Somebody said today that I’m Ukrainian first and Jewish* a very distant second. This is strange, he said, given how close I was with my Jewish father and how distant with my Ukrainian mother.
Thing is, though, my Jewish father was also always much more Ukrainian than Jewish. He was definitely tons more Ukrainian than my mother. So this argument doesn’t work.
The actual reason is that you can’t unilaterally appoint yourself a member of a group. Yes, some men declare themselves women and tower over female competitors on a podium where they get their fake awards. But normal people don’t do that. They don’t go where they aren’t wanted. And I’m mostly normal.
As a kid, I never had a Ukrainian friend stop asking me over because she discovered I was half-Jewish. I never had Ukrainian relatives use anti-semitic slurs around me. I never had to justify my appearance to Ukrainian acquaintances. Nobody ever said I’m not a real Ukrainian because of my Dad. But I did have all these experiences over being half-Ukrainian with Jewish friends, relatives, colleagues. I get it, it’s fine. I look Jewish like Megan Markle looks black. If you stare really hard and also squint a little, you can definitely see something.
The point I’m making is that it’s stupid to inflict yourself on a group that doesn’t want you even if you have legitimate claims to belonging. It’s gigantically more stupid to do it when you’ve got none.
* I’m talking about being Jewish purely in terms of ethnicity. And yes, that’s a real thing that shows up on DNA tests.
Clarissa's Blog 
When it comes to conflict between groups, people feel far more strongly about Israel/Palestine around here than Russia/Ukraine.
https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/a-second-war-in-the-world
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I see “proxy war” and I stop reading because I know where that line was written.
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SA was involved in an actual Cold War proxy war in Angola for years. Whether or not it applies to the current wars, it is considered a valid term around here.
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If it snowed here in January, it doesn’t mean it’s snowing somewhere else right now. Proxy wars absolutely exist. But there isn’t one happening in Ukraine. People who claim the opposite lose my interest because they don’t know what’s happening yet feel necessary to opine.
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Well, the article was more about people’s attitudes towards the wars than the wars themselves.
Russia supporters in SA all think that Russia is fighting The West or America which makes it hard to discuss their position without bringing up proxy wars.
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The definition of a proxy war is “a war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved”. Russia clearly did become involved, which is why the term doesn’t work.
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Russia might be a power, but America is the power as far as many people are concerned. I don’t see the term going away as long as the US doesn’t deploy troops.
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America didn’t instigate anything in this case. To the contrary, the US did everything for 8 years to appease, mollify and coddle Russia.
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