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Ignorant Academics

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Here is an excerpt from last week’s article that came out in Ukraine. I translated it with GT because it illustrates really well the abyss of ignorance in which Western academics have chosen to exist:

Last fall, after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, I received a phone call from a university colleague from Canada. The professor asked me a somewhat unexpected question:

— Ihor, how many pro-Hamas demonstrations have taken place in Ukraine recently?

— ???

— Well, if not for Hamas, how many pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli demonstrations were there?

- Practically none... Why do you ask such strange questions?

- The questions are not strange. At our university, and at other Canadian universities, the majority of faculty and students support the Palestinians and, by extension, Hamas…

https://uamoderna.com/blogy/teror-teroryzm-i-palestynska-problema/

It takes a very special kind of moron to look for pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Ukraine where everybody knows how involved Russia has been in managing Hamas and Hezbollah since their inception.

23 responses to “Ignorant Academics”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    It’s also tone-deaf to expect that a people under heavy bombardment from Russia will have the luxury of protesting other conflict zones.

    Even if there are people in Ukraine (as one will expect, as in every country of the world) who is appalled by Israel’s horrific actions after October 7th and over the years.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Ukrainians overwhelmingly and passionately support Israel. I thought it was widely known.

      All normal people everywhere support Israel. Russians are all pro-Palestinian, though. Again, not too shocking.

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      1. methylethyl Avatar
        methylethyl

        It’s not as intuitive to people as you’d think. I certainly never heard anything about it outside this blog.

        Possibly could have made an educated guess from knowing that UKR was part of the pale of settlement where RUS shipped its Jewish population for a while, but that too is a weird factoid that few people are familiar with, absent a fairly niche interest in genealogy, Eastern Europe, or Jewish history.

        Liked by 1 person

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Ukrainians are very, very proud to be part of the great Western civilization. That’s the origin of the big conflict with the Russians. They hate the West, we love the West. They can’t forgive us for being so enthusiastic about the West. They feel betrayed.

          I absolutely slaughtered at my last talk in Ukraine when I related how in US academia it’s fashionable to say that the West is horrible and caused all the worst things in history.

          Liked by 1 person

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        2. Avatar
          Anonymous

          Not all Jews support what Netanyahu is doing in Israel though. So I won’t be quick to say that just being Jewish is enough reason to “support Israel”. Must people can see what’s going on and can make individual assessment, removed from blind group identity.

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          1. methylethyl Avatar
            methylethyl

            Wasn’t suggesting that. Never mentioned Netanyahu. And you’ve entirely missed the point. Simply pointed out that the only piece of relevant intel I (as a typically world-affairs ignorant American with no personal stake) have on how *anyone* in UKR might feel about the ISR situation (outside this blog), is knowing there’s probably a higher-than-average concentration of Jews in the former pale of settlement areas. That’s it. The connection is extremely tenuous. We learned nothing whatever about UKR in school. The MSM isn’t making any connections between the two countries, or bringing up RUS involvement in ISR at all. Rightwing alt-media also not making any of those connections. Unless they happen to be reading the blog of a Ukrainian person who sometimes explains it… Americans are totally in the dark on all that.

            Liked by 1 person

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              That’s a good point. I need to talk more about it because people honestly don’t know.

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              1. methylethyl Avatar
                methylethyl

                We really don’t. These things are neither intuitive nor obvious.

                Liked by 1 person

  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Again, not surprising that many (even if most) Ukrainians support Israel.

    But the Palestinian conflict is not just about “supporting Israel” or Palestine. As we’ve seen from the unending protests for the end of the killings — by Israelis themselves in Israel (forget college campuses for a minute) and plenty (orthodox) Jews everywhere, the global protests are about ending the carnage, getting Netanyahu out of office, preventing genocide, and generally getting the conflict to an amicable end and lasting peace. Many Ukrainians, I will bet, support that goal, even if they’re Jewish, and if they love Israel, which I do. It’s not mutually exclusive to be Jewish or Ukrainian and be pro-peace or anti-ethnic-cleansing.

    That delineation is important in the discussion.

    They may not go out to protest — they’re under bombardment after all. But the cause is similar, even if Ukraine never attacked Russia. Russia also never (until 2014) annexed any part of Ukraine. And now that an annexing has occurred, Ukraine will have every right to resist, WITH EVERYTHING THEY HAVE until Russia is defeated or retreats. Or until peace comes somehow. Same as Palestinians. Peace through strength, as they say. Slava Ukraini. Slava Palestine. Saying all Ukrainians support what Netanyahu and his ilk are doing is like saying there’s no diversity of thought in Ukraine. Quite unlikely.

    Oh, and many Russians like Israel (see Solovyev and even Prigozhin), while many are anti-Semitic, and openly so. So it is usually laughable to imagine that any country can be monolithic in its assessment of a complex geo-political situation. Even you should know better.

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    1. cliff arroyo Avatar
      cliff arroyo

      “protests for the end of the killings — by Israelis themselves”

      Now…. how many Palestinians (or muslims at all) protested Oct 7 or suicide bombings against civilian targets.

      A feature of the West (very absent in most of the world) is being able to publicly protest one’s ‘own’ side for reasons of principle.

      Most of the world most of the time operates on pure blind group loyalty.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        Israel is also greatly admired in Ukraine because it managed to build an effective nation-state amidst very hostile countries. It’s an example to follow unlike the people who have been sitting in refugee tents for 80 years and moaning how they are victims.

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        1. Avatar
          Anonymous

          Okay, so you’re going to blame Ukraine for failing to build “an effective nation-state” if Russia wins this war? Come on. Having a more powerful bully as neighbour has no bearing on your morality, intelligence, or decency. Again, you should know that.

