SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Syrians taking refuge in a camp await for help as they also hope Bab Al-Hawa border gate to remain open in order to receive any humanitarian aid in Idlib, Syria on June 30, 2021. (Photo: Izzeddin Kasim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Racist and Dehumanizing Double Standards of War Reporting
Ukrainians deserve our compassion. So do victims of war everywhere else.
Mar 17, 2022
War's grim reality is recognizable wherever it occurs. We can see it all too clearly in Ukraine--in the destruction of cities, in civilians fleeing their homes, and in the heart-wrenching casualties.
No matter where it happens, war's tragedy is the same. You wouldn't always get that sense, however, from the prejudiced way some reporters talk about it.
This narrative isn't just racist and dehumanizing. It's also ignorant about the history of Europe itself--from two World Wars to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to Russia's last invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
In an already notorious example, CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata mused on air that Ukraine "isn't a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades."
Instead, he said, it's "relatively civilized, relatively European."
Public outrage followed, but D'Agata was hardly alone. "These are not obviously refugees looking to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war," English anchor Peter Dobbie piled on. "They look like any European family that you would live next door to."
As a Syrian American, I got the message loud and clear: War is an unexpected tragedy when it happens to people who look "European." For those of us who don't, it's only natural to experience war, violence, and displacement.
This narrative isn't just racist and dehumanizing. It's also ignorant about the history of Europe itself--from two World Wars to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to Russia's last invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
This ignorant double standard extends to the coverage of other conflicts as well.
Western journalists lift up President Biden and other global leaders' rightful denunciations of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. But they often remain silent when these same leaders fail to condemn--or even aid and abet--violations of international law elsewhere.
This is evident in the over 50-year Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, as well as the war in Yemen.
In the case of Yemen, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and supported by U.S. weaponry has continuously bombed, starved, and collectively punished Yemeni civilians for over seven years now. Yet the war receives little media attention, and the public has largely ignored its victims.
This spring also marks the 11th anniversary of the brutal war in Syria that's killed nearly 500,000 people. Although it began as a popular uprising against authoritarian rule, it has since mutated into several proxy wars involving Russia, the United States, and several other regional actors.
While the Western media has reported widely on crimes committed by both the Syrian and Russian governments, even well-documented reports on civilian casualties from U.S. bombings there--which are "countless," according to one NPR headline--get less attention.
Everyone has a right to seek asylum under international law, regardless of their nationality. Today, Syria remains the world's largest refugee crisis in decades. Yet many countries have treated the over 6 million Syrian refugees with suspicion and hostility.
Some European countries closed their borders to Syrian refugees and asylum-seekers, while at least 30 U.S. governors tried to do the same. And former President Trump imposed a series of "Muslim bans" which prohibited Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. during the height of the war.
But like Ukrainian refugees, Syrians too are victims of war, entitled to seek safety and international protection.
As I remind my students, when politics lead to selective enforcement of international law, it loses its power and legitimacy. The same is true with war reporting. As the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association concluded: "Newsrooms must not make comparisons that weigh the significance or imply justification of one conflict over another."
Acknowledging these double standards does not diminish the importance of solidarity with the Ukrainian people or the need for robust diplomacy to end the war. There are no limits to compassion. In fact, empathy must also be extended to ordinary Russians struggling with the impact of global sanctions and political repression.
Regardless of their home country, the victims of war always deserve proper dignity and compassion.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Farrah Hassen
Farrah Hassen, J.D., is a writer, policy analyst, and adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science at Cal Poly Pomona
War's grim reality is recognizable wherever it occurs. We can see it all too clearly in Ukraine--in the destruction of cities, in civilians fleeing their homes, and in the heart-wrenching casualties.
No matter where it happens, war's tragedy is the same. You wouldn't always get that sense, however, from the prejudiced way some reporters talk about it.
This narrative isn't just racist and dehumanizing. It's also ignorant about the history of Europe itself--from two World Wars to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to Russia's last invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
In an already notorious example, CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata mused on air that Ukraine "isn't a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades."
Instead, he said, it's "relatively civilized, relatively European."
Public outrage followed, but D'Agata was hardly alone. "These are not obviously refugees looking to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war," English anchor Peter Dobbie piled on. "They look like any European family that you would live next door to."
As a Syrian American, I got the message loud and clear: War is an unexpected tragedy when it happens to people who look "European." For those of us who don't, it's only natural to experience war, violence, and displacement.
This narrative isn't just racist and dehumanizing. It's also ignorant about the history of Europe itself--from two World Wars to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to Russia's last invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
This ignorant double standard extends to the coverage of other conflicts as well.
Western journalists lift up President Biden and other global leaders' rightful denunciations of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. But they often remain silent when these same leaders fail to condemn--or even aid and abet--violations of international law elsewhere.
This is evident in the over 50-year Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, as well as the war in Yemen.
