The way Palestinian life is being portrayed in media and the terminology being used about Palestinians is becoming similar to the Islamophobic language that was used towards Muslims after the events of 9/11.
“This conversation is being talked about in a civilizational way, that there is good and evil. The Prime Minister of Israel specifically talks about how one side is the side of light and the other is of darkness. That was very similar to the way that people were talking about after September 11,” said Yousef Baker, associate professor of International Studies at Long Beach State.
There has also been a rise in misinformation during the genocide. President Biden had said that he had seen and confirmed pictures of “terrorists beheading children.”
Adam Elmahrek, an investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Times, spoke at a lecture at CSULB on media misinformation surrounding the attacks on Gaza by Israel.
“The facts matter, the truth matters and we can’t just go along with narratives because they’re easy,” Elmahrek said. “Biden’s office issued a clarification that he didn’t actually see and confirm photos of Hamas beheading babies. He read about it in Israeli news reports. The damage was done.”
Since the attacks on Oct. 7, there has been a rise in anti-Palestinian attacks within the United States. On Oct. 15, a 6-year-old Palestinian boy was killed and his mother injured by their landlord in Illinois. On Nov. 26, three Palestinian college students were shot in Vermont.
“President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have inserted a politics of grieving in which we grieve differently for different people,” Baker said. “One people we grieve for, grieving is a sign of our humanity and the other set of people you cannot grieve for. To grieve for them is to take a political position that is out-of-bounds.”
Since the start of the conflict, the Israeli government has restricted access to food, water and electricity to Gaza. Babies in Gaza City hospitals have died due to the unstable conditions.
Jeffrey Blutinger, a professor in the history department and the head of Jewish Studies at CSULB, weighed in on grieving in the United States.
“I don’t know any American Jew who doesn’t know someone who lost family members or friends during the attack or kidnapped or injured,” Blutinger said. “We’re all traumatized.”
With widespread antisemitism on online platforms such as X, formerly known as Twitter, and in countries around the world, Blutinger spoke on how American Jews have tried to maintain a united front for the state of Israel, not the government.
“One thing we’ve seen in the last six weeks is a massive upsurge in vocal support by American Jews, for the people of Israel, not so much the suit for the Israeli government,” Blutinger said. “There’s no rallying around Netanyahu; there is a rallying around the country.”
Elmahrek said the claim referring to babies was similar to what occurred in 1990 leading up to the United States’ involvement in the Gulf War. A witness identified only as Nayirah had appeared before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and claimed that Iraqis had gone into a hospital, taken babies out of their incubators and left them to die.
The witness’ story was false.
“The war in Iraq post 9/11 perpetuates and furthers anti-Muslim racism. So in the case of recent events, it’s not that this is creating new anti-Muslim racism, but that it’s building on, adding and furthering it so that the operation and war in Gaza is perpetuating and adding fuel to that racism,” Baker said. “The thing that troubles me the most is that the racism is not covert, it’s not codewords, it’s explicit.”
United States Representative Brian Mast said he did not believe in the idea of an “innocent Palestinian” existed, comparing Palestinian civilians to Nazis.
“The misinformation that I have been trying to warn people at the top of my lungs about is repeating unverified claims from either side in a war,” Elmahrek said.