Is it too much to ask people to view Palestinians as humans? Apparently so.

The Guardian

As the last few weeks have made abundantly clear, Palestinian lives don’t count.

I do not want to ever hear western democracies lecture the rest of the world on human rights ever again.

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‘It isn’t enough that Palestinians are dying and being displaced: we must be dehumanized and discredited too.’ Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu/Getty Images.

As I write this, more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza – almost half of them children. One child is being killed every 10 minutes in Gaza. (...)

Those numbers don’t count the kids slowly dying of hunger and thirst. The kids getting sick from drinking sewage and sea water. They don’t count the kids with cancer who will not be able to get any care now that the Israeli siege has forced the only cancer hospital in Gaza to suspend operations. They don’t count the kids who are going to die from entirely avoidable diseases because hospitals in Gaza are ceasing to function. (...)

But also? Those numbers just don’t count, period. They’re Palestinians. And, as the last few weeks have made abundantly clear, Palestinian lives don’t count. They don’t count to many in the media, who steadfastly refuse to empathize with Palestinians. (...) Who immediately report anything that the Israeli government says, sending out every IDF statement as a push alert, while looking at Palestinian voices through a permanent lens of suspicion. (...)

Those numbers certainly don’t count to the president of the United States. (...) Joe Biden came right out and said: we don’t believe Palestinians about the death toll. (...)

what does Biden think is happening, exactly? (...) Does he think the pictures of entire neighborhoods being wiped out are some sort of AI deepfake? (...)

He knows very well that the numbers from the Gaza health ministry have been proven to be accurate time and time again. (...)

And, rather than champion the importance of the press, the US is actively trying to suppress coverage of the living hell in Gaza. Two weeks ago, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, asked Qatar to moderate Al Jazeera’s coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas. Can’t have too much of the truth coming out; too much truth is a terrible thing. (...)

Of course I will absolutely condemn Hamas massacring innocent Israeli civilians on 7 October and taking hostages. And let’s be very clear here: while nothing Hamas did on 7 October can be condoned, their actions did not take place in a vacuum. This conflict did not start on 7 October. Palestinians have been killed, displaced, humiliated, detained unlawfully, for decades; the media only sits up and pays attention, however, when an Israeli dies. Ask yourself this: do you know how many Palestinians were killed last year by Israeli forces and settlers? Do you know how many Palestinians are being forced out of their homes by settlers in the West Bank – where Hamas is not in charge? Do you know how many Palestinian children are being held by Israeli forces without trial or charge for “crimes” that can be as minor as waving a Palestinian flag?

I will absolutely condemn Hamas but I ask that the absolute condemnation goes both ways. (...)

As for non-violent resistance? That’s not allowed either. The US has long been trying to criminalize the peaceful boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. (...)

What are Palestinians supposed to do? That’s a rhetorical question because the last three weeks have made the answer to this crystal clear: we are supposed to shut up and die. (...)

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mokhiber noted: “Usually the most difficult part of proving genocide is intent, because there has to an intention to destroy in whole or in part a particular group. In this case, the intent by Israeli leaders has been so explicitly stated and publicly stated – by the prime minister, by the president, by senior cabinet ministers, by military leaders – that that is an easy case to make.” (...)

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Tags: #israel #palestine #palestinians #occupied_territories #gaza #gaza_strip #west_bank #terrorism #war_crimes #international_law #media #news #journalism #journalist #hamas #illegal_settlements #human_rights #illegal_settlements #hypocrisy #double_standard #press #false_equivalence #bds