TED headquarters refuses to release speech of Ukrainian soldier, local branch ceases cooperation with Ukrainian Catholic University
Pravda Ukraine
A local branch TED at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) has announced the termination of its activity.
This decision was caused by the refusal of the TED headquarters in the US to release the speech of Maksym Osadchuk, Ukrainian soldier, historian and graduate student of the UCU, made at the conference in the autumn of 2023, as reported by TEDxUCU.
TED stated that the speech contained “inflammatory ‘us vs them’ statements” about the war in Ukraine. For instance, Maksym’s phrase that “russians, as their great event, are trying to appropriate the joint victory over German fascism, but as always, they are stealing… However, there is nothing new here. russians are being russians”.
The organisation also mentioned concerns about the wording of the phrase “suffocating embrace of the Russian world” [the Russian world is a concept and a political doctrine usually defined as the sphere of military, political and cultural influence of Russia – ed.].
The TED headquarters explained that it strives to remain neutral and avoid polarisation.
“The platforms for showcasing these ideas exist, but we must maintain that the TEDx stage is not a space for polarising or otherwise inflammatory discussions of what makes a conflict an ‘opportunity’ for a particular country while lambasting entire populations of a different country,” the TED headquarters said.
The TEDxUCU strongly disagrees with such an interpretation. The organisers stress that Maksym Osadchuk mentioned generally recognised and obvious facts. Specifically, he spoke about an unprecedented violation of international law by Russia, which was documented in four resolutions of the UN General Assembly.
The TEDxUCU team explained that the phrase “Russian world” and its interpretation were used in the works of American historians and writers. Moreover, Russians actively use this term as an antithesis to the Western world.
The TEDxUCU stresses that in conditions of war the rhetoric of “us vs them” describes the objective situation, not hate speech.
The local Ukrainian branch believes that TED does not publish this video because it believes it must remain neutral and hear both sides, etc.
“But we do not accept this. First and foremost, we fully share the statements expressed by our speaker,” the TEDxUCU statement says.
The TEDxUCU decided to terminate its activity.
“We will fondly remember our experience with TEDxUCU from 2017 to winter 2023. To be continued,” the statement says.
Background: Earlier, an encyclopaedia which presented the history of Ukraine in adherence to the Russian narrative was published in the UK.
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