Ukrainian Letter of Solidarity with Palestinian people | Спільне

We, Ukrainian researchers, artists, political and labour activists, members of civil society stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine who for 75 years have been subjected and resisted Israeli military occupation, separation, settler colonial violence, ethnic cleansing, land dispossession and apartheid. We write this letter as people to people. The dominant discourse on the governmental level and even among solidarity groups that support the struggles of Ukrainians and Palestinians often creates separation. With this letter we reject these divisions, and affirm our solidarity with everyone who is oppressed and struggling for freedom.

As activists committed to freedom, human rights, democracy and social justice, and while fully acknowledging power differentials, we firmly condemn attacks on civilian populations – be they Israelis attacked by Hamas or Palestinians attacked by the Israeli occupation forces and armed settler gangs. Deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime. Yet this is no justification for the collective punishment of Palestinian people, identifying all residents of Gaza with Hamas and the indiscriminate use of the term “terrorism” applied to the whole Palestinian resistance. Nor is this a justification of continuation of the ongoing occupation. Echoing multiple UN resolutions, we know that there will be no lasting peace without justice for the Palestinian people.

On October 7 we witnessed Hamas’ violence against the civilians in Israel, an event that is now singled out by many to demonize and dehumanize Palestinian resistance altogether. Hamas, a reactionary islamist organization, needs to be seen in a wider historical context and decades of Israel encroaching on Palestinian land, long before this organization came to exist in the late 1980s. During the Nakba (“catastrophe”) of 1948, more than 700,000 Palestinians were brutally displaced from their homes, with entire villages massacred and destroyed. Since its creation Israel has never stopped pursuing its colonial expansion. The Palestinians were forced to exile, fragmented and administered under different regimes. Some of them are Israeli citizens affected by structural discrimination and racism. Those living in the occupied West Bank are subjected to apartheid under decades of Israel’s military control. The people of the Gaza Strip have suffered from the blockade imposed by Israel since 2006, which restricted movement of people and goods, resulting in growing poverty and deprivation.

Since the 7th of October and at the time of writing the death toll in the Gaza Strip is more than 8,500 people. Women and children have made up more than 62 percent of the fatalities, while more than 21,048 people have been injured. In recent days, Israel has bombed schools, residential areas, Greek Orthodox Church and several hospitals. Israel has also cut all water, electricity, and fuel supply in the Gaza Strip. There is a severe shortage of food and medicine, causing a total collapse of a healthcare system.

Most of the Western and Israeli media justifies these deaths as mere collateral damage to fighting Hamas but is silent when it comes to Palestinian civilians targeted and killed in the Occupied West Bank. Since the beginning of 2023 alone, and before October 7, the death toll on the Palestinian side had already reached 227. Since the 7 of October, 121 Palestinian civilians have been killed in the occupied West Bank. More than 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners are currently detained in Israeli prisons. Lasting peace and justice are only possible with the end of the ongoing occupation. Palestinians have the right to self-determination and resistance against Israeli’s occupation, just like Ukrainians have the right to resist Russian invasion.

Our solidarity comes from a place of anger at the injustice, and a place of deep pain of knowing the devastating impacts of occupation, shelling of civil infrastructure, and humanitarian blockade from experiences in our homeland. Parts of Ukraine have been occupied since 2014, and the international community failed to stop Russian aggression then, ignoring the imperial and colonial nature of the armed violence, which consequently escalated on the 24th of February 2022. Civilians in Ukraine are shelled daily, in their homes, in hospitals, on bus stops, in queues for bread. As a result of the Russian occupation, thousands of people in Ukraine live without access to water, electricity or heating, and it is the most vulnerable groups that are mostly affected by the destruction of critical infrastructure. In the months of the siege and heavy bombardment of Mariupol there was no humanitarian corridor. Watching the Israeli targeting the civilian infrastructure in Gaza, the Israeli humanitarian blockade and occupation of land resonates especially painfully with us. From this place of pain of experience and solidarity, we call on our fellow Ukrainians globally and all the people to raise their voices in support of the Palestinian people and condemn the ongoing Israeli mass ethnic cleansing.

