Oh, Looks Like Bombing Hospitals Is Bad Again

A missile struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday during the heaviest Russian bombardment on Ukraine in months, which stretched across five regions and reportedly killed some forty people.

Kyiv and its western allies are saying the children’s hospital was hit by Russia, while Moscow says the hospital was hit by a Ukrainian air defense missile during Russia’s attack. All that’s clear as of this writing is that the hospital was bombed either as a direct or indirect result of the Russian missile strikes, and that western leaders are responding very, very differently to this news than they have been to deliberate Israeli attacks on hospitals throughout the Gaza Strip.

“Russia’s missile strikes that today killed dozens of Ukrainian civilians and caused damage and casualties at Kyiv’s largest children’s hospital are a horrific reminder of Russia’s brutality,” tweeted whoever runs the US president’s Twitter account, adding, “It is critical that the world continues to stand with Ukraine at this important moment and that we not ignore Russian aggression.”

“Attacking innocent children. The most depraved of actions. We stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression — our support won’t falter,” tweeted the UK’s new prime minister Keir Starmer.

“This is abhorrent. Striking a children’s hospital — and the innocent children inside — cannot be justified,” tweeted Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, adding, “My heart goes out to the families who are grieving — and Canada’s commitment to Ukraine remains as strong as ever.”

“Russia’s missile attacks on several Ukrainian cities, including a Kyiv children’s hospital are abhorrent,” echoed Australian foreign minister Penny Wong as though responding to some kind of memo. “We condemn the targeting of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals. Australia continues to support the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal, immoral war.”

Contrast this firm and unequivocal statement from Wong with her mealy-mouthed, passive-language statement about Israel’s deliberate systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system:

“Hospitals, patients, medical and humanitarian staff must be protected. Australia is deeply concerned by attacks in and around hospitals in Gaza, including an Indonesian-funded hospital in northern Gaza and a Jordanian field hospital.”

And that’s about as strong a criticism as you’ll see from western officials regarding Israel’s relentless assault on Palestinian hospitals. Most haven’t had anything to say at all.

Since October 7 there have been hundreds of documented IDF attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system, which according to the UN has been mostly destroyed by this onslaught.

Oxford University professor Nick Maynard has accused the IDF of “systematically targeting healthcare facilities, healthcare personnel and really dismantling the whole healthcare system” in Gaza after spending time working there during Israel’s bombardment of the enclave.

According to a new report published in The Lancet medical journal, indirect deaths ensuing from Israel’s assault on Gaza by things like disease and inability to access healthcare services will likely wind up being many times greater than the direct deaths caused by mass military violence, saying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths for every one reported official death would wind up putting the grand total death toll at around 186,000. And that’s with an official direct death toll that is definitely a huge undercount.

Where was all the outrage about all this? Where were all the statements from western officials about how “abhorrent” it is to attack those hospitals? Where were all the western news media headlines explicitly naming Israel as the perpetrator of those attacks, like they’ve been doing with Russia? Nowhere to be found.

This is because western empire managers do not actually believe that there is anything “abhorrent” or “horrific” about attacking a hospital — at least not one which provides services to Palestinians or other populations who are not favored by the western empire.

This has nothing to do with concern for human lives and wellbeing. They just want to manufacture more consent for continuing their proxy war in Ukraine.

Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):

https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/oh-looks-like-bombing-hospitals-is