Double standards at their finest: Russia in Ukraine vs. Israel in Gaza

On August 24, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Eyal Hulata in Washington. According to the White House press service, the officials discussed issues of cooperation between the two countries.

Sullivan stressed out US President Joe Biden's firm commitment to maintaining and strengthening Israel's ability to deter its enemies and defend itself against any threat, the message from the press service of the White House said.

It just so happens that the US official on behalf of his president gave the green light to Tel Aviv to do the things in the Gaza Strip that the Russian military are doing in Ukraine.

Double standards policy

Washington's double standards are far from being news. For example, Western countries support Ukraine against the Russian special operation, but they do not support the right of the Palestinians to self-defense when Israel attacks Gaza. This happened on August 5, when 17 Palestinian children were killed.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed this out in a statement, which was published for the first time in the account of the Egyptian Embassy. The statement included the screenshot of an April 3rd tweet by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid about the killings of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

Lapid then tweeted:

"It is impossible to remain indifferent in the face of the horrific images from the city of Bucha near Kiev, from after the Russian army left. Intentionally harming a civilian population is a war crime and I strongly condemn it.”

Russian diplomats pointed out obvious inconsistencies in "Yair Lapid's April lies about Ukraine and attempts to lay blame and responsibility on Russia for the deaths of those who had been brutally murdered by Nazis in Bucha" and his own calls for bombardments and strikes on Palestinian settlements in the Gaza Strip:

"Isn't this a double standard, complete disregard and contempt for the lives of the Palestinians?”

The issue of double standards is especially relevant in light of the recent attacks on the Gaza Strip. The West in general and the United States in particular claim that Ukraine suffers from "a brutal Russian attack, replete with war crimes", openly support Israeli bombardments and executions of unarmed Palestinians.

It is worth noting that the international community did not support Israel in its recent bloody attacks on Gaza. Indeed, many are tired of the militancy of the Jewish state.

A number of human rights organizations and even churches declared Israel an "apartheid state." Moreover, ordinary Democratic voters in the US itself refused to unconditional support Israel and recognized it as "racist and undemocratic."

Israel was divided as well. For example, many young people in Israel were opposed to the use of firearms and bombs to suppress the Palestinians. They have a strong disagreement on what exactly constitutes Israel's "legitimate right" to "self-defense".

Eternal victims and their lobbyists

However, the Israeli authorities do not give up. They go on and on with their rhetoric that portrays the Jews as eternal victims and make references to the Holocaust to make any criticism of Israel illegal.

They've been pretty good at it indeed. Canada, for example, following the example of Germany and a number of other European countries, has enshrined Article 319 "On Eternal Victims" in its Criminal Code.

In the UK, two contenders for the post of prime minister — Liz Truss (Foreign Minister) and Rishi Sunak (Chancellor) — are playing the Israeli-Jewish card with all their might claiming that any criticism of Israel is "rooted in anti-Semitism."

At the same time, both Truss and Sunak support a hard line against Russia in Ukraine. They also advocate putting excessive pressure on Iran, which Israel declared its regional enemy. They both support the use of the British veto in the United Nations to protect the Jewish State from criticism.

Israel is not the only example of double standards

Philip M. Giraldi, an American political scientist who heads the National Interest Council, said that the only politician who constantly points out the "hypocrisy of Western leaders" is Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin asked a series of questions that, coupled together, demonstrated the hypocrisy of Washington and some Europeans about what constitutes war crimes or crimes against humanity, Giraldi wrote in a commentary for Antiwar.com.

• Are there any sanctions against Israel for the killings of countless Palestinian women and children?
• Are there any sanctions against the United States for the killings of innocent women and children in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Cuba, Vietnam? Any sanctions for stealing their diamonds and gold?
• Are there any sanctions against the USA and France for the murder of Muammar Gaddafi and the destruction of Libya?

Suffice it to say that no Western company has left Israel after those attacks on Gaza. No sanctions have been imposed on Israel either.