What is it about the skeletal body of the malnourished person, skin and bones from starvation, that kindles the compassion of the white person?

In October, it will be two years since the internationally supported war on Gaza began — close to two years that our screens have shown us horrific images of bloodthirsty aggression. We have watched, heartbroken and helpless as parents wept over the bodies of their children, and children wept over the bodies of their parents. It is also close to two years of watching Western media refuse to acknowledge the cruelty of the war, insisting that the oppressor is the victim, through the unceasing question: “But do you condemn Hamas?”

The media narrative began with a tale of babies killed in the October 7 attack. Though proven false in a few days, the story set the tone of moral outrage that justified an unjust war. Deftly, it put the onus on Palestinians to be reasonable in the face of an unreasonable aggression rooted in an unreasonable history. This emotional theatre, permitted Western outrage and made Palestinian anger and pain impermissible. If emotion makes us human, then it was clear how power determines who is allowed to be seen as human and who is not.