Thread by @Rrrrnessa

Some people may think that I am overtly critical of "war tourists" and that people who go into war zones to "cover the war" are just so brave and phenomenal. The reality is that war tourists, whether certain types of "journos" or public figures like BHL are protected.

There are war correspondents, of course, who are there to do their jobs and simply report as objectively as possible. Kudos to them. But many are not there for the right reasons and are protected in a way that the regular civilians simply never will be in a war zone.

Additionally, it's always bothered me how the journalists, writers, activists of the country being bombed get silenced in favour of the Western reporters who come to tell their stories without facing the same level of risk.

This isn't my first time bringing this issue up, I've talked about it length when it came to Bosnia.

I also know what happens afterwards. Their careers take off. They write books about your pain, your suffering, your struggles while the writers of your country struggle.

This will happen in Ukraine and it's happening already. People crowdfunding projects in Ukraine that the people will definitely not benefit from. They will write poetry, books, and build academic careers off of Ukraine's pain just as they did with Bosnia's.

And in 10-15 years after the war comes to an end...Ukraine will be lucky to have a dozen or so "public" activists & academics allowed to speak on her behalf, they'll occasionally get invited to the events that will be 99% Westerners discussing their pain.

& whatever maybe I'm just a "hater" and maybe I'm just jealous...but nobody runs towards war willingly unless they're going to profit from it some way. The people of that country forced to fight or forced to leave do not have such a privilege.

& everyone will tell you to shut up and be thankful but you shouldn't be. This is going to be your story and I hope you will be the one to write it, my dear Ukrainian friends.

Someone once asked me if it mattered than there were people in Bosnia who were there to build their careers b/c at least they told our story and the thing is...yes, it did matter. It matters even now.

B/c they get asked still to this day to speak for us. 30 years later.

I think intent matters in everything, even if there's a benefit. I think it matters if you are writing a story because you care about it and you want the truth out there and writing a story because it's what will get you likes and retweets. After all, this is real pain. Real war.

It matters because the Western journos and academics will always be considered as more objective and as more valuable than the native journos and academics. Bosnia has both. Ukraine does too. Their voices can be just as objective and should be invaluable to us all.

And here is Ferida's perfect poem on this topic.

https://twitter.com/_edinh/status/1503441020062642178