MAY 5th, 2024 | RYAN TYLER

We Can No Longer Support Israel And Ukraine

Both countries have taken undemocratic steps to suppress speech, religion, and media.

We need to stop sending our money to Israel and Ukraine. We need to stop supporting undemocratic actions by countries that expect our help. Neither Ukraine or Israel have exhibited the fundamental values of free speech, free expression, and free assembly that so-called liberal democracies are required to uphold. Last year, Ukraine banned people from publicly worshipping a particular set of beliefs, while Israel recently banned a global news organization from operating in its country. When our enemies do this, we cry foul.

It's time to start being consistent.

On the right side of the political spectrum, we have the Christians who appear blind to their own hypocrisy. On the left, the atheists and hyper-progressives are the same. One side hates the other side so much, they are willing to throw away all logic, reason, and consistency. That's exactly why writing things like this is often met with fury from all sides. 

Blindly supporting Israel, while criticizing support for Ukraine is moronic. Yet, conservatives outside the big C party in Canada seem to do this shamelessly. Perhaps it's their religious views, which are clearly rooted in Zionistic dogmas about a “holy land” and who should control it, or it's simply a sheepish instinct to follow and regurgitate what other conservatives online are saying. Regardless, it's stupid, no matter where it's coming from.

Likewise, blindly supporting Ukraine while attacking Israel for defending itself against radical Islamists is idiotic.

To not be a moron, one must support, or not support billions in aid and equipment to both countries equally. There is absolutely nothing rooted in reality that should convince someone that Israel is somehow more worthy than Ukraine, or vice versa. Both are our allies, both are so-called democracies, and both are important pieces in a complex geopolitical puzzle.

It's clear that those who choose one country over the other are doing so based on some religious or ideological fallacy. Maybe they think Ukraine is more corrupt and therefore not worthy of being defended against Russian aggression. Maybe, just maybe, some people hate Jews and think Israel gets what it deserves when Hamas parachutes in and kills a bunch of innocent people. Either way, this strong disconnect between the two sides shouldn't exist.

If you're one of these people, it's time to choose between the two real sides in this battle.

You either support freedom of speech, a free press, and the freedom to worship—or you don't. Our leaders preach endlessly about it. We lecture countries that don't support LGBTQ rights and we lecture countries that don't let women control their own bodies. Of course, the hypocrites and charlatans in Ottawa and Washington turn a blind eye to most abuses when they are committed by our allies, but it's our job to hold them accountable. This is a part of the bigger problem.

If we support shutting down these democratic values, what about our current world order is worth fighting for? It makes us no different than Russia, China, and any Islamic country.

If we are ok with Ukraine banning the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and—quite literally—punishing and jailing people for being Russian Orthodox, are we not endorsing that behaviour? How can we be sure our leaders won't bring that type of authoritarianism here? In fact, we have already seen it on our soil. I'm not going to get into it, but if you have read this far, you probably know what I'm talking about.

If we are ok with Israel banning and shutting down Al Jazeera, we must be ok with that happening in our own so-called liberal democracy.

Many will call it a wartime measure. They will excuse obvious authoritarianism because these countries are at war. However, these people are wrong and their arguments are dangerous. Any reasonable person would argue that these democratic principles need to be defended the most during times of war. In fact, as we have seen, it is during times of war that these principles come under the most fierce attacks.

The truth is, if your country cannot withstand criticism and scrutiny during times of war, it's clear your country's actions might not be justified. If banning a private news organization is the only means you have to improve public opinion, it might be time to re-think your overall strategy. If banning a certain religion and some opposition parties inside your country is considered an acceptable way to punish and suppress possible dissenters, you are not the good guy.

Both Ukraine and Israel have demonstrated that they will not uphold the most basic democratic principles for their people.

These are all things Russia, Iran and China have done. We criticize them relentlessly for it, but fail to realize they do not adhere to the same democratic and liberal principles. They never have. Our entire “liberal world order” is based on the very freedoms we espouse. We have waged wars and thrown down sanctions when countries refused to follow our way. We have allowed our leaders to cherry-pick and hypocritically ignore members of this liberal world order when they violate these principles.

If Israel and Ukraine can't act like liberal democracies during a war, they aren't liberal democracies. If they can't wage wars on their enemies without shutting down opposition parties, media, and religious institutions—they don't deserve to be regarded as free countries. Therefore, they don't deserve help from Canadian or American taxpayers.

We can't continue to reward liberal democracies that don't adhere to our values. Didn't we invade Iraq to “liberate” the people from dictatorship? Everyone knows that was bullshit, but they still ran with the lie. Even by acknowledging the realities of the geopolitical chessboard, we need to find a way to maintain the ideals that originally made us better and stronger than everyone else. We need to be honest, even with our friends.

The fact that our leaders shrug at news about Zelenskyy banning opposition parties and the Orthodox Church tells you everything you need to know about them. Our leaders are pathetic, unprincipled sellouts. Conservative or not, failing to address or condemn these undemocratic actions by Ukraine and Israel is wrong. Above all, it's weak.

At the very least, Pierre Poilievre, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump could condemn these actions publicly. It is, after all, our fucking money being sent to these places. Rather than standing their ground and vowing to protect our values, they have decided to walk on eggshells and stay mum on these blatantly authoritarian and undemocratic behaviours. Rather than offend poor little Zelenskyy and big bad Netanyahu, people like Pierre Poilievre have chosen to be weak.

For this, they should be held accountable. From now on, they should say, these countries must refrain from behaving this way. Israel must un-ban Al Jazeera, and Ukraine must restore the rights of the Russian Orthodox Church and pro-Russian political parties. If they both refuse, they will no longer get the hard-earned money that belongs to Canadian and American taxpayers.