We Must Be Relentless in Humanizing Palestinians

We live in an era where, , we have accepted that all human beings are deserving of equal treatment鈥攖hat skin color, national origin, language, accent, clothing, and other markers of ethnicity are secondary to the fact that we all deserve dignity.

In theory.

In practice, the otherizing of human beings remains central to the grim calculus by which we justify violence against one another and even accept it as virtuous. This violence, inflicted by states or by vigilantes, is everywhere we look.

In the United States, it鈥檚 in the way , , , and .

Internationally, it鈥檚 in the way our society dismisses the targets of Western wars and capitalism.

Most prominently today, it鈥檚 in the dehumanization of Palestinians during what, by many accounts, is an against the people of Gaza.

The only way to end the inhumanity is to humanize the victims of war in pursuit of justice.

Dehumanization Lays the Groundwork for Genocide

Israeli diplomat Ron Prosor in an October 2023 podcast interview that his nation鈥檚 war on Gaza was about 鈥渃ivilization against barbarity,鈥� and 鈥済ood against bad.鈥� Such language reinforces the equations of Israeli : Israelis equal 鈥渃ivilized鈥� and 鈥済ood,鈥� whereas Palestinians equal 鈥渂arbaric鈥� and 鈥渂ad.鈥�

Prosor added that the targets of Israel鈥檚 military might were 鈥減eople who basically act as animals and do not have any, any respect for children, women.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

His remarks came soon after Israel鈥檚 defense minister referred to Palestinians as 鈥渉uman animals.鈥� (There鈥檚 no shortage of irony in such language given how European antisemitic tropes routinely .)

Apologists for Israel鈥檚 war take pains to say there is a distinction between Hamas鈥攖he ostensible 鈥渂arbarians鈥� who perpetrated the 鈥攁nd Palestinian civilians. But Israel鈥檚 bombing campaign against Gaza is so devastating that even the routinely calls it 鈥渙ne of the most intense of the 21st century, prompting growing global scrutiny of its scale, purpose and cost to human life.鈥� The distinction between Hamas and Palestinian civilians means little within a scenario of mass indiscriminate bombing.

Recall when the U.S. in the early 2000s and claimed to be striking Al Qaeda 鈥渢errorists,鈥� while dismissing the predictable, resulting mass civilian casualties as 鈥渃ollateral damage.鈥� The 鈥渨ar on terror鈥� quickly became a 鈥渨ar of 迟别谤谤辞谤.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

A decade earlier, analyst Norman Solomon pointed out in a against the first Gulf War how Time Magazine defined 鈥渃ollateral damage鈥� as 鈥渁 term meaning dead or wounded civilians who should have picked a safer neighborhood.鈥� That descriptor can easily be applied today to Gaza, a minuscule and densely populated strip of land subjected to a savage bombing campaign akin to shooting fish in a barrel.

As the 1994 so aptly demonstrated, the first wave of weaponry in any pogrom is the use of dehumanizing language. Next comes extermination. If Palestinians are not people, their deaths are easier to stomach. If they are merely human animals, barbarians, and collateral damage, they can be killed with impunity.

When Context Is Forbidden

It鈥檚 not enough to employ dehumanizing language against Palestinians. Israel鈥檚 apologists have waged a long and effective narrative war on any and all critiques of Israel as well as any and all defenses of Palestinians. From academic exile, as in the 2014 case of University of Illinois , to media censure, as inflicted on CNN contributor in 2018, Israel鈥檚 defenders have routinely canceled critics of apartheid.

Most recently, United Nations Secretary General Ant贸nio Guterres is facing calls for resignation merely for pointing out that Hamas鈥� deadly attacks on Israeli settlements 鈥�.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Contextualizing acts of terrorism even while condemning them is verboten, and not just for high-level diplomats. A science journal editor named was recently fired for sharing an article by the satirical paper The Onion on his private social media account titled 鈥�.鈥� Eisen happens to be Jewish American.

It is a testament to the extent of censorship in reference to Israeli apartheid that The Onion is bolder than most mainstream media outlets for pointing out the absurdity of limiting discourse. The outlet (perhaps in response to Eisen鈥檚 firing?) filed another story titled 鈥�.鈥�

When Some Lives Are More Equal Than Others

Israel understands how significant the use of narrative is to the maintenance of its occupation and control of Palestinian territories. To underscore the idea that they are responding to inhuman terrorists, the Israeli Defense Forces of Hamas鈥� October 7 attacks as justification for bombing Gaza indiscriminately. Such imagery, when presented without any historical context of occupation and oppression, offers a sympathetic portrayal of Israeli civilians as the victims of unexplained and unprovoked barbarism. Any mention of broader context is strictly forbidden.

Indeed, when we , it is unfathomable to justify the violence that ended their lives. Bringing up the context of Israel鈥檚 occupation sounds jarring when juxtaposed against the heartbreaking story of how were gunned down by Hamas fighters as they protected their son from bullets. The surviving boy told the press that his parents 鈥渨anted to us to be happy, to be whimsical 鈥� They wanted us to be joyful. They wanted us to be in peace.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Commercial media outlets have been flooded with such stories, centering the Israeli victims and survivors of Hamas鈥� assault. Israeli humanity reigns supreme. It is civilized and good.

Where are the stories in mainstream media of Palestinian lives lost? Not just in the latest Israeli war on Gaza but in all the wars that preceded it? And what about the stories of the decades of traumatic land loss and unjust imprisonment and displacement Palestinians have faced?

Winning the Narrative War

In Israel鈥檚 previous wars of retaliation against Hamas in Gaza, the same pattern played out as we are seeing today: Palestinian civilians are to be killed by Israel than Israeli civilians are by Hamas. This is utterly unsurprising given Israel鈥檚 military might and the unwavering U.S. diplomatic and military aid to Israel.

It鈥檚 not just Gaza either. In 2022 Israel killed in the West Bank and Jerusalem than it did the year before, as per an independent monitoring group. The bizarre justification was that armed Israeli soldiers were defending themselves against civilians.

Arrayed against such forces, one of the only ways Palestinians can assert their humanity is through storytelling. But this is a challenge given the one-sidedness of mainstream U.S. news, the chilling effect on speaking out in academia, and even on social media.

Still, stories are trickling out. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in 2014 by publishing short stories about dozens of Palestinian men, women, and children. Arab-centric and independent media outlets such and routinely showcase such stories, in sharp contrast to mainstream U.S. media outlets.

Take , a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was killed by Israeli bombs in Gaza. We know his name and his story not because he was profiled in The New York Times or on CNN鈥攈e was not鈥攂ut because he was a with a huge following as an online gamer, and because independent media and the Arab press covered his killing.

Bringing up the context of Hamas鈥� October 7 attack to justify Eldous鈥� killing sounds jarring. And so it鈥檚 easier not to bring up Eldous and other Palestinian victims at all, as evidenced by the deafening silence of Western media outlets on his death and the deaths of countless others.

The long-term work of sharing historical context about Israel鈥檚 brutal occupation that began with the must continue. But the short-term work of stopping the unfolding genocide must happen immediately. To curb Israel鈥檚 disproportionate and brutal violence, there must be an unequivocal call for a ceasefire in the name of Palestinian humanity.

It is a sad state of affairs that the world has to be convinced that Palestinians are human beings too. As of this writing, Israel has killed in Gaza by some accounts, and the total death toll has surpassed , nearly five times the number of Israelis killed by Hamas.

How many Palestinian lives is a single Israeli life worth? If the ratio is not 1 to 1, what is it?

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽TEDx talk聽of the same name.

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