The Council of Europe has declared that Russia’s destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage is consistent with genocide.

“Noting that more than a thousand cultural sites had been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of the war, the Congress underlined that the targeting and looting of cultural sites appeared to reflect a systematic policy aimed at erasing Ukraine’s historical and cultural identity, consistent with a genocidal intent,” the Council said.

It’s not the first time Russia’s war in Ukraine has been designated a genocide by international authorities. Multiple European national parliaments have already done so with the Council of Europe deeming Russia’s forced transfer of children as an act of genocide in 2023.

    • Slotos@feddit.nl
      39·
      2 months ago

      Which angers me as a Ukrainian. Yes, circumstances are different and I despise misinformation coming from a loudly obnoxious subset of pro-Palestinian side, but Israel officials had been clearly stating genocidal intent from the early days.

      When picking which genocide to support, the correct answer is „none”. But support for Israel kinda aligns with „Russia cannot lose” approach, so I guess things are consistent in that regard.

      • itstoowet@lemmy.world
        31·
        2 months ago

        And that quite a lot of Ukrainians support Israel and don’t see the similarities between their struggle and the Palestinian’s — I don’t get it.

        E: and to the down voters, I am Ukrainian diaspora and lived in Kyiv until the war and visit regularly. I have these conversations frequently when I’m there.

        • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
          3·
          2 months ago

          Do you have examples of this? I figured Ukrainians would understand the plight of the Gazans more than most

        • ManixT@lemmy.world
          3·
          2 months ago

          Know who are literal Nazis? Opportunistic Russian trash. They literally joined in an agreement with the Nazis at the beginning of WW2 and Russia would be speaking German if not for America.

      • Sop@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        11·
        2 months ago

        No idea what you’re on about. The destruction of Palestinian cultural heritage is 100 times worse than that of Ukraine so the council of Europe recognising only the latter as genocide shows how little their declarations mean.

        • ravhall@discuss.online
          11·
          2 months ago

          Just because Gaza is getting it worse, doesn’t mean we can ignore other genocide. You should really be ashamed of yourself. I’m sure you’ll deny all the evidence of Muslim genocide in China.

          • Sop@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            4·
            2 months ago

            I’m not advocating for ignoring anything. I’m stating some obvious hypocrisy which worries me because I have friends in Gaza who are being systematically murdered and denied access to food and hygiene. I want the governmental bodies that represent me to recognise those horrors and to stop funding and legitimising the perpetrators and I will never stop talking about it.

            • ravhall@discuss.online
              7·
              2 months ago

              We all have friends in Gaza being slaughtered. We all have Muslim friends being slaughtered in China, too.

              I also want my government to renounce the MOU based on genocide, but that will take 2/3 of congress and a presidential decision to ensure support is stopped without challenge.

              I’m not sure what country you live in, but if you live in the states… just be sure your vote isn’t increasing trump’s chances of winning.

              • Sop@lemmy.blahaj.zone
                2·
                2 months ago

                I’m commenting under an article about the European council why would you assume I’m in the US?

                We don’t all have friends in Gaza, most people don’t which is why they are so good at ignoring what’s going on there.

                Comparing the Palestinian genocide to China’s repression of Uyghurs is minimising the absolute horrors that are taking place in Palestine. Uyghurs are being repressed and China is violating their human rights, they are not being slaughtered.

                The Palestinian genocide is funded by the West. Mostly by the US but the EU and my government is also complicit. I, as a EU citizen will always press harder on crimes that are committed in my name.

                • ravhall@discuss.online
                  1·
                  2 months ago

                  I didn’t assume. Clearly.

                  And yes, they are being killed in china. See the mass graves.

                  We can be mad about multiple acts of genocide at the same time. At least I can… apparently you are limited to the genocides that impact you indirectly. Shameful.

        • InverseParallax@lemmy.worldEnglish
          11·
          2 months ago

          How exactly?

          The Dome of the Rock is not in Gaza, it’s in the West Bank, and in excellent shape: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_of_the_Rock

          Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, it has been called “Jerusalem’s most recognizable landmark”[9] along with two nearby Old City structures: the Western Wall and the “Resurrection Rotunda” in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.[10] Its Islamic inscriptions proved to be a milestone, as afterward they became a common feature in Islamic structures and almost always mention Muhammad.[1] The Dome of the Rock remains a “unique monument of Islamic culture in almost all respects”, including as a “work of art and as a cultural and pious document”, according to art historian Oleg Grabar.[11]

          Gaza itself isn’t what you’d call a cultural touchstone, it’s just an autonomous zone run by its duly elected government named: (*checks notes) Hamas? That doesn’t sound right.

          But hey, if you’re really pissed off, tell Egypt to re-open their border crossings, might help ease the suffering.

          The reason they haven’t is because the last time someone was nice to the Palestinians, we had https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_September

          The PLO’s strength grew, and by early 1970, leftist groups within the PLO began calling for the overthrow of Jordan’s Hashemite monarchy, leading to violent clashes in June 1970. Hussein hesitated to oust them from the country, but continued PLO activities in Jordan culminated in the Dawson’s Field hijackings of 6 September 1970. This involved the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) seizing three civilian passenger flights and forcing their landing in the Jordanian city of Zarqa, where they took foreign nationals as hostages and blew up the planes in front of international press. Hussein saw this as the last straw and ordered the Jordanian Army to take action.[10]

          Jordan allowed the fedayeen to relocate to Lebanon via Syria, where they later became involved in the Lebanese Civil War. The Palestinian Black September Organization was founded after the conflict to carry out attacks against Jordanian authorities in response to the fedayeen’s expulsion; their most notable attack was the assassination of Jordanian prime minister Wasfi Tal in 1971, as he had commanded parts of the military operations against the fedayeen. The following year, the organization shifted its focus to attacking Israeli targets and carried out the Munich massacre against Israeli athletes. Though the events of Black September did not reflect a Jordanian–Palestinian divide, as there were Jordanians and Palestinians on both sides of the conflict, it paved the way for such a divide to emerge subsequently.[12]

          Not great neighbors to have.

    • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
      6·
      2 months ago

      Pretty sure they will. The ICJ already said its likely in a preliminary finding, but they need to finish reviewing the mountain of evidence, which will take time

      • jonne@infosec.pub
        8·
        2 months ago

        Is Israel’s strategy to just keep creating so much evidence the ICJ is swamped?

      • Sop@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        5·
        2 months ago

        If the European council has enough evidence to call what’s happening in Ukraine a genocide, then they should have more than enough information to call what’s been happening in Palestine a genocide even before Oktober 7th of last year. They didn’t need a ICJ ruling for Ukraine, and they don’t need one for Palestine.

    • nonailsleft@lemm.ee
      2·
      2 months ago

      The Council of Europe is a bunch of wanks that’d declare their own grandmother a genocide if they’d think it’d help Ukraine without them having to actually lift a finger