          Palestinians have been “moaning” for 80 years because they have a powerful bully for a neighbour, who refused to stop bullying, and who also has powerful friends. It’s what Ukraine is going through now and we need not belittle it or somehow use it to justify aggression.

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          1. Clarissa Avatar
            Clarissa

            It’s not about “blame.” Do you have a role model in life? Or had in the past? Anybody who inspired you in some way? By admiring that person did you “blame” everybody else who didn’t achieve what they did?

            As for Ukraine, everybody there is very well-aware of effing up massively in the past 30 years in destroying their own army, in not creating a serious border with Russia, in swallowing the annexation in 2014, in not building the nation-state as seriously as they should have, etc. Terrible mistakes were made, and I’m yet to see a single Ukrainian who would be afraid of naming them.

            There’s no agency without responsibility. “Blame” is a childish concept, just like “fairness.” Move away from these passive words and embrace your agency. That’s always a great idea for individuals or groups.

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          2. cliff arroyo Avatar
            cliff arroyo

            “Palestinians have been “moaning” for 80 years because they have a powerful bully for a neighbour”

            Palestinians have been ‘moaning’ for 80 years because they don’t accept the existence of Jews on ‘their’ land. They’ve started a whole bunch of conflicts, lost each and every one (along with totally alienating every Arab government that’s tried to help them) and don’t think they should suffer any consequences for that. That is not a political movement but an infantile tantrum with horrible effects for them and those around them.

            I’ll support Palestinians when they come up with a political agenda that was designed by adults who recognize reality (Jews aren’t going anywhere unless the Palestinians can kill them all and they can’t).

            Until then…. yeah their situation totally sucks but they’re still addicted to the idea of an overwhelming military victory of Israel rather than the best peace they can get in their situation.

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            1. Avatar
              Anonymous

              “yeah their situation totally sucks but they’re still addicted to the idea of an overwhelming military victory …rather than the best peace they can get in their situation.”

              I know that you think you’ve stumbled on some divine truth here, but apply the exact same statement you made to Ukraine and you’ll see the point that right-wingers have been making in the US.

              In all, it’s easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. Those who are making different choices than you aren’t just stupid children. Again, when you have a bully for a neighbour, even the best laid plans can fizzle as quickly as Crimea.

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              1. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                Russia is not and did not at any point offer peace.

                And please, I beg you, let up with this childish language. Bully, blame – what is this, a pre-school playground? Even third-graders think it’s too infantile to speak like that.

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              2. Clarissa Avatar
                Clarissa

                Leaving this childishness aside, here’s what I wonder. Palestinians despise you. They think you are an infidel, an obscene, repugnant creature. They want you to die. Is it a sort of a psychological defense mechanism where you think that condescending to them would make the fear go away? What is it that makes people slobber over the very group that despises them and wishes their demise?

                I have the exact same question for the American fans of Russia. There’s deep self-hatred here because you have really got to make an effort to fish out whichever international conflict features somebody who believes you are scum and start worshipping on their altar.

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              3. Avatar
                Anonymous

                Hard to nest a comment after a while on WordPress so pardon my incompetence here.

                My response is to that last comment of yours where you said that Palestinians hate you/us and want you/us dead.

                I wonder what gave you that idea. No Palestinian person I’ve met wants me dead. Heck no Palestinian I’ve met wants all Jews dead much less all Americans. 9/11 was not caused by Palestinians, so when did they want me dead?

                Being called an infidel is common to all Abrahamic religions, from Christianity (unbeliever) to Judaism (kofer or gentile) to Kaffir in Islam. Same idea: you’re not beloved by our God, who is all mighty and all powerful, and who loves and protects us alone.

                Jews lived in the Holy Land before Balfour, outnumbered by Arab Muslim and Arab Christian Palestinians. They were not killed. And in many of the riots and massacres that attended the mass immigration of Jews after WW2, many Arab Palestinian families saved many Jews’ lives. If you want links, I can send them to you.

                So no, most Americans know that the conflict is not about killing Jews for the sake of killing. There’s a generational conflict about the status of the holy land and the mutual sharing of land. When that is settled, there will be peace. But maximalists on both sides keep the state of war going so we can keep having these unending silly debates, as if one side is purely good or purely evil. Most clear-eyed people know better.

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              4. cliff arroyo Avatar
                cliff arroyo

                “you’ve stumbled on some divine truth here”

                It’s been my position for about 20 years as I keep waiting for counter evidence… that never seems to appear.

                Palestinians en masse have accepted the proposition that all their problems are the cause of someone else (as have russians). This is about the most self-destructive approach possible.

                The thing is, that it’s not a poltical problem per se but a civilizational one.

                Liked by 1 person

      2. Avatar
        Anonymous

        The killings on October 7th was horrific and I know many Muslims who condemned it. Protest? Now that didn’t happen. No one protested Israel’s response either. People typically don’t protect one action. No one protested 9/11 or the US atomic bomb drop in Hiroshima.

        The protests started after the sustained bombing of civilians. If Hamas had continued bombing Israeli civilians since October 7 till date, and displaced millions, without an end in sight, you’d have seen more than protests. May even have seen US boots on the ground. But that didn’t happen, hence the difference.

        Vietnam didn’t become a protest on the first night.

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    2. cliff arroyo Avatar
      cliff arroyo

      “Even you should know better”

      When did you start thinking that our hostess is mentally or morally deficient?

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      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        It’s not a real blog without at least one troll.

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        1. Avatar
          Anonymous

          Now that’s not fair. If you don’t want intelligent disagreement, just say so.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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