of Palestine on Commons, including interviews with Dana El Kurd, a professor of Palestinian and Arab politics, and Palestinian-Ukrainian humanitarian researcher Rita Adel Mohammed. In November 2023, Bilous and Gumenyuk were also signatories of the letter published in Al Jazeera, where 300 Ukrainian scholars, activists and artists expressed their solidarity with the people in Gaza.

As Russia’s war in Ukraine is about to enter its fourth year, Bilous said, “Our war has brought me closer to, and given me a better understanding of, the experiences and feelings of people going through other wars.” He explained the importance of building bridges with others facing similar injustices across the world. “For me, pro-Palestinian activism is simply part of the overall struggle for a just world and efforts to build international solidarity despite the geopolitical rifts that divide us.” 

Indeed, some Ukrainians have built bridges with Syrian activists, given their shared experiences of Russian militarism and the targeting of civilians. Ukrainians in the diaspora are able to organize actions with other activists who are also in exile due to war or persecution in their countries. For example, the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign joined the Syria Solidarity Campaign in the U.K. to protest against Russia’s and Assad’s attacks on civilians. 

Ukrainian journalists are no strangers to the perils of war reporting: At least 17 journalists and media workers reporting in Ukraine have been killed since Russia’s invasion. In Gaza, where Israel has denied the foreign press access, 270 Palestinian journalists have been killed, which constitutes the highest documented number in any recorded conflict.

This common experience has become a reason for making the connection between the two wars and occupations. Gumenyuk said, “we’re losing our colleagues in the Russian war against Ukraine but also, it’s painful to see how the journalists were killed in Gaza. Way more journalists.” 

Gumenyuk explained that Ukrainian journalists cannot work in the parts of Ukraine that are occupied by Russia. For example, Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who dared to report from the Russian occupied territories was forcibly disappeared and killed in detention. Similarly, other Ukrainian journalists released from captivity, like Dmytro Khyliuk, speak of horrific torture. 

Gumenyuk explained that unlike Gaza, Ukrainian journalists are free to report in most of Ukraine. “We have political and civil freedoms. We can do whatever we want, and of course there is danger, but we feel secure,” she said. “In Gaza, this is not the case. Journalists are vulnerable to the bombs and attacks and are completely cut off from the world.” 

Despite the efforts of activists, there are still pro-Israeli sympathies among the Ukrainian population. “Unfortunately, some of Ukraine’s supporters are pro-Israel, and some of Palestine’s supporters are pro-Russia,” Bilous said. “We are trying to influence this as best we can. But this issue is not generally so acute in the Ukrainian public sphere because we have our own war.” 

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Bilous explained that he would like to see Ukrainians and Palestinians show “some grace for each other’s struggle for justice,” and make more connections between the solidarity movements around the world. 

For Gumenyuk, solidarity for Ukraine is dependent on others. “Ukraine is really asking for global solidarity, and I think it won’t be possible to ask for any solidarity unless we express ours to the Palestinians,” she said. “The case of Gaza shows our nightmare scenario.” 

Reflecting on the days she and her comrades stood outside of the Holodomor Museum, holding placards calling for the cessation of atrocities against the people of Gaza, Gumenyuk said, “Even if not a large action, it did happen, and even if it represents a small chunk of us, we still show up for these united actions.”

This article Palestine solidarity in Ukraine is all about shared experiences was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

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