The renowned American anti-war activist, feminist, and author of over a dozen books describes the ongoing armed conflict in Eastern Europe.
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“Trying to make sense of things is what makes us truly human,” said Michael Parenti, a great critic of American imperialism. What’s absurd about the Ukrainian war is how many times it appeared that it could have been stopped or avoided through negotiations. Medea Benjamin, an American peace and social justice activist and author of more than a dozen books, took on the task of explaining the Ukraine war in a balanced way in her latest book “War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict,” (https://www.amazon.com/War-Ukraine-Making-Senseless-Conflict/dp/1682193713) co-authored with Nicholas J.S. Davis. Last weekend she was the guest on the podcast “On the Barricades,” hosted by eastern European journalists, where she spoke with Romanian academic Maria Cernat and Polish-Bulgarian publisher and author Boyan Stanislavski.
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During the discussion, Medea explained how she came to write her most recent book, and how she was unable to stand the increasingly aggravating narrative about how the war in Ukraine is “unprovoked” and how it is the responsibility of the entire humanity to now send weapons to the government in Kiev, were among the factors compelling her to do so.
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“I had a hunch that a number of issues need to be thoroughly clarified, as the majority of the public holds mistaken views. I do not support the war, and I do not want this to be misconstrued, but the propaganda and spin that is dominating the American media is terrifying. As a result, the book. Many people believe that this conflict is pointless because it involves a random strong country invading a random weak country because Putin is a maniac. This is both ridiculous and simply a lie” Medea explained during the discussion.
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She then walked the hosts through many aspects of the actual war and its coverage by the Western mainstream media.
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One of the most intriguing aspects was the question of potential solutions to the current crisis and whether the West is willing to accept that there will be no Ukraine as it emerged from the disintegration of the USSR in 1991.
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“The people of Ukraine, really, deserve a solution. However, no one is talking about it. We hear about Ukraine’s territorial integrity as if it were a sacred phenomenon. But, hey, there are some who are no longer enthusiastic about the idea. Let’s focus our attention for a while on the Ukrainians who reside in the western region of the nation and those who have emigrated to Poland and other European nations. So, how about them? They refuse to accept this nonsense about how Ukraine will retake Crimea and so on. They want their own country, a homeland. And you can easily see it on Ukrainian migrants’ internet forums. There was a lot of uproar over the referendums held in areas controlled by the Russian army and Donbass militias. Instead of unhingedly criticizing this process, we should consider a referendum in the country’s west. Seriously! Why not hold a referendum for the people who live there? They don’t have the right to choose what kind of country they live in. Certainly not in the former Ukraine. Because there is so much talk about the right of the people to decide their fate, and because there is so much talk about national self-determination, it should also apply to Ukrainians in the country’s west “Boyan Stanislavski elaborated on his position.
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“Yes, I completely agree. The people should be at the forefront of the peace process. But, of course, no one is talking about it because no one is interested. Lloyd Austin said that the US establishment is invested in “weakening Russia,” and that’s how they’re looking at this war. And the corporate media is right behind them. So, I don’t expect anyone in America or the West to suddenly ask themselves any question about the fate of the Ukrainian people, let alone pose it as a problem to be publicly debated” Medea Benjamin responded.
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During the discussion, Benjamin shares her journey to making sense of the conflict and offers some insights into how peace talks could be reached. What would one side declaring victory look like and mean at this point, and is such a victory imminent? What is your take on the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons? In the United States, where over $100 billion has been poured into the war, Trump and some far-right Republicans are the only ones talking about peace, while Democrats and ‘progressives’ have sided with the war. Biden is afraid to even mention negotiations, let alone the blank check, while the majority of Americans are beginning to wonder – how do we explain this?
