Major Pushback Over Ukraine Veteran’s Standing Ovation

In a shocking display of unintentional antisemitism on Yom Kippur, Canada’s Parliament gave a standing ovation to a known Nazi during a visit from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government received heavy criticism from Jewish groups and other social commentators for hosting Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian Nazi soldier who immigrated to Canada following World War II.
Canada’s House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota apologized after the backlash.
It’s time for a brief history lesson. So this Ukrainian whom Canada honored was part of the Waffen-SS Galicia Division during World War II. In front of President Zelenskyy, the Canadian Parliament honored a Ukrainian Nazi whose job was to hunt Ukrainian Jews and kill them.
Also, compound this with the fact that the Allies eventually sided with Russia, Ukraine’s current adversary, to defeat Nazism. So who’s on whose side? You can’t make this up, folks. It shows a complete lack of awareness by those in charge of this event.
And how does a public relations disaster like this affect Americans’ willingness to give additional taxpayer dollars to Ukraine? ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenel weighed in:
“There’s been a lot of talk from people that there is an active Nazi Party inside Ukraine, . . . and it’s very troubling because the American taxpayer is paying for this. Most Americans want to help the good guys. They feel like Putin is the bad guy. But at the end of the day, giving $125 billion to a country like Ukraine, that is notoriously corrupt, does not immediately give you the sense that you’re on the side of the good guy.”
Asking the American people to identify a clear-cut good guy in this fight is difficult – especially when Canada gives a standing ovation to a Nazi. We will keep a close eye on President Biden’s proposed $125 billion package for Ukraine. So far, he’s been unable to present a clear case for supporting Ukraine. Can he change the narrative?