We reject the Ukrainian government statements that express unconditional support for Israel's military actions, and we consider the calls to avoid civilian casualties by Ukraine's MFA belated and insufficient. This position is a retreat from the support of Palestinian rights and condemnation of the Israeli occupation, which Ukraine has followed for decades, including voting in the UN. Aware of the pragmatic geopolitical reasoning behind Ukraine’s decision to echo Western allies, on whom we are dependent for our survival, we see the current support of Israel and dismissing Palestinian right to self-determination as contradictory to Ukraine’s own commitment to human rights and fight for our land and freedom. We as Ukrainians should stand in solidarity not with the oppressors, but with those who experience and resist the oppression.

We strongly object to equating of Western military aid to Ukraine and Israel by some politicians. Ukraine doesn't occupy the territories of other people, instead, it fights against the Russian occupation, and therefore international assistance serves a just cause and the protection of international law. Israel has occupied and annexed Palestinian and Syrian territories, and Western aid to it confirms an unjust order and demonstrates double standards in relation to international law.

We oppose the new wave of Islamophobia, such as the brutal murder of a Palestinian American 6-year old and assault on his family in Illinois, USA, and the equating of any criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. At the same time, we also oppose holding all Jewish people all over the world accountable for the politics of the state of Israel and we condemn anti-Semitic violence, such as the mob attack on the airplane in Daghestan, Russia. We also reject the revival of the “war on terror” rhetoric used by the US and EU to justify war crimes and violations of international law that have undermined the international security system, caused countless deaths, and has been borrowed by other states, including Russia for the war in Chechnya and China for the Uyghur genocide. Now Israel is using it to carry out ethnic cleansing.

Call to Action

We urge the implementation of the call to ceasefire, put forward by the UN General Assembly resolution.

We call on the Israeli government to immediately stop attacks on civilians, and provide humanitarian aid; we insist on an immediate and indefinite lifting of siege on Gaza and an urgent relief operation to restore civilian infrastructure. We also call on the Israeli government to put an end to the occupation and recognise the right of Palestinian displaced people to return to their lands.

We call on the Ukrainian government to condemn the use of state sanctioned terror and humanitarian blockade against the Gazan civilian population and reaffirm the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. We also call on the Ukrainian government to condemn deliberate assaults on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

We call on the international media to stop pitting Palestinians and Ukrainians against each other, where hierarchies of suffering perpetuate racist rhetoric and dehumanize those under attack.

We have witnessed the world uniting in solidarity for the people of Ukraine and we call on everyone to do the same for the people of Palestine.

Sign the letter (for Ukrainians)

Signatures (as of 2023/11/02)

