Palestinian Supermodel Questions Double Standards in Media Coverage of Ukraine, Middle East
Several American and European journalists, reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have noted that refugees and other victims of this war are not the “usual suspects” – poverty-stricken people of color from Africa or the Middle East. The clear implication was that war and human suffering were naturally the plight of benighted savages in the Third World, while others – particularly white Europeans – were “civilized” and thus could reasonably expect to be shielded from conflict.
Ukraine “isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades,” said CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata. “This is a relatively civilized, relatively European – I have to choose those words carefully, too – city, one where you wouldn’t expect that, or hope that it’s going to happen.”
D’Agata later apologized for his embarrassing observation.
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He was hardly alone.
An interviewee on the BBC said, “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blond hair … being killed every day.”
Journalist Phillipe Corbé said this on France’s BFM TV: “We’re not talking here about Syrians fleeing the bombing of the Syrian regime backed by Putin. We’re talking about Europeans leaving in cars that look like ours to save their lives.”
Such observations – there were many – become well-deserved grist for pundits on social media and the late-night talk circuit.
The latest to weigh in is Palestinian American supermodel Bella Hadid, who asked her nearly 50 million followers on Instagram to question the double standard promoted when the suffering of some is elevated above the suffering of others. Hadid also provided a list of charities that her followers could support to help the victims of the Russian invasion.
