Self-determination??
Once again we have seen western political chatter, regarding a world current event, surrender the frame of reference for such discussion to terms that have been given to us by our news media. I am speaking, of course, of the current furor in the west over the independence referendum in the Crimea and that province's subsequent annexation into the Russian Federation. Western media leaders seem to have taken their editorial lead from political leaders in interested western states. In Canada, our own Prime Minister, Stephen Harpoon, has worked himself into a lather over the issue. We've come back to the bad old days of the "evil empire" and Vladimir Putin is that empire's revivified Seth Lord. Clumsily, the CBC and the CTV have acquiesced to this dumbing down of debate around events in the region and have simply "reported" the provocative and increasingly hysterical statements issued by Foreign Minister Baird or the PM himself. Democracy itself is at stake, Harpo tells us, freedom and hope and little babies and mum - they are all being threatened by a menacing Russian Bear. And how dare them Russians respond to sanctions imposed by the west by introducing a few retaliatory measures of their own? Jeez, you would think the west had invaded that region in the past!
Listen: the Russians in the Crimea have a say too. As John Ryan wrote recently in Canadian Dimension, "Crimea is an autonomous region within Ukraine and seems to have the same rights as a Canadian province. So if it is perfectly legal for a province such as Québec to hold a referendum on independence, why would it not be legal for Crimea to do the same? At no time did the U.S. object to Québec holding a referendum on independence, so why the big brouhaha over Crimea? Moreover, what business would it be for the U.S. to have such objections – for Québec or Crimea?"
Under the the UN charter all peoples have an "inalienable" right to self-determination. This is true for Quebecers, Crimean Russians and for Gazan Palestinians. Speaking of which, where was Prime Minister Stephen Hiphop's righteous indignation when Palestinian rights were being brutally violated by Israeli offence forces, hmm?
Listen: the Russians in the Crimea have a say too. As John Ryan wrote recently in Canadian Dimension, "Crimea is an autonomous region within Ukraine and seems to have the same rights as a Canadian province. So if it is perfectly legal for a province such as Québec to hold a referendum on independence, why would it not be legal for Crimea to do the same? At no time did the U.S. object to Québec holding a referendum on independence, so why the big brouhaha over Crimea? Moreover, what business would it be for the U.S. to have such objections – for Québec or Crimea?"
Under the the UN charter all peoples have an "inalienable" right to self-determination. This is true for Quebecers, Crimean Russians and for Gazan Palestinians. Speaking of which, where was Prime Minister Stephen Hiphop's righteous indignation when Palestinian rights were being brutally violated by Israeli offence forces, hmm?
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