Western Government's Selective Hearing

When it comes to cries for help, Western governments tend to have selective hearing. Selective hearing means selective support, both fuelled by racism, islamophobia or just any other form of hatred-based discrimination. Countries such as the UK, US and other EU nations pick and choose who they wish to support, not necessarily based on the severity of the situation but more so on the financial implications it may have. 

If the world’s most powerful governments truly lived by a non-biased moral compass then we wouldn’t be witnessing a genocide in 2024. According to data found by Foreign Assistance, in 2022, Ukraine and Israel were the top two countries receiving financial aid globally. Now, how does that make sense if one is the victim of Russia, while the latter is raging genocide on Palestine? 

Western governments portray themselves as progressive and pro-basic human rights, yet their actions prove otherwise. The UK doesn’t even stay true to its so-called ally nations, or they have favourites, to say the least. For example, they would be more loyal to their NATO allies than their common-wealth allies, and that’s because most of these relationships are established through money and war, which again just comes back to money. 

The UK’s personal history with foreign aid has been controversial, to say the least. Back in 2023, the government was critcised for its decision to cut foreign aid, according to an assessment by the International Development Committee (IDC) of lawmakers, sexual health programmes across Africa would face a 60% cut in funding. The government has also made several questionable moves, for example in 2022 the UK donated a total of £77 million to Yemen in financial aid, yet it has supplied Saudi Arabia with $23 billion in weapons since the war began. 

Even after halting all arms exports to Saudi Arabia, the government later announced its plans to resume its operations. 

The United States are just as hypocritical. Despite having provided the people of Palestine with an estimated half a billion dollars in aid since 2021, it provides Israel with $3.3 billion a year. And yes, you guessed it, most of the money is military aid. Not to mention the UK, as a former colonial power of Palestine, it now has a prospering arms trade with Israel. The UK and US are actively helping to fund the genocide on Palestine.

Double standards are a common denominator across western nations, in particular those with a colonial and imperial past. While governments were quick to impose sanctions on Russia and provide rapid aid to Ukraine, the same energy has not been kept for Palestine. For a country that promotes democracy, the UK’s constant decision to abstain from voting for a ceasefire at the UN General Assembly.

It could be argued that their decision to not support Middle Eastern countries in the same way they have Ukraine could be down to race. This take was reinforced by Ukraine’s decision to publicly support Israel in its onslaught of Palestine. Both countries are under occupation, meaning they should be able to relate to one another, yet that has not been the case. 

Countries in the Middle East are not the only ones on the losing end of the West’s selective support, the same goes for South American countries and Afro/Caribbean nations. In layman's terms, any country that isn’t predominantly white or Jewish in the case of Israel does not see effective support from countries like the UK or US. 

True impartiality should be common practice across government leaders when it comes to handing out foreign aid. Those in need should be able to seek help from world leaders regardless of skin colour, ethnicity, or creed - yet that is still to be the case. So how with this outdated way of thinking can governments call themselves progressive in 2024?