1. Volodymyr Artiukh, researcher

2. Levon Azizian, human rights lawyer

3. Diana Azzuz, artist, musician

4. Taras Bilous, editor

5. Oksana Briukhovetska, artist, researcher, University of Michigan

6. Artem Chapeye, writer

7. Valentyn Dolhochub, researcher, soldier

8. Nataliya Gumenyuk, journalist

9. John-Paul Himka, professor emeritus, University of Alberta

10. Karina Al Khmuz, biomedical engineer programmer

11. Yuliia Kishchuk, researcher

12. Amina Ktefan, fashion influencer, digital creator

13. Svitlana Matviyenko, media scholar, SFU; Associate Director of Digital Democracies Institute

14. Maria Mayerchyk, scholar

15. Vitalii Pavliuk, writer, translator

16. Sashko Protyah, filmmaker, volunteer

17. Oleksiy Radynski, filmmaker

18. Mykola Ridnyi, artist and filmmaker

19. Daria Saburova, researcher, activist

20. Alexander Skyba, labour activist

21. Darya Tsymbalyuk, researcher

22. Nelia Vakhovska, translator

23. Yuliya Yurchenko, researcher, translator, activist

24. Iryna Zamuruieva, ecofeminist researcher, artist, climate & land policy project manager

25. Alisha Andani, history of art student

26. Daša Anosova, curator, researcher, UCL SSEES

27. Lilya Badekha, activist, culturologist, social media manager of the Spilne journal

28. Anastasia Bobrova, researcher

29. Anastasiia Bobrovska, dj, activist, digital strategy consultant

30. Mariana Bodnaruk, researcher

31. Yuriy Boyko, researcher, scientific assistant

32. Vladislava Chepurko

33. Daria Demia, artist

34. Olena Dmytryk, researcher

35. Olha Dobrovolska, teacher, culture researcher

36. Svitlana Dolbysheva, artist, filmmaker

37. Hanna Dosenko, anthropologist

38. Vitalii Dudin, activist of NGO ‘Sotsialnyi Rukh’

39. Oksana Dutchak, sociologist

40. Nastya Dzyuban, choreographer and performer

41. Kateryna Farbar, journalist

42. Taras Gembik, culture worker, co-organizer of SDK Slonecznik at Musuem of Modern Art in Warsaw

43. Anna Greszta researcher, co-founder of Collect4Ukraine

44. Olenka Gu, sociologist

45. Tetiana Hanzha, documentary film director

46. Andrii Hulianytskyi, researcher

47. Serhii Ishchenko, journalist

48. Hanna Karpishena

49. Milena Khomchenko, curator and writer, chief editor of SONIAKH digest

50. Daria Khrystych, researcher, activist

51. Amira Khussein, fashion business manager

52. Kyrylo Klymenko, historian

53. Lyuba Knorozok, producer, documentary filmmaker

54. Oleksandra Kokhan, researcher

55. Vladyslav Kononok, project manager

56. Mariia Kosenko, translator

57. Olga Kostyrko, independent researcher, activist, editor

58. Iaroslav Kovalchuk, PhD Candidate, historian

59. Anna Kovtoniuk, software developer

60. Dmytro Kozak, PhD candidate, anthropologist

61. Ruslana Koziienko, PhD candidate, social anthropologist

62. Yustyna Kravchuk, cultural worker, translator

63. Yulia Krivich, artist, co-organizer of SDK Slonecznik at Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, PhD fellow at Academy of Arts in Krakow, Poland

