shakahislop
Well-known member
Inside Veselka: A Restaurant Rallying Point for Ukraine
As the Russian invasion continues, the East Village diner serves a space for nourishment and activism
ny.eater.com
"What’s a bit more unexpected, however, are the yellow flyers on each table, displaying two QR codes. They are not, as is the case so often during the pandemic, links to online menus. The flyers instead direct patrons to sites where they can support the Ukrainian army, helping supply them with lethal aid to repel the superpower bombing their residential neighborhoods, killing their civilians, and forcing the displacement of over half a million people to nearby countries."
"The moment you see a menu, you’re also greeted with a call to aid the army of a country under attack. One of the QR codes, for the non-profit Razom, leads to a link that lets folks transfer money to help Ukrainians procure ammunition. Other links are for helping citizens buy military-grade vests, helmets, and tactical medical backpacks."
I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, but I am saying that this is a pretty weird thing. There are paralells in the US I suppose, such as a moderately similar demographic sending money to the IRA, and perhaps (I am assuming) some segment of the US population supporting Israeli settlers financially. But at the moment this kind of broad-based support, that you can openly do from a downtown NYC restaurant, seems unusual to me, and if those newly armed civilians have any success they are presumably going to become more accurately termed militias soon enough, assuming this conflict goes on for a while. I mean the US and other states have supported a load of militias etc for ages, but generally not a broad public.
