Where Are All The Ukraine Protests?
An examination of selective solidarity, fashionable wars, and why feelings have replaced rational principles
Where Are All The Ukraine Protests?
An examination of selective solidarity, fashionable wars, and why feelings have replaced rational principles
Every Saturday. Thousands marching through London with Palestinian flags. "Free Palestine." "Stop the genocide." University occupations. Social media campaigns. The full machinery deployed.
Gaza casualties: documented, mourned, protested.
Ukrainian casualties: silence.
Mariupol theatre, February 2022. Russian forces bombed it. The word "CHILDREN" was written outside. Hundreds killed. Where were the Saturday protests?
Bucha massacre, April 2022. Hundreds of executed civilians. Bodies with hands bound. Mass graves. Where were the university occupations?
Ongoing Russian strikes on apartment blocks, shopping centres, railway stations. UN verified over 12,600 civilian deaths in three years. Actual toll likely far higher. Where are the banners?
You see the problem?
Same War, Different Energy
Gaza: The Lancet estimates around 70,000 deaths in 14 months. UN figures suggest 45,000.
Ukraine: UN verified 12,654 civilian deaths in three years. Likely "considerably higher." Some estimates suggest up to 100,000.
Both conflicts: massive civilian casualties. Children killed. Clear aggressor-defender dynamics - larger power attacking smaller territory.
One gets sustained mass protests. The other gets silence.
If you're genuinely anti-war, why does geography matter? Why do some dead children generate marches and others don't?
The Race Distraction.
Someone will claim it's about race. Palestine gets activism because activists care about brown people. Ukraine doesn't because white people don't count.
Bollocks.
Ukraine versus Russia: Both white. Both Slavic. Both Christian-heritage. Not racial.
Palestine versus Israel: Religious and ethnic conflict. Jewish versus Muslim and Arab. Neither is a race in biological terms.
We've diluted "race" to meaninglessness. Everything's race now, except most things aren't. They're religion, culture, ethnicity, nationality. Calling everything "race" just muddles analysis.
So if it's not race, what is it?
The Real Filter: Does It Feel Right?
Palestine fits the post-colonial, anti-imperialist emotional template. Israel equals Western-backed power. Palestine equals oppressed population. The FEELING activates. Protests flow.
Ukraine doesn't fit that template. Victim aligned with NATO. Can't FEEL it as "Western imperialism oppressing indigenous people." The emotional machinery doesn't engage.
It's not about opposing civilian casualties. It's about which casualties trigger the right FEELINGS.
Think about that.
Testing The Logic.
Is it practical? Protesting civilian casualties: yes. Protesting ALL civilian casualties equally: also yes. Requires only consistency.
Is it logical? If you oppose civilians dying in war, you oppose it everywhere. Opposing only certain deaths based on narrative fit: not logic. Selectivity.
What's the likely outcome? Selective protest maintains tribal positioning but exposes the inconsistency. Universal opposition would require protesting conflicts that don't FEEL right. Can't have that.
Current outcome: Palestine gets protests. Ukraine doesn't. Everyone's comfortable. Feelings satisfied.
The "Genocide" Defence.
"But Gaza is genocide. Ukraine isn't."
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. Charge: unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Recognised as genocide under international law - deliberately destroying a population by removing and assimilating their children.
If genocide justifies protests for Palestine, why not Ukraine? Unless "genocide" is just another selective label applied when it FEELS right and ignored when it doesn't.
The Practical Disaster.
No Ukrainians crossed the Channel in dinghies. Why? Legal routes. Homes for Ukraine scheme. Over 300,000 came safely with proper documentation.
People fleeing Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq - all fleeing war - get no legal routes. They risk drowning because there's no alternative.
But here's what nobody mentions: Legal routes aren't just safer. They're practical.
Ukrainian refugees: Documented arrivals. Government knows exactly who's coming, when, how many. Can plan infrastructure - school places, healthcare capacity, housing. Fits into census-based 10-year planning.
Boat arrivals: Undocumented. Unknown numbers. Can't plan infrastructure. Completely offsets census planning. Schools, hospitals, housing - all unaccounted for.
If activists genuinely cared about proper refugee support, integration, not overwhelming services - they'd demand legal routes for everyone. Because legal routes mean documentation. Documentation means planning. Planning means proper support.
Instead? Defend the boat crossings. Don't demand the practical solution. Why? Because demanding legal routes requires working with government. Can't compromise the FEELING of ideological purity.
Result: People drown. Infrastructure chaos. No rational planning. But everyone FEELS good about their positioning.
Government does the same selective game. Ukrainians: European, culturally familiar, FEELS comfortable. Safe routes.
Syrians: Middle Eastern, Muslim-majority, doesn't FEEL right. No routes.
Everyone's selective. Just different filters based on different FEELINGS. Same result - some victims count, others don't.
When Feelings Replace Principles.
Universal principle: consistent response. Oppose civilian casualties everywhere. Support refugees fleeing war everywhere.
Selective feelings: protest only conflicts that fit your emotional template. Support only victims who trigger the right responses.
We observe: Massive sustained protests for Palestinian casualties. Silence for Ukrainian casualties. Selective "genocide" terminology. Different treatment for different refugees.
None based on universal principles. All based on which conflicts and victims FEEL right.
Palestine FEELS like the right cause. Ukraine doesn't.
Ukraine FEELS culturally acceptable. Syria doesn't.
And practical reality? Feelings don't save lives. Feelings don't plan infrastructure. Feelings don't require consistency. Feelings just make you comfortable while rational governance burns.
The Diagnostic Questions.
If your activism disappears when victims don't fit your narrative, were you ever really opposed to civilians dying in war?
If you'll march every Saturday for Palestinian children but not Ukrainian children, what's your principle? Because it's not "protect children from war."
If you defend boat crossings but won't demand the practical solution - legal routes that eliminate drownings AND enable proper planning - are you solving problems or maintaining feelings?
War is war. Civilians dying is civilians dying. Children being killed is children being killed.
Unless your activism requires the right aesthetic. Unless humanitarian concern comes with eligibility criteria. Unless consistency matters less than how things FEEL.
The casualties of that selectivity? Ukrainians killed by Russian missiles who don't generate protests because they're the wrong victims. Syrian refugees drowning because they fled the wrong war. Overwhelmed services because feelings don't build infrastructure.
All because feelings replaced rational principles.
Who knew compassion needed to FEEL fashionable?
End.
Verify This Yourself.
Ukraine civilian casualties:
UN OHCHR verified deaths: https://ukraine.un.org/en/289667
Mariupol theatre bombing: Multiple news sources, March 2022
Bucha massacre: UN reports, April 2022
Gaza/Palestine casualties:
The Lancet analysis: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02678-3/fulltext
UN data: https://www.ochaopt.org/data/casualties
ICC arrest warrant for Putin:
International Criminal Court, March 2023: Unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children
Ukraine visa schemes:
UK Government: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homes-for-ukraine
Migration Observatory: https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/ukrainians-in-the-uk/
UK asylum statistics:
Government data: https://www.gov.usk/government/collections/migration-statistics
The Almighty Gob is a Bristol based blogger, focused on institutional accountability and the gap between political rhetoric and governance www.thealmightygob.com.