64. Amir Ktefan, personal translator and voice over artist

65. Olexii Kuchanskyi, researcher, film programmer

66. Veronika Kulak, student of business economics

67. Yuliia Kulish, researcher

68. Kateryna Lysovenko, artist

69. Kostiantyn Maleoniuk, activist

70. Daryna Mamaisur, filmmaker, visual artist, researcher

71. Daniil Marchenko, bike messenger, cook

72. Anastasia Marusii, art historian

73. Mykyta Mikhalkov, student, volunteer

74. Andrii Myroshnychenko, cultural manager and translator

75. Pavlo Molochko, signaller in the AFoU

76. Andriy Movchan, publicist

77. Serhii Movchan, left activist, volunteer

78. Zarina Netovkina

79. Zhanna Ohanesian, researcher, humanitarian worker

80. Kateryna Olieshko, artist, activist, creative producer

81. Olga Papash, researcher, producer, volunteer

82. Anton Parambul, soldier

83. Mariia Pastukh, activist, head of Ukraine solidarity collective “Vsesvit”

84. Valerii Petrov, game maker

85. Julie Poly, artist

86. Mariia Ponomarova, film director, creative producer

87. Zakhar Popovych, activist

88. Nina Potarska, researcher

89. Dariia Puhach, computer linguist

90. Olha Pylypenko, art manager

91. Anna Rebrii, journalist, PhD student, activist

92. Maksym Romanenko, doctor

93. Marta Romankiv, artist, researcher, PhD fellow at Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk

94. Betya Roytburd, artist, organizer, curator

95. Kseniia Rybak, researcher

96. Bohdana Rybenchuk

97. Mariia Salan, artist

98. Abdula Sarkhan, digital artist

99. Yulia Serdyukova, film producer

100. Mariia Shynkarenko, researcher

101. Maria Sonevytsky, professor, researcher

102. Veronika Stancheva, psychologist

103. Vladyslav Starodubtsev, historian

104. Oleksandr Svitych, researcher

105. Olena Syrbu, researcher, cultural worker

106. Nast’ey Teor, graphic artist and designer

107. Natasha Tseliuba, feminist, activist, artist, curator

108. Dr. Nataliya Tchermalykh, University of Geneva

109. Marharyta Tokarieva researcher, filmmaker

110. Leo Trotsenko, artist

111. Viacheslav Tsyba, philosopher, translator, editor

112. Elen Udud

113. Tetiana Usova, translator, filmmaker

114. Kateryna Volochniuk, researcher

115. Valeriia Voronova fashion influencer, digital creator, interior designer

116. Bogdana Yakovenko, photographer, activist, volunteer

117. Mariana Yaremchyshyna, culture worker, activist

118. Aisha Yusupova, psychologist, creator

119. Fattukh Zhalal, student of international economic relations

120. Roma Zimenko, humanitarian worker

121. Yevheniia Stepko, editor

122. Oksana Karpovych, filmmaker

123. Rita Adel, research analyst

124. Olena Martynchuk, cultural anthropologist

125. Kris Maslyuk, student

126. Oleksandra Hryhorenko, translator

127. Arsenii Kniazkov, film researcher

128. Olena Mykhaylova, researcher

129. Islam Dabank, poet and company manager

130. Diana Khalilova. An artist, a cultural manager

131. Sylvestr Kozurak, artist

132. Vitalii Zalozetskyi, philosopher

133. Denys Gorbach, social researcher

134. Mykhaylo Maliarenko, military

135. Alexandra Paul Zotov, Museum

136. Tasha Gnatenko

137. Ira Tantsiura, activist, researcher

138. Oleksandra Chernomashyntseva, volunteer, stage designer

139. Ostap Bohoslavets, researcher

140. Anton Karyuk, artist

141. Tania Banakh, historian

142. babych kateryna, activist

143. Stepan Bilousov, student

144. Iryna Tsiuk, proofreader

145. Mila Teshaieva, photographer, film director,

146. Oleksiy Godz, architect

147. Mariia Goubernik, psychotherapist, activist

148. xenia mil'ushkina, activist, online influencer

149. Anna Zakharchenko, student

150. Alyssa Naryzhny

151. Marta Iwanek, photographer, filmmaker

152. elliott miskovicz

153. Anna Lykhohliad, researcher

154. Diana Yehorova, researcher and artist

155. Polina Piddubna, director

156. Tetiana Sokolnykova, arts mediator, coordinator and facilitator of socio-cultural projects

157. Mariia Kovtun

158. Anna Nykytiuk, artist

159. Maria Panchenko, cultural worker

160. Julia Kosova, social activist

161. Daryna Miahka, activist

162. Madina Mahomedova, multimedia artist & graphic designer

163. Varvara Spilt, student, artist, director

164. Oleksandra Marushchak, animator

165. Roman Levin, activist

166. Katia Denysova, art historian and curator

167. Di Horban, artist

168. Sam Veremchuk, PhD student

169. Antonina Mambyk, public sector

170. Olena Lyubchenko

171. Bohdana Andrieieva, web-designer

172. Bogdana Yakovenko, photographer, activist, volunteer

