Western leaders accused of 'double standard' over response to Palestine, Ukraine

Following the surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel last Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy took to the social media platform X to extend his condolences to those who lost loved ones in the "terrorist attack".

He also stated, "Israel's right to self-defence is unquestionable".

Many world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, echoed similar sentiments, reports Al Jazeera.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, "Israel has the right to defend itself – today and in the days to come. The European Union stands with Israel."

According to Al Jazeera, many social media users have criticised these statements, raising concerns about perceived "double standards" within Western responses to these events.

Most international leaders commend Ukraine's right to self-defence while condemning Russia's invasion. However, some commentators argue that the same cannot be said about Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Aaron Bastani, a British journalist, said on X that there's a "clear double standard in endorsing terrorism against civilian targets in Ukraine … and condemning it by Palestinians".

Many users said Western diplomats and media often show solidarity with Ukrainians defending their homeland but label Palestinians fighting against Israel as "terrorists".

An illustration often circulating on social media depicts a woman's face, with one eye closed next to a Palestinian flag and the other open next to a Ukrainian flag, symbolising the alleged double standards in how the two conflicts are perceived in the West.

Clips from a CNN interview with Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, have also surfaced on social media. In the interview, he rhetorically questions why the United States supports Ukraine in fighting against occupation while supporting the occupier in the Palestinian context, where the occupation continues.

Accusations of Western nations displaying double standards in their approach to the Ukraine war are not new.

Earlier this year, Amnesty International released a report that emphasised what they described as the West's "double standards" concerning global human rights. Agnes Callamard, the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera at the time that the occupation of the Palestinians was a "particularly important one".

"Without making any comparison between Russia's aggression and Israel … it is clear the Palestinian people are under a regime of oppression. A regime of occupation and a regime of apartheid," Callamard told Al Jazeera.

In the past three days, users on X have been revisiting previous statements that called out what they perceived as Western hypocrisy. They shared a video from March 2022 featuring Irish lawmaker Richard Boyd Barrett, who strongly criticised the Irish government's double standards in its approach to both the Ukraine and Palestine issues.

"You're happy to use the most strong and robust language to describe the crimes against humanity of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, but you will not use the same strength of language when it comes to describing Israel's treatment of the Palestinians."

Barrett on Sunday again called out what he termed "shocking double standards of Western leaders supporting Ukraine resistance but condemning Palestinian[s]."

Meanwhile, others warned against comparing the two conflicts, while some cautioned that Hamas and Palestinians should not be seen as one and the same.

Ukrainian footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko, who plays for Arsenal, posted on Instagram stating he "stands with Israel".

Zinchenko has been a vocal supporter of his home country in its ongoing defence against Russia and even took part in a Game4Ukraine charity match in London earlier this year to raise money for Ukraine.

However, facing online backlash, with some questioning an alleged double standard in his support of Israel, the footballer decided to delete the post and set his social media account to private.

Several people claimed that his football club, in not responding to Zinchenko's comments, were guilty of hypocrisy after they had distanced themselves from former player Mesut Ozil's comments in 2019 concerning alleged human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in China.