Are Palestinians human? The captive swap says it’s only Israelis

It quickly became clear that, after whitewashing and downplaying Israel’s genocide and with a ceasefire of sorts in place, the Western mainstream media set out to stir up hysteria and dehumanise Palestinians through the captive swaps.

Their response laid bare the visible hierarchy of human life. It didn’t matter that Israel had already killed the very hostages it insisted its entire genocidal campaign was apparently catered to saving. The Israeli government “doesn’t really care about the hostages,” concluded the brother of one slain captive.

Meanwhile, months into Israel’s onslaught, instead of calling for the return of their loved ones, other family members were calling for an intensification of Israel’s bombardment.

When Israeli captives were released, looking healthier than many anticipated and bearing goodie bags, the media highlighted the “bizarre” exchange, the “horrific” symbolism, and the overall “grim” ordeal.

Those adjectives were absent when Palestinians were released as part of the same exchange, like Khalida Jarrah. Detained without charge or trial and kept in a 1m-1.5m cell, she looked drastically different upon her release. Her condition showed the wretched circumstances Palestinians are put through in Israel’s brutal torture chambers. And yet the media used its tried and tested propaganda by omission strategy; no one can take notice of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians if the details are deliberately diluted.

As Israeli commentator Gideon Levy pointed out in Haaretz, “nobody in Israel cared”. Actually nobody anywhere cared. Levy bluntly noted that she too was a hostage, but seemingly the wrong kind from the wrong place which meant that characterisation was forbidden.  

When the BBC mistakenly called Israelis “prisoners” they were quick to issue an on-air apology. No such clarification was afforded to the Palestinians who continued to be referred to as prisoners, implying guilt despite the overwhelming majority being detained without charge or trial. It’s not that this feature was unknown, but such is the apathy to Palestinian injustice that it does not warrant attention.

And this hierarchy and distinction set the tone for the remaining exchanges. 

In one exchange, the media picked up on its “chaotic” enforcement. ITV News’ correspondent could not contain his fury at the ‘shocking’ treatment of freed 80-year-old Israeli captive, Gadi Moses, who was kept in what he described as “482 days of grim captivity“.

Days earlier, Raed al-Saadi had been released, after spending 13,149 days (since 1989) in Israel’s prisons. But there was no vivid, emotive and compassionate reporting to delicately paint the picture to viewers of his agony. 

Words matter

When Israelis looking thin and worn were released, the media’s collective word of choice was “gaunt”. What did this mean for the ceasefire, asked the BBC, palpably offended at the prospect of humans being deliberately starved. 

The implicit assumption was unmistakable: when Israeli officials lined up to enthusiastically advocate for the implementation of a punishing blockade and deliberate starvation, it was apparently okay so long as the victims were Palestinians.

With catastrophic food insecurity in the enclave whereby not a single person is meeting basic food requirements, how could the Palestinian factions be capable of such inhumanity that they let Israelis fall victim to the same conditions as Palestinians? 

When LBC’s Nick Ferrari questioned Israeli President Isaac Herzog about the released Israelis’ meagre appearance, he didn’t mention that Herzog himself had declared there were no innocents in Gaza, inciting collective punishment and genocide so explicitly that the International Court of Justice cited his rhetoric.

And, characteristically, detached from the conversation was the mention of, Ibrahim Al-Shaweesh, who was also released, looking unrecognisable from the torture and abuse he endured. 

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Then last week, the coffins with the bodies of the Bibas babies were released. Sky News’ international correspondent described the ‘symbolism’ of suffering that they represented.

The New York Times and Washington Post too, pointed to the symbolism of “brutality” and “cruelty”. LBC’s Shelagh Fogarty, palpably outraged, emotionally reflected on the unacceptable treatment of Israeli children. 

Commentators rushed to call for Gaza to be wiped out, destroyed, and reduced to rubble for facilitating the death of the two Israeli babies. Meanwhile, Israelis took to the TV screens to declare that in light of the horror inflicted on Israelis in Gaza, there was only one robust course of action: continue the genocide of Palestinians. 

Had the elephant in the room occupied any further space, the entire structure would have collapsed under its weight. Are only some babies deserving of this compassion? What about the four-day-old Palestinian twins killed by Israel as their father went to pick up their birth certificates?

What of the 20-day-old Sila who froze to death in the tent her displaced family were sheltering in? What of the depressingly high number of Palestinian children who did not see their first birthday before Israel wiped them out? What of the children in Gaza who were being deliberately shot in the head or the ones wishing they were dead? 

Worse still, lost amidst the hysteria of the Israeli babies being returned in coffins was the fact that Palestinians in Gaza could only dream of a luxury like a coffin for the deceased.

It was plastic bags at best for them. Even then, it was only of body parts, not bodies. Otherwise, the only memories are what could be salvaged from under the rubble; perhaps a lock of hair, maybe the skull without the jaw, or even just a patched sandal. 

Indeed, the latest exchange was a crash course in how the switch of empathy is selectively flicked. As the handover was conducted following the usual pattern, one of the Israeli captives kissed a Palestinian fighter on the forehead, prompting several viral clips online.

Israel was meant to release more than 600 Palestinians as part of the agreement, but it reneged, declaring it wouldn’t release them until Hamas stopped the “humiliating” ceremonies. The narrative of humiliation was swiftly adopted by several mainstream media outlets, including Sky News and the Wall Street Journal. 

No such headlines citing humiliation can be found for the recently released Palestinians who were forced to wear uniforms emblazoned with the Star of David and the phrase ‘never forgive, never forget’. Nor was there any room in the coverage for the fact that among the Palestinian hostages being further detained, there was a significant number of children. The concern for children had instantaneously disappeared.

Does Western media even view Palestinians as human?

What has therefore been crystallised throughout phase one of the ceasefire and the exchanges of Palestinians and Israelis is the criteria for deserving compassion and concern. And it’s not exhaustive: Israelis are deserving, Palestinians are not. 

The BBC summed up the rules of engagement when a presenter suggested that actually it was “understandable” to be rounded up. 

This was in response to the Palestinian Ambassador Husam Zomlot pointing out the sheer scale of the number of Palestinians being detained without charge or trial.

The most egregious element of this bizarre depiction is the inherent acceptance of Israel’s barbaric handling of the Palestinians. Israel doesn’t need permission for Britain’s national broadcaster to round up Palestinians, and when it does, it subjects them to degradation, torture and inhumane treatment, even in the presence of the Red Cross. 

So why isn’t their fate worth tapping into the seemingly abundant reserve of empathy? Is it because, as portrayed by the Associated Press, they’re seen as primitive Palestinian thugs driven by violence and carnage?

Who are these Palestinians deemed so unworthy of humanising attention by Western media and politicians? Who are those whose stories go untold and who are condemned to violent imprisonment?

They are fathers and grandfathers who rushed to embrace their grandchildren for the first time, who savoured a long-awaited cup of coffee with wives they’d waited 20 years to reunite with, who kissed the soil of their mothers’ graves upon release, and who finally placed a wedding ring on the finger of the woman they’d loved from afar for a quarter of a century.

They are people with dreams, love, and loss — just like anyone else.

Palestinians, too, are human — no matter how hard the world tries to erase their existence.

Hamza Yusuf is a British Palestinian journalist and writer based in London. 

Follow him on X: @Hamza_a96