Two years in, and there are still numerous signs all over town — blue and yellow heart cut-outs, flags in people’s yards — in support of Ukraine. So much local concern and opinion about a war that would doubtless have many casualties seemed encouraging. And yet, I have to wonder if this sudden collective conviction isn’t, in another way, simply the anti-Russia sentiment that we are constantly hearing as Americans.

It is natural and inevitable that we humans form biases, even moreso now that we witness international tragedies daily via social media and the internet, and that our societies in general are so divided. However, there are certain things that should unite us all. For example: Love of family, care for our communities, and our shared identities as humans — arguably the highest developed consciousness on the planet.

It is so easy to become defensive, take sides, and to be hypocritical on some level (even moreso when our institutions and leaders set the example). So far, the Russia-Ukraine war has killed more than 10,000 civilians in Ukraine. Five months in, Israel has killed near 30,000 people (at least two-thirds of whom are civilians, not Hamas militants — for those who would argue that murdering people we deem as terrorists is morally acceptable or even effective) with 70,000 wounded, thousands more unaccounted for (buried in the rubble), and hundreds of thousands more suffering starvation and disease as a result of the total deprivation of water, food and electricity, and destruction from bombs and bulldozers. And yet, I’ve seen not one yard sign, heart cut-out, or flag. Why is that?

Why is it that Putin kills Navalny and more than 500 new U.S. sanctions are issued, and yet in Israel’s case, Biden has managed to sanction only four Israeli settlers for their violence in the West Bank and not even mention sanctions for Netanyahu? Or that while accused of what the International Court of Justice calls a “plausible” genocide, Israel receives billions more in “aid”? And yet, the U.S. and a dozen other countries cut off life-saving UNWRA funding for hundreds of thousands because of accusations against 12 employees? There is clearly a dangerous bias at work here. The fact that the word genocide is even being considered should leave no doubt for how unacceptable this war is.

If the data on death and destruction aren’t enough to inspire people to speak up, what about the billions of dollars of our tax money currently enriching arms and weapons dealers, or the thousands of bombs with our signature on them that fall on families stuck in Gaza? Could we count the number of new enemies we are making for ourselves? All of this, while many of us can’t afford healthcare, education, and while many of our veterans aren’t taken care of. Where is the collective outrage? Why is it that we respond so differently?

And to those who would say, “but the terrorism of Oct. 7” … I say: If you legitimize Israel’s actions, then you legitimize Oct. 7. The reasons for our starkly different responses to mass murder of other humans are many and I don’t aim to pin-point them here. My point is that we should recognize our failure to consistently defend all human life and ask ourselves why our convictions are so inconsistent.

I know that we can’t take on every global conflict, but this, I would argue, is one to take a stand on. Beyond yard signs, I hope we can recognize the patterns of hypocrisy in media and leadership that focus on the supposed evil of Russia, but do not call for a ceasefire in Gaza, for a cessation in spending our tax money on a war that is already, in pace and level of devastation, the most destructive in recent history and has the highest civilian casualty rate in the 21st century.

This issue is very personal for me as someone who has lived in Israel, visits family there often and wants to see them safe, demilitarized, and living in a peaceful democracy as I believe they could if the world would hold their government accountable and enforce real diplomacy. I want to do more. I write and call representatives but feel largely powerless and am tempted to despair. I hope that our community can have these difficult conversations and triumph against the ways our differences are manipulated by our leaders to overlook our common best interests- when it comes to this international issue, and our domestic issues here at home.

This year will be rough. I think we should all be honest with ourselves about the fact that no one candidate will fix all of the broken parts of our systems. So, let us remember our shared humanity, because our exposed bias in the case of humans abroad says something about our tendencies at home, too. Taking a position on a conflict is not simple, but seeing the humanity in those that we disagree with does not imply denying our own.

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Amanda Craver lives in Bloomingdale.

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Sources

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/23/israels-war-on-gaza-live-local-authorities-report-central-gaza-massacre

War in Gaza has resulted in unprecedented levels of destruction: WHO spokesperson

“New evidence of unlawful Israeli attacks in Rafah causing mass civilian casualties” (amnesty.org)

Gaza deaths compared to Ukraine

“War on Gaza: US ‘to send weapons to Israel’ while pushing for ceasefire,” Middle East Eye

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/23/1233410578/biden-russia-sanctions-ukraine-war-anniversary-navalny

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/22/us-intelligence-unrwa-hamas

“International Military Interventions and Transnational Terrorist Backlash,” International Studies Quarterly, Oxford Academic (oup.com)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/israel-war-destruction-gaza-record-pace/

“Israel’s war in Gaza among deadliest in recent history, experts say,” Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)