In the case of Yemen, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and supported by U.S. weaponry has continuously bombed, starved, and collectively punished Yemeni civilians for over seven years now. Yet the war receives little media attention, and the public has largely ignored its victims.
This spring also marks the 11th anniversary of the brutal war in Syria that's killed nearly 500,000 people. Although it began as a popular uprising against authoritarian rule, it has since mutated into several proxy wars involving Russia, the United States, and several other regional actors.
While the Western media has reported widely on crimes committed by both the Syrian and Russian governments, even well-documented reports on civilian casualties from U.S. bombings there--which are "countless," according to one NPR headline--get less attention.
Everyone has a right to seek asylum under international law, regardless of their nationality. Today, Syria remains the world's largest refugee crisis in decades. Yet many countries have treated the over 6 million Syrian refugees with suspicion and hostility.
Some European countries closed their borders to Syrian refugees and asylum-seekers, while at least 30 U.S. governors tried to do the same. And former President Trump imposed a series of "Muslim bans" which prohibited Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. during the height of the war.
But like Ukrainian refugees, Syrians too are victims of war, entitled to seek safety and international protection.
As I remind my students, when politics lead to selective enforcement of international law, it loses its power and legitimacy. The same is true with war reporting. As the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association concluded: "Newsrooms must not make comparisons that weigh the significance or imply justification of one conflict over another."
Acknowledging these double standards does not diminish the importance of solidarity with the Ukrainian people or the need for robust diplomacy to end the war. There are no limits to compassion. In fact, empathy must also be extended to ordinary Russians struggling with the impact of global sanctions and political repression.
Regardless of their home country, the victims of war always deserve proper dignity and compassion.
Farrah Hassen
Farrah Hassen, J.D., is a writer, policy analyst, and adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science at Cal Poly Pomona
War's grim reality is recognizable wherever it occurs. We can see it all too clearly in Ukraine--in the destruction of cities, in civilians fleeing their homes, and in the heart-wrenching casualties.
No matter where it happens, war's tragedy is the same. You wouldn't always get that sense, however, from the prejudiced way some reporters talk about it.
This narrative isn't just racist and dehumanizing. It's also ignorant about the history of Europe itself--from two World Wars to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to Russia's last invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
In an already notorious example, CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata mused on air that Ukraine "isn't a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades."
Instead, he said, it's "relatively civilized, relatively European."
Public outrage followed, but D'Agata was hardly alone. "These are not obviously refugees looking to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war," English anchor Peter Dobbie piled on. "They look like any European family that you would live next door to."
As a Syrian American, I got the message loud and clear: War is an unexpected tragedy when it happens to people who look "European." For those of us who don't, it's only natural to experience war, violence, and displacement.
This narrative isn't just racist and dehumanizing. It's also ignorant about the history of Europe itself--from two World Wars to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to Russia's last invasion of Ukraine in 2014.
This ignorant double standard extends to the coverage of other conflicts as well.
Western journalists lift up President Biden and other global leaders' rightful denunciations of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. But they often remain silent when these same leaders fail to condemn--or even aid and abet--violations of international law elsewhere.
This is evident in the over 50-year Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, as well as the war in Yemen.
In the case of Yemen, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and supported by U.S. weaponry has continuously bombed, starved, and collectively punished Yemeni civilians for over seven years now. Yet the war receives little media attention, and the public has largely ignored its victims.
This spring also marks the 11th anniversary of the brutal war in Syria that's killed nearly 500,000 people. Although it began as a popular uprising against authoritarian rule, it has since mutated into several proxy wars involving Russia, the United States, and several other regional actors.
While the Western media has reported widely on crimes committed by both the Syrian and Russian governments, even well-documented reports on civilian casualties from U.S. bombings there--which are "countless," according to one NPR headline--get less attention.
Everyone has a right to seek asylum under international law, regardless of their nationality. Today, Syria remains the world's largest refugee crisis in decades. Yet many countries have treated the over 6 million Syrian refugees with suspicion and hostility.
Some European countries closed their borders to Syrian refugees and asylum-seekers, while at least 30 U.S. governors tried to do the same. And former President Trump imposed a series of "Muslim bans" which prohibited Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. during the height of the war.
But like Ukrainian refugees, Syrians too are victims of war, entitled to seek safety and international protection.
As I remind my students, when politics lead to selective enforcement of international law, it loses its power and legitimacy. The same is true with war reporting. As the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association concluded: "Newsrooms must not make comparisons that weigh the significance or imply justification of one conflict over another."
Acknowledging these double standards does not diminish the importance of solidarity with the Ukrainian people or the need for robust diplomacy to end the war. There are no limits to compassion. In fact, empathy must also be extended to ordinary Russians struggling with the impact of global sanctions and political repression.
Regardless of their home country, the victims of war always deserve proper dignity and compassion.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.