CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

An Interview on the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza

Two imperialist wars have challenged the international Left: the U.S. and Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some have upheld the best traditions of the left, solidarity with the oppressed and their right to resist without exception, while others have fallen into the trap of selective solidarity, refusing to extend support to one of the two peoples. In the spirit of principled universalism, two Ukrainian leftists, Andriy Movchan and Nina Potarska, joined the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza. Here Tempest’s Ashley Smith interviews Andriy Movchan about their participation in the Flotilla and its significance for building solidarity between Ukrainians and Palestinians and their liberation struggles.

Ashley Smith: You just returned from the Global Sumud Flotilla. What were its goals? How did you come to join it? What did you aim to accomplish in participating?

Andriy Movchan:When the first flotilla set sail for Gaza in the autumn of 2025, I deeply regretted not being there. It seemed important to me that Ukraine – as a nation that is also experiencing occupation – should be represented in this movement. When I learned that a new flotilla was being prepared, I decided that I had to get there no matter what. In the end, we did it.

Besides our main goal – breaking the illegal Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is a blatant violation of international law – we had another objective: breaking through a wall of stereotypes.

First, we wanted to challenge stereotypes about Palestine in Ukraine, where Israeli propaganda enjoys an extremely strong position in the media and effectively holds a monopoly on “the truth.” By taking part as Ukrainian representatives, we wanted to provide an alternative point of view. Above all, we wanted to give Palestine a voice.

Second, we wanted to challenge a stereotype promoted internationally by Russian propaganda and the campist Left: the idea that all Ukrainians are ardent Zionists who enthusiastically support the crimes of Western imperialism in other parts of the world, and therefore deserve neither sympathy nor support in their own struggle against Russian aggression.

I think our participation called both of these stereotypes into question.

AS: You are Ukrainians, and your country like that of Palestinians has been under colonial war and occupation. Did that common experience drive you toward solidarity with Palestine? How is the Palestinian struggle perceived in Ukraine? What have been Zelensky’s policies toward Palestine? How have you challenged those? What are popular debates like? How have you advanced Palestine solidarity in Ukraine?

AM: The parallels with Ukraine’s fate are undoubtedly important to me. They give me additional motivation to support the Palestinian people’s struggle against occupation. And I am not alone in this. Within the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine, which brings together a variety of left-wing organizations, this is also an important issue. All of its participants clearly understand the importance of supporting other oppressed peoples as well – that is the essence of our principled anti-campism. We rally under the slogan: “From Ukraine to Palestine, occupation is a crime!”

As for how the Palestinian issue is perceived in Ukraine, unfortunately we face significant difficulties. There are a whole set of objective factors that I believe are important to explain.

To begin with, in Western countries the pro-Palestinian movement has existed for decades. It is an integral part of the agenda and identity of the Left. In the Soviet Union, by contrast, there were no independent political movements – the state held a monopoly on politics. State propaganda supported Palestine, but by the 1970s society had already become highly skeptical of official propaganda. The phrase “crimes of Israeli militarism” had become a subject of jokes in late Soviet society, as a symbol of propagandistic exaggeration. After 1991, Palestine largely disappeared from public attention altogether. At the same time, genuine left-wing movements failed to develop in any of the post-Soviet countries.

In addition, Eastern Europe – Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia – was the main historical homeland of........

© CounterPunch