Unworthy Victims

Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks like a true politician.  She says that the loss of life in Gaza during this year-long genocide is tragic, but follows up immediately with a comment about the horrors of October 7^th. It has the same effect as saying “All Lives Matter” when people say, “Black Lives Matter.” All lives should inherently matter, but if everybody was treated equally by the systems in place then there would be no need for the saying “Black Lives Matter.”

VP Harris was interviewed just 17 days before the election in Detroit, Michigan, a swing-state where she could lose the vote. She was asked if she thought that the pro-Palestinian voters might cause her to lose the election, she did not answer the question, instead, her response was that “There are so many tragic stories coming from Gaza. . .” which sounds like a good start.

But she continued: “and of course, the first in the phase of everything that has happened; the first and most tragic story is October 7^th, and what happened that day, and then what has happened since.” A vague answer that dances around the actual point without actually saying anything substantive.

She repeated the allegations of women being raped by Hamas and that 1,200 Israelis were killed—even though there is no credible evidence of the mass rape they have repeated and the number of people who died on October 7^th was a total of 1,139; including 71 foreign nationals, 695 Israeli civilians, and 373 military members.

Harris did concede that we should acknowledge the “extraordinary number of innocent Palestinians” killed, but of course, she did not specify the number of the Palestinians. It is at least 42,000, but the death toll has stayed the same for months because the healthcare system collapsed and thousands of bodies are missing under the rubble, including at least 20,000 children.

She changes the topic to the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, seen as a freedom fighter by many and a terrorist by the United States and Israel. For her, his killing “creates an opening” to end the war, which the US and Israel must take advantage of.

The reporter asked Harris if she thinks she could lose the election because of the uncommitted voters in Michigan, but she took it as an opportunity to regurgitate Israeli propaganda and talking points. At this point, many voters are unsure if Harris is reading from an Israel-approved script or if she truly believes what she is saying. Politicians are using every opportunity to talk about October 7^th, and many are not even on the same page. Her running mate, Tim Walz, recently used the October 7^th attack as a talking point as well but he said that “1,400” Israelis were killed—so which is it? 1,400, 1,200, or the actual verifiable data of 1,139 (one third of whom were active-duty military)?

This reinforces the idea that there are “worthy victims” and “unworthy victims,” which is something American propaganda uses repeatedly to drown out support for people whom the American media and government see as inherently less valuable. American media and politicians routinely dehumanize and devalue Palestinians.

Protest against the Israeli attack on the Palestinians of Gaza held at the State Library 4 January 2009, by John Englart, CC BY-SA, via Flickr

CNN recently ran a piece about the Israeli military suffering PTSD and committing suicide when they return from the frontlines in Gaza which perfectly demonstrates this idea of worthy and unworthy victims. For the media, Palestinian suffering is barely an honorable mention compared to the headlines that “Israeli military suffers PTSD.”

Guy Zaken, a bulldozer operator who admitted that he ran over Palestinians “dead and alive,” lamented over his PTSD. He claims that he cannot eat meat anymore because of all the “meet and blood” he saw on the ground. The Israeli called Palestinian bodies “meat,” because they do not see Palestinians as humans.

Worthy victims include white people, America’s allies, and victims of America’s enemies. For example, when the Soviets (America’s enemy) shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983, killing all 269 people on board, the Koreans were deemed as worthy victims. However, when Israel shot down Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 on February 21, 1973, killing 108 of 113 people on board, there was not the same level of public outcry about those deaths. There has since been some denunciation of that action, but very little in comparison.

When Israel commits a war crime or breaks international law or human rights, it is treated as an incident which may constitute a crime but requires more investigation. However, when something happens to Israel, it is always condemned immediately and the US’s support for Israel never wavers.

To be very clear, the terrorist attack on the Nova music festival on October 7th in Israel was deplorable, and violence against innocent lives should always be condemned. That attack should not be the excuse or rationale for continuing to commit unspeakable violence on Palestinians, and the 1,139 deaths because of the attack should not be used to justify 42,000+ Palestinian deaths. The real death toll will only be determined when the genocide is over and people can be fully accounted for, because there are thousands upon thousands more people who are buried in the rubble.

Palestinians deserve humanity and dignity, and regardless of how the media portrays them, they are worthy.