Dehumanising of Palestinians

[dreamingdays]

The persistent dehumanising of Palestinian civilians is everywhere, including here on MN and across social media, the news and more.

From branding all civilians including babies and young children as terrorists, to people saying innocent children sent to jail as deserving it, posts smearing all Palestinians with celebrating terrorist atrocities, others celebrating the death of young children (yes really), to politicians branding them “children of darkness”. To Palestinian men all lumped as Hamas or rapists. Palestinians called human animals or worse.

To the language used to describe Palestinians in the news is completely different, often using double standards. I also feel that leeway and downplaying is given towards people being racist towards Palestinians. It is brushed off or ignored or denied, not always taken seriously.

Maltreatment of Palestinian civilians is also ignored or excused or waved away and minimised, outright denied or ignored by many.

it just really gets me down. Please everyone, remember Palestinians are human beings. They have families, jobs, culture, skills, likes and dislikes, empathy and humanity.

if you see anyone displaying or downplaying racist attitudes, or making offensive dehumanising remarks please call them out. Please also take time to recognise and challenge dehumanising language used in the media and elsewhere.

On a broader level this dehumanising emboldens those undertaking their mistreatment, excuses and justifies illegal violence made towards them, as well as affecting each Palestinian on an individual level.

The same obviously goes for anyone using dehumanising language to anyone, whatever their nationality or religion.

Palestinians need support now.

@dreamingdays thank you for starting this thread and for being so polite to some people on here who are clearly triggered. You have more patience than me!

Free Palestine

This father lost his twin daughters and son today in a airstrike in Rafah
These are not just numbers
These parents feel for their children just as much as anyone else. These children's lives were worth just as much as other children around the world.

I'm not seeing Palestinians being 'dehumanised' anywhere.

Most MN threads on this board are pro-Palestein, to the point of antisemitism, so I'm not sure where you're getting that particular fact from.

@Galiana so because you've not personally seen it, it doesn't exist. Ok then.

Racist comments and posts towards Palestinians have been reported and deleted by MNHQ. I won't repeat them here, but I can assure you I've reported ones suggesting nuking Palestine, celebrating the death of Palestinian children and suggesting all Palestinians are terrorists.

Maybe have a read of the articles I provided throughout this post, they might help you understand what my OP was talking about.

The situation is not helped when people leave comments like yours which minimise and deny such dehumanisation exists TBH.

You must understand though that you are being played like a fiddle by Hamas, it's obvious that the attack in October was staged for maximum atrocity to get exactly this response from Netanyahu, he's a hawk, Hamas aren't stupid, they wanted this, they are getting exactly what they desired. Which is to completely discredit Israel and the resultant antisemitic pushback.

The Palestinian people are casualties here, but they are casualties of Hamas as much as they are of Israel.

I haven't personally witnessed antisemitism, but understand it is rising and some posters, as well as the general public, are scared and have been on the receiving end.

It happens on MN, dehumanising of Palestinians, quite a lot IRL too.

@Galiana This is a thread protesting the dehumanisation of Palestinians. Please don't derail. This isn't the place for it and it is disrespectful.

100% agree

Based on this assumption then surely it is Israel who is being "played like a fiddle" and there is an even stronger reason to call a ceasefire and look at alternative, longer term approaches?

You don't get to say what people can post.

I'm not derailing and it's not disrespectful.

Or do you just get to set the agenda?

I would not disagree with you.

I haven’t seen anything like this. Social media is tailored to what you pay attention to

Wouldn't we have to seek out Hamas propaganda to be played like fiddles?

Someone posted a link about the leader of the Hamas military wing on another thread and I had to Google him, that's how interested I am in what Hamas has to say.

If Hamas wanted this then isn't Netanyahu the one being played like a fiddle? Israel needs absolutely no help in being discredited, they're doing a fine job all on their own.

For most people objections to Israeli government actions have nothing to do with antisemitism although I won't deny antisemites will use the opportunity to cloak their bigotry in concern for Palestinian civilians.

Even if you argue that Israeli bombing raids are "self defence", I believe they exceed that definition by several orders of magnitude, there is still absolutely zero justification for depriving the civilian population of food and water or leaving babies to die in incubators. I heard a report today that IDF are removing anaesthetics from aid truck, why would they do that if maximum harm to civilians wasn't part of their plan.

If Israel continues it's current course of action and it's neighbours feel compelled to get involved then the death and suffering since and including 7th October will seem trivial compared to what will be inflicted on Israeli civilians. Do you want to see that? I certainly don't.

@NightmareGirl don't you think it's a bit disrespectful to come on a thread protesting the dehumanisation of Palestinians and minimise it? Can you imagine if I went on a thread about anti-semitism or racism and said the same?

@dreamingdays im just pointing it out. Everything I’ve seen is in defence of them

@NightmareGirl ok then it doesn't exist, thanks for your helpful comment.

Why do you keep talking about 'disrespect' when people don't agree with every word you say?

You do understand the nature of a forum?

No-one's minimising anything, you posit a thought and then people discuss...

That's how it works.

@Galiana@NightmareGirl

Both of you came on and started going on about anti-semitism and that you've not seen evidence of dehumanisation of Palestinians.

In the light of the OP, the links and examples already provided to you, do you not see how this is minimising?

Can you imagine if I went onto a thread about anti-semitism or another form of racism and minimised or implied it wasn't going on?

This is where my issue with your posts is.

And in the light of how the Palestinians are being treated right now by Israeli govt, I think it is even more disrespectful.

@dreamingdays I didn’t say anything about antisemitism. I don’t think it’s disrespectful to say my experience of social media is the total opposite of yours. I’m sure there is racism but I don’t know how to tell what the majority thinks when social media is tailored to the user. But going on the protests I suspect the majority are on their side

Throughout the course of these threads there's been an interesting process. Anyone expressing concern about Palestinians was initially labelled as antisemitic or a Jew hater, then they were diagnosed with anxiety disorder and /or ASD or having an OBSESSION (either with Palestinians or with Jewish people) and now we are being told that Hamas are playing us? Can you please stop with the armchair psychology?!
I am so utterly heartbroken about what is happening now, and I have been since I visited more than 20 years ago. It has NOTHING to do with Hamas. Stop using Hamas as a human shield for the horrific atrocities and human rights violations that Israel has been carrying out for 75 years.
ETA: coming onto a thread about the dehumanisation of a people, and telling people their empathy/concern is misplaced is so incredibly dehumanising. Please have a bit of respect.

I'm sorry I should have noted yours didn't say this. I got a bit confused because the PP quoted your post so I should have separated your responses out in my response.

thankyou @feralunderclass you've summed it up perfectly in your last paragraph.

I know Israel is talking about them like that but I wasn’t’t aware there was a lot of it in the UK.

That is just bonkers. I've been to Jerusalem & Tel Aviv. I'm not doing 'armchair psychology', it's pretty obvious what's going on.

I'm confused why you say the current situation has NOTHING TO DO WITH HAMAS (your caps). It has everything to do with Hamas.

You say Israel has been carrying out human rights violations for 75 years? Since its inception?

I'm not sure what to make of that.

Palestinians were forcibly displaced in 1948.

"Many of the families (being forcibly evicted back in 2021) are refugees, who settled in Sheikh Jarrah after being forcibly displaced around the time of Israel’s establishment as a state in 1948. Since Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank in 1967, Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah have been continuously targeted by Israeli authorities, who use discriminatory laws to systematically dispossess Palestinians of their land and homes for the benefit of Jewish Israelis." - Amnesty International