T E X T

Walls, dreams and genocide: Zelensky invokes history to rally support.

    He told U.S. lawmakers that he had a dream, invoking Martin Luther King Jr. to describe Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion. He said to the British Parliament that his country would fight until the end, in forests and fields, a vow resonant of Winston Churchill’s exhortations against Nazism. To members of the German Parliament he spoke of a new wall dividing Europe, echoing the Berlin Wall of the Cold War.

    The passionate speeches, delivered remotely by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in his now-ubiquitous military-issue shirt, are part of a vigorous rhetorical effort to rally international support — for arms, or aid to his country, or sanctions against Russia.

    Mr. Zelensky, a former comedian who ran a populist campaign to become president in 2019, is no stranger to performing, and his social-media missives and speeches have transformed him into a global symbol of his country’s resistance to Russian aggression. The allusions, metaphors and allegories made by Mr. Zelensky point to a tailored strategy to emotionally appeal to nations and institutions and their histories.

    Mr. Zelensky’s soaring appeal to Congress, which prompted a standing ovation, framed Ukraine’s fight against Russia as a battle to preserve democracy, freedom and the rule of law, calling on the United States’ image of itself as a leader of the free world to defend those values.

    Russia’s attack, Mr. Zelensky said, was a brutal offensive “against our freedom, against our right to live freely in our own country, choosing our own future, against our desire for happiness, against our national dreams — just like the same dreams you have, you Americans.”

    He implored lawmakers to remember two moments of American trauma that involved assaults from the sky to empathize with Ukrainians fleeing missiles: Pearl Harbor and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

    He evoked the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to request antimissile defense systems, aircraft and a “no-fly” zone above Ukraine, a step that NATO allies have rebuffed, fearing it would escalate the war with Russia. “I can say I have a need. I need to protect our sky. I need your decision, your help, which means exactly the same, the same you feel when you hear the words, ‘I have a dream.’” he said.

    Mr. Zelensky capped the speech with a direct appeal to President Biden, tailoring his words to appeal to the United States’ role on the global stage. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace,” he said.

    British lawmakers earlier this month invited the Ukrainian leader for the first ever speech in the House of Commons by a foreign leader. He took advantage of the address to quote Shakespeare and align himself and his cause with Winston Churchill, Britain’s leader during World War II.

    Ukrainians needed to defend their country against the Russians, just as Britons did against Nazism, Mr. Zelensky said. He vowed his country would never surrender to Russian tanks. “We will fight till the end, at sea, in the air,” Mr. Zelensky said in front of the Ukrainian flag, echoing the phrasing of Mr. Churchill in a famous wartime speech: “We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.”

    In his address to the Bundestag last week, Mr. Zelensky urged Germany to take stronger action against Russia, casting the decision as a metaphorical division between building or demolishing a wall — harkening back to the Cold War, an emotional period for Germans. “You are like behind the wall again. Not the Berlin Wall but in the middle of Europe, between freedom and slavery,” he said. “And this wall grows stronger with each bomb that falls on our land, on Ukraine,” he said.

    He called for an embargo on trade with Russia, saying that its ability to keep trading, and keeping Ukraine from joining the European Union, was helping Moscow fortify this metaphorical wall.

    With Canada, Mr. Zelensky mixed a personal, first-name appeal to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with apocalyptic images of a Canada at war.

    In his address to Canadian lawmakers, Mr. Zelensky referred to the country’s leader simply as “Justin.” And to help them understand Ukraine’s experience, he said, he painted a vivid image of Canadian cities and landmarks under attack.

    He asked lawmakers to envision Canadian flags replaced by Russian ones, Toronto’s CN tower being destroyed by Russian missiles and schools being burned down. “This is our reality,” he said.

    He thanked Canada for its support, but said that what he really wanted was for the country to help bring about a no-fly zone in the skies above Ukraine and to force more companies to leave the Russian market.

From: www.nytimes.com/March 21, 2022

Text 

First and Second Inaugural Addresses

      This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

************************
I see millions of families trying to live on incomes so meager that the pall of family disaster hangs over them day by day.
I see millions whose daily lives in city and on farm continue under conditions labeled indecent by a so-called polite society half a century ago.

I see millions denied education, recreation, and the opportunity to better their lot and the lot of their children.
I see millions lacking the means to buy the products of farm and factory and by their poverty denying work and productiveness to many other millions.

