The ‘Barbarian’ Has a Soul : An Analysis of the Dehumanisation of Palestinian Men
‘The soul of my soul’ were the words Khaled Nabhan used to describe his five-year-old granddaughter Reem as he held her in his arms for the last time. Through our screens many of us watched their final moments together, unable to comprehend how an innocent child bore the wrath of one of the world’s most powerful militaries. In this moment, amidst the death and destruction, her grandfather Khaled caught the world’s attention. In the western world where Muslim and Arab men are often stereotyped and vilified, Khaled Nabhan had subverted much of the discourse surrounding the Muslim male. As the video of him saying goodbye to his granddaughter went viral, people from across the world shared videos of themselves expressing how touched they were by Khaled’s love and affection for his grandchild. Since then, his sincerity and dedication towards uplifting and serving his people has seen him garner a following of over 600,000 followers on Instagram, as many find themselves fascinated by his ability to remain so deeply human despite experiencing one of the worst ongoing genocides committed in the 21st century.
Khaled is just one example of the many Palestinian men who have incited a stirring change in perspective for Westerners observing the ongoing plight of Palestinians in Gaza. The thinly veiled prejudices and stereotypes concerning Palestinian men- deeply embedded within the dominant political narrative- have been readily challenged and deconstructed by individuals from all walks of life. Over the past six months, Palestinian men have been a beacon of hope and inspiration as they show the world what humanity and dignity truly is even while experiencing unfathomable adversity. The Al-Jazeera journalist Wael Al- Dahdouh, is one such inspiring figure who despite having lost most of his family from Israeli airstrikes quickly returned to work to show the world the crimes that Israel has committed against his people. It is however, tragic that it took the ethnic cleansing and murder of over 30,000 Palestinians to elicit sympathy for these men, who for close to a century have been demonised and forcibly displaced from their own land.
While the western media has overwhelmingly presented Muslim women as oppressed victims who need to be saved from their men, on the other hand Muslim males are often depicted as terrorists, barbarians, and misogynists who seek to subjugate their women to reassert their own dominance. Consequently, their deaths are justified, seen merely as collateral damage, in the effort to fight against ‘terrorism’ and to spread so called ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’ across the Middle East. It is stereotypes like these, so prevalent in Western discourse, that has helped justify much of the invasion of the Middle East, which in turn has led to the deaths of millions and an entire region in upheaval and turmoil. We see this with the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 when the US declared its ‘war on terror’. A bombardment of headlines depicting an Afghan society dominated by barbaric males and oppressed women successfully justified the invasion to the public. Despite the existence of legitimate grievances about women’s rights in Afghan society, the case remains that the deceptive and deeply contentious stereotype of the saviour white man and woman allowed for the enforcement of US foreign policy aided by public support. It is this same hubristic ideology that has produced a similar rhetoric with regards to Palestinian men.
In recent months the dehumanisation of Muslim Palestinian Men, especially by the Israeli regime alongside the Western media has allowed for the humiliation of men in Gaza; detained and stripped of clothes by Israeli soldiers in Northern Gaza. The justification given by Israeli officials was as follows: these places were Hamas strongholds, and the men were of ‘military age who were discovered in areas that civilians were supposed to have evacuated weeks ago’. The Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy went on to suggest that they would be interrogated to ‘work out who is a Hamas terrorist and who is not’. It is unsurprising when we examine the underlying rationale behind this abuse of Palestinian men- who have been declared to be ‘human animals’ by a senior Israeli official- that this treatment has been dealt with such unquestionable confidence. As we can see, it is rhetoric like this that has direct ramifications for Palestinian men, subjecting them to the worst sorts of humiliation.
Such discourse also impacts the ways in which Muslim and Palestinian men are seen and interacted with. Take the interview between the Palestinian politician, Dr Mustafa Barghouti who was interviewed by TalkTV’s Julia Hartley- Brewer. The interview illustrated a clear use of baseless and prejudiced stereotypes by Hartley-Brewer. Dr Barghouti calmly condemned the brutal Israeli occupation while being interrupted by Hartley- Brewer’s taunts: ‘Maybe you’re not used to women talking I don’t know’, concluding the interview with, ‘sorry to have a woman speaking to you.’ Here we see the use of age-old prejudices and classically cheap yet successful journalistic tactics being used to silence a man, and downplay the struggles faced by an entire people.
Yet if there is anything that Palestinian and Muslim men have illustrated since the October attacks is that they are anything but the barbaric, terrorists they are often presented to be. They have truly shown themselves to be amongst the most resilient and compassionate, risking their entire lives for their families, neighbours, and communities. From the doctors to the paramedics to the journalists, they have depicted their ability to hold on to life no matter the cost. Even prior to the current onslaught while living in what many have called an open-air prison, Palestinians have sought to create a life for themselves and their families that is as close to normal as possible. We caught a glimpse of this when we saw the viral clip of the Palestinian father celebrating his baby’s first steps despite the destruction all around him. Another video also showed Palestinian father Fares Khalifa, who after spending four years in an Israeli prison and being released in 2021, created a dream bedroom for his little daughter. Today he leaves her fatherless; he was shot by Israeli forces near Tuklarem in the northern West Bank. These are only a few men who have reminded us that Muslim and Palestinian men also dream, have ambitions, fall in love, and cherish their families.
The global community seems to be arising from their slumber to the harsh truths of the fatal implications that Western rhetoric has had on the lives of those battling their warped lies and fictitious historical accounts. In a social media driven world, people are inescapably forced to reckon with the images of the inhuman scale of injustice and suffering that constitutes the daily Palestinian reality. In turn, millions of people across the world have joined in solidarity and have called for an immediate ceasefire. Across Europe and America, people from all backgrounds continue to march and protest against the complicity of their governments. Most poignantly a protest held in Norway put forth a powerful display replicating the detention and torture that Palestinian men are constantly subject to. Blindfolded and deprived of clothing, the protests illustrated to the public a scene that is a part and parcel of life for many men in Gaza.
Yet despite the horrific images coming out of Gaza, a ceasefire has yet to be achieved. With this in mind, we must take care to ensure that our remembrance of the plight of Palestinian men does not end with the passing of a social media trend, but rather develops into deep rooted concern and lasting action. As conscientious human beings, it is imperative that we reject the dehumanisation of any people, and with regards to the topic at hand, the dehumanisation of Palestinian men, women and children. While the Israeli government might label every Palestinian male a Hamas terrorist, it is necessary that we stand by them and see their indisputable humanity.