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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Ukraine sympathy VS Syria

100 replies

JustWhyy · 07/03/2022 20:03

Why does Syria not get the same sympathy as Ukraine?
I've followed the conflict in Syria for years, therefore what's happening in Ukraine is not shocking to me because I've seen it happen to the Syrian people, but I never recall the outcry/support for Syrian people as much as I've seen it for the Ukrainians?
Am ibu?

OP posts:
Lurking9to5 · 07/03/2022 20:04

This has just happened. We'll all be inured to this tragedy soon too.

Gowithme · 07/03/2022 20:18

I think it's just because it's closer to home. It's literally all over the news, you can't escape it. It's also impacting us with fuel prices going up because of it, risk of nuclear attack etc. If it goes on indefinitely people will move on and gradually take less and less interest.

Nesbo · 07/03/2022 20:28

Because Russia attacking a democratic country in Europe has thrown us into a new Cold War and brought us closer to the unthinkable scenario of a Russia/NATO clash than we’ve been in decades.

History has shown us how minor scuffles in Europe can quickly escalate into global conflict so I don’t find this sort of whataboutery all that compelling.

Nesbo · 07/03/2022 20:29

(And to be clear this isn’t a minor scuffle - it is far more than that)

x2boys · 07/03/2022 20:30

We are in NATO ,if NATO get involved then there is a possibility of a nuclear war .

Frenchfancy · 07/03/2022 20:32

Because Syria is not in Europe and didn't get invaded.

BulletTrain · 07/03/2022 20:35

Civil wars are awful and bloody and go on for years but they don't tend to escalate into global conflicts. If you speak to a lot of people in this country they've no idea there was a Spanish Civil War in 1936 and that was in Europe.

purpleboy · 07/03/2022 20:35

Op there are multiple threads along the same lines, why don't you go onto one of those and look at the answers there.
I guess your looking for a we're all racist answer, like the other posters.

Bwix · 07/03/2022 20:38

People showing compassion to Syrians have something in common with people showing compassion to Ukrainians. Do we have to look for divisions between people? What good does it do?

Willyoujustbequiet · 07/03/2022 20:38

I think it did tbh. But clearly it's at the forefront of minds due to it being in Europe and the risk of WW3/nuclear holocaust.

It's as if some are looking for offence where there is none.

lljkk · 07/03/2022 20:39

As awful & tragic as events have been in Iraq, Syria, Xinjiang or Yemen or -- I didn't feel personally as threatened by them.

Paul72 · 07/03/2022 20:39

Because the people in Ukraine are white Europeans. That is why Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Mayamar and many other places do not get the same attention.
I disagree with the media for taking this attitude but they do. As far as I am concerned every person is of equal value no matter what colour they are.

Fernandina · 07/03/2022 20:54

Well it might be because there are many hundreds of thousands of English-speaking Eastern European people (including from Ukraine and Poland) who live and work in the UK, so many of the posts will be by them.

flowerycurtain · 07/03/2022 21:01

I think three reasons.

Firstly it's very reminiscent of how precious world wars have started.

Secondly it's the whole nuclear thing.

Thirdly this is going to impact our daily life in ways that Afghanistan, Syria etc don't. I'm a farmer. 4 weeks ago I was selling wheat at £200 a ton and that was the highest wheat price we've ever known. I sold at £285 yesterday. The fertiliser I buy to put on my fields often made in Ukraine/Russia was £280 a ton a year ago. Before this crisis it was up to £600 a ton. I dread to think what it is today. You think food inflation has been bad? I think there is worse to come. Also, in other wars, there aren't people on Radio 4 saying the risk of gas being unavailable is a really possibility.

SuperSocks · 07/03/2022 21:02

For me I knew/know very little about the war in Syria. To me, it's the Middle East and 'Horrible stuff happens in the Middle East' which is a very simplistic way of looking at it but that was my thought process. The snippets I did hear about it made me feel sad for the innocent people caught up in it but it was all very much 'something that happens in other cultures'. I'm from Germany which isn't so very far from Ukraine - not really 'another culture' at all.

Katya213 · 07/03/2022 21:04

It’s so close to home? Potential ww3 looming? I don’t know ?

SuperSocks · 07/03/2022 21:04

@flowerycurtain

I think three reasons.

Firstly it's very reminiscent of how precious world wars have started.

Secondly it's the whole nuclear thing.

Thirdly this is going to impact our daily life in ways that Afghanistan, Syria etc don't. I'm a farmer. 4 weeks ago I was selling wheat at £200 a ton and that was the highest wheat price we've ever known. I sold at £285 yesterday. The fertiliser I buy to put on my fields often made in Ukraine/Russia was £280 a ton a year ago. Before this crisis it was up to £600 a ton. I dread to think what it is today. You think food inflation has been bad? I think there is worse to come. Also, in other wars, there aren't people on Radio 4 saying the risk of gas being unavailable is a really possibility.

Hey flowery curtain. I don't want to derail the thread, so wondered if you'd be interested in starting an 'AMA' about farming in the UK?
flowerycurtain · 07/03/2022 21:05

I should edit my post - previous not precious world wars!

Also the wheat price increase is pretty much driven by this war. Plus a bit of Kansas drought.

HPmagic · 07/03/2022 21:06

1: closer to home and direct impact on us.

2: Syria seems to have a lot of men mainly trying to escape whilst leaving the women and children behind. This concerns me! Whereas you can see in Ukraine there is mainly women and children leaving and the men staying to fight.

1000yellowdaisies · 07/03/2022 21:14

I keep reading this type of comment about the reaction to Ukraine vs different conflicts or different refugees and its just the same old virtue signaling.
Op presumably wants to suggest the whole country is racist and everyone agreeing can pat themselves on the back for calling it out.
The reality is much more complex.

flowerycurtain · 07/03/2022 21:20

Honest answer @SuperSocks is I'm not breve enough. I do try to support other farmers on threads when I see them or out forwards an Ag point of view though. Hopefully that will help.

SuperSocks · 07/03/2022 21:24

@flowerycurtain Ok, fair enough! Really quick question - how come fertilizer needs to be imported? Isn't it basically liquified manure? I know nothing about agriculture, can you tell?

flowerycurtain · 07/03/2022 21:29

www.yara.com/crop-nutrition/why-fertilizer/production-of-fertillizer/

Basically fertiliser is made from gas and nitrogen in the air.

We farm 800 acres and buy about 150t a year to get the yields we do. If we don't put it on our yields would drop by 50%

Lots of us would happily use more manure but the EA make it very tricky to do because of environmental regulations.

flowerycurtain · 07/03/2022 21:29

www.yara.com/crop-nutrition/why-fertilizer/production-of-fertillizer/

Basically fertiliser is made from gas and nitrogen in the air.

We farm 800 acres and buy about 150t a year to get the yields we do. If we don't put it on our yields would drop by 50%

Lots of us would happily use more manure but the EA make it very tricky to do because of environmental regulations.

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