I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.
It is not in despair that I paint you that picture, I paint it for you in hope – because the Nation, seeing and understanding the injustice in it, proposes to paint it out. We are determined to make every American citizen the subject of his country’s interest and concern; and we will never regard any faithful, law-abiding group within our borders as superfluous. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

(Franklin Delano Roosevelt)

T E X T

Walls, dreams and genocide: Zelensky invokes history to rally support.

    He told U.S. lawmakers that he had a dream, invoking Martin Luther King Jr. to describe Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion. He said to the British Parliament that his country would fight until the end, in forests and fields, a vow resonant of Winston Churchill’s exhortations against Nazism. To members of the German Parliament he spoke of a new wall dividing Europe, echoing the Berlin Wall of the Cold War.

    The passionate speeches, delivered remotely by President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in his now-ubiquitous military-issue shirt, are part of a vigorous rhetorical effort to rally international support — for arms, or aid to his country, or sanctions against Russia.

    Mr. Zelensky, a former comedian who ran a populist campaign to become president in 2019, is no stranger to performing, and his social-media missives and speeches have transformed him into a global symbol of his country’s resistance to Russian aggression. The allusions, metaphors and allegories made by Mr. Zelensky point to a tailored strategy to emotionally appeal to nations and institutions and their histories.

    Mr. Zelensky’s soaring appeal to Congress, which prompted a standing ovation, framed Ukraine’s fight against Russia as a battle to preserve democracy, freedom and the rule of law, calling on the United States’ image of itself as a leader of the free world to defend those values.

    Russia’s attack, Mr. Zelensky said, was a brutal offensive “against our freedom, against our right to live freely in our own country, choosing our own future, against our desire for happiness, against our national dreams — just like the same dreams you have, you Americans.”

    He implored lawmakers to remember two moments of American trauma that involved assaults from the sky to empathize with Ukrainians fleeing missiles: Pearl Harbor and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

    He evoked the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to request antimissile defense systems, aircraft and a “no-fly” zone above Ukraine, a step that NATO allies have rebuffed, fearing it would escalate the war with Russia. “I can say I have a need. I need to protect our sky. I need your decision, your help, which means exactly the same, the same you feel when you hear the words, ‘I have a dream.’” he said.

    Mr. Zelensky capped the speech with a direct appeal to President Biden, tailoring his words to appeal to the United States’ role on the global stage. “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace,” he said.

    British lawmakers earlier this month invited the Ukrainian leader for the first ever speech in the House of Commons by a foreign leader. He took advantage of the address to quote Shakespeare and align himself and his cause with Winston Churchill, Britain’s leader during World War II.

    Ukrainians needed to defend their country against the Russians, just as Britons did against Nazism, Mr. Zelensky said. He vowed his country would never surrender to Russian tanks. “We will fight till the end, at sea, in the air,” Mr. Zelensky said in front of the Ukrainian flag, echoing the phrasing of Mr. Churchill in a famous wartime speech: “We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.”

    In his address to the Bundestag last week, Mr. Zelensky urged Germany to take stronger action against Russia, casting the decision as a metaphorical division between building or demolishing a wall — harkening back to the Cold War, an emotional period for Germans. “You are like behind the wall again. Not the Berlin Wall but in the middle of Europe, between freedom and slavery,” he said. “And this wall grows stronger with each bomb that falls on our land, on Ukraine,” he said.

    He called for an embargo on trade with Russia, saying that its ability to keep trading, and keeping Ukraine from joining the European Union, was helping Moscow fortify this metaphorical wall.

    With Canada, Mr. Zelensky mixed a personal, first-name appeal to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with apocalyptic images of a Canada at war.

    In his address to Canadian lawmakers, Mr. Zelensky referred to the country’s leader simply as “Justin.” And to help them understand Ukraine’s experience, he said, he painted a vivid image of Canadian cities and landmarks under attack.

    He asked lawmakers to envision Canadian flags replaced by Russian ones, Toronto’s CN tower being destroyed by Russian missiles and schools being burned down. “This is our reality,” he said.

    He thanked Canada for its support, but said that what he really wanted was for the country to help bring about a no-fly zone in the skies above Ukraine and to force more companies to leave the Russian market.

From: www.nytimes.com/March 21, 2022