173. Artem Remizovskyi, culturologist, trade union activist "Direct Action"

174. Khromyi Denys, anarchist, translator, student, essayist

175. Filyuk Kateryna, curator

176. Oleksii Popovych, student

177. Oksana Demidova, artist

178. Nataliya Gubenko, business consultant

179. Yelyzaveta Monastyrova, PhD candidate

180. Marty Horobiichenko, artist

181. Aldushchenkov Evgen, worker

182. Nina Sodin, animator

183. Daryna Prudnikova, student

184. Mohsen Timoor Raphatovich, student

185. Mosiychuk Andriy, web designer

186. Kyrylo Chehrynets

187. Michael Nikitiuk, cook

188. Yuliya Gwilym, illustrator and author

189. Aliona Sydorenko, clinical counsellor

190. Sakara Oleksandra, freelancer

191. Valeriia Bondarieva, climate justice activist

192. Kateryna Kasianenko, researcher

193. Iryna Kulinich, digital artist

194. Yevheniia Vasylenko, compliance specialist

195. Ivan Bychkov, student

196. Asia Tsisar, curator, researcher

197. Alice Zhuravel, social actor and entrepreneur

198. Karolina Gulshani, artist

199. Kachan Anna, QA engineer

200. Mariia Zadvorna

201. Ganna Zakharchenko, architect, artist

202. Leontyuk Yuliia, legal scholar

203. Viktoriia Markova, volunteer, graphic designer

204. Anastasia Orydoroha

205. Anya Tsaruk, photographer

206. Iuliia Kandaurova

207. Kate Zavertailo, translator

208. Maksym Shumakov, activist

209. Yuliia Palamarchuk, architect

210. Katya Gritseva, artist

211. Khrystyna Slobodianyk, doctor

212. Slobodianiuk Daryna, mama

213. Iryna Ullah, home wife

214. Alla Zhyvotova, artist

215. Rachitska Katerina

216. Iryna Krupenko, bartender

217. Larisa Sayej, doctor

218. Alisa Pogrebna-Raizman, PhD student at the University of Warsaw

219. Olena Mykhalska

220. Azarova Kateryna, IT programmer

221. Oksana Arkhypchuk, educator

222. Olena Haies, housewife

223. Viktoria Sergienko, director of educational centre

224. Balytska Yana

225. Maryna Shapovalova, housewife

226. Alieva Viktoriia, pedagog

227. Asiya Umm Yahya, kids writer

228. Polina Skrynnikova, assistant, humanitarian NGO

229. Diana Bishtavi, dentist

230. Iryna Baraniuk, mother

231. Tetik Serafyma, teacher

232. Alina Volosiuk, engineer, in maternity leave

233. Olena Malakhova

234. Maria Dibrova, finance student

235. Orlova Anastasiia, owner of small business

236. Yevheniia Holovachova, beauty master

237. Nadiia Guzenko, teacher

238. Iryna Refahi, journalist

239. Guseynova Mate

240. Anastasiia Onufriv, climate activist

241. Alona Aljadaan, public figure

242. Yelyzaveta Riznychenko, student

243. Valentyna Chehlatonieva, dancer

244. Lozinska Yana

245. Dinara Abdo, UX/UI web designer

246. Victoriia Abuiaiia

247. Victoriia Bratushkina

248. Olha Chychko, pensioner

249. Alina Babaieva, mom is on maternity leave

250. Venzovska Victoria, lawyer

251. Vladyslav Taratutenko, logistics dispatcher

252. Diana Maksymenko, translator and book blogger

253. Strashynska Tetiana

254. Ivanna Kosteniuk, finance and operations manager

255. Valeriia Zurigat, psychologist

256. Yana Maletska, student

257. Gavrilitsia Hanna, doctor

258. Bogdana Kosmina, architect, artist, curator

259. Masha Vlasenko, mathematician

260. Ruslan Kulevets, author, cinephile

261. Biduliak Lilia, psychology

262. Polina Sobos

263. Ihnatiuk Valeriia, visual communication

264. Thymbalyuk Victoria

265. Albina Bykova, housewife

266. Tatyana Gagina

267. Kukunina Kateryna, software developer

268. Ivanna Bykova, housewife

269. Fedir Horash, seafarer, activist of Inicjatywa Pracownicza trade union

270. Valeriia Ganicheva, designer

271. Sasha Zakrevska, musician

272. Alyona Kobel, manager International tourism

273. Anastasia Muntyan, Unemployed

274. Alina El Assadi, artist

275. Maritchka Ryniejska, researcher

276. Bohdan Diedushkin, teacher

277. Sofiya Taranenko, student

278. Nadiya Kachmar, student of political science

279. Oleksii Poliakov, software developer

280. Daria Pochepnia

281. Mameedova Natalia Igorivna

282. Aisha Zankidaeva

283. Daryna Kolesnyk, chambermaid

284. Svitlana Al-Azzawi, teacher

285. Derbin Serhiy, architect

286. Siver Iryna Rawilivna, orchestra artist

287. Anna Skrypnyk, pharmacist

288. Serhieieyva Kasia

289. Mstyslava Nesteruk, HR

290. Anna Matsuka, translator

291. Nastasya Yaremchuk, musician, Slavic Studies student

292. Natalka Gurba, activist

293. Obertynska Iryna

294. Anastasia Petriuk

The list of signatures will be updated gradually

Sign the letter (for Ukrainians)