The Israeli government responded to the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 by indiscriminately bombing residential towers, denying water, food, fuel, electricity and medical supplies to over 2.3 million Palestinian civilians living under occupation in Gaza. Despite the practices constituting what many legal experts conclude are genocidal, the Israeli government has received the full support of President Biden and the U.S. Congress.
Meanwhile, the American media humanizes only Israeli civilian victims while failing to report on the lives of 11,000 Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli military and missing under the rubble of bombed residential buildings. (as of October 26, 2023). The American media and American politicians refuse to humanize the 3,300 Palestinian children killed by the Israeli military in less than two weeks, resulting in an average of 230 children killed each day.
Professor Sahar Aziz explains how the racialization of Palestinians, Muslims and Arabs in American society nearly guarantees the dehumanization of Palestinians civilians in Israel’s military attacks against a civilian population. Such dehumanization is a prerequisite for genocide, which has unfolded over the course of two weeks in plain sight of the international community.
To listen to Professor Aziz’s analysis on the #RaceClass Podcast, click here.
To understand the history and political context of the racialization of Muslims, read The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom.
To learn more about the history of Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the lives of Palestinians in Gaza, watch the Teach In on Gaza hosted by the Center for Security, Race and Rights, click here.
