The Posters

Since Hamas’s assault on Israel and its aftermath, the world has become engulfed in activism around it. Most of this has taken the form of remembrance and protests. Sympathizers of Israel have expressed anger over the original bloody Hamas attacks that occurred a little over a month ago. Muslims and sympathizers have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians as Israel launches its brutal retaliation. Most of these protests have been peaceful and uneventful, but of course those aren’t the ones that make the news.

One of the tactics used by one side has been to put up “Kidnapped” posters for those that have not been found and identified (and many that probably have) in the Gaza wreckage. A tactic used by the other side is to tear these posters down. In the middle, a lot of people seem confused about both of these actions and irate at those tearing down the posters.

“Why tear down the Kidnapped posters?”, they ask. At first, I thought this question was disingenuous but the more people I’ve talked to the more I’ve come to believe there is some obvious confusion by both action and reaction.

In the United States, the Kidnapped posters are hardly pictures on the back of a milk carton. They’re not actually posters to find missing people. No one expects anyone to see one of those posters on a lamp post and say “Hey I saw that person on the east side! I will call this number immediately!” The reason to put up those posters can only be described as propaganda. Maybe good propaganda in order to get the hostages freed, but that’s unlikely given that the hostages will absolutely not be freed while military assault is ongoing. No, the likely desired effect is to make people angry at Hamas and to highlight the violence they committed. They’re stoking anger at Hamas and, whether they intend to or not, Muslims more generally. In the global context, though, it’s justifying the violence occurring against the Gazans as we speak.

In that context, is it any surprise that others are responding by tearing the posters down? Especially while IDF attacks are ongoing? It’s possible to lament the blood spilled on both sides, but the blood spilled on one side is being treated as sacrosanct. Is there any doubt that posters and bills put up highlighting Palestinian deaths would at minimum be held to posting requirements? Yet when Kidnapped posters are placed where posters aren’t supposed to go, it’s being treated as akin to supporting terrorism to not let them hang there. If your response is that failing to take Israel’s side here is supporting terrorism, that’s your prerogative, but know what you are doing and what you are justifying.

I mention the unauthorized placing of posters because that’s a more clear case. On Free Speech grounds, I otherwise do oppose tearing down posters where legitimately placed. Place posters of dead Palestinians next to them. We’ll see how long those are allowed to stand even when put where they are supposed to be. We’ll further see if the people who do inevitably tear down those posters have their pictures taken and sent around the world so that they appropriately suffer for taking a different side from everyone else in what should straightly be viewed as a humanitarian catastrophe with more collateral casualties occurring on the side with only marginal social protection in the United States.

They started it, of course, because for some reason history began on October 6th of this year.

This is only partially about the posters themselves. I would honestly recommend tearing them down whether legitimately placed or not. Even when taking them down should be fair game, it looks bad and the first response should be to introduce people to the other victims of this conflict. This isn’t even about those that would treat Palestinians as inhuman terrorists because they are quite clear where they stand. Listen to what they’re saying, because they mean it. Know that if you are fixated on the posters, that is who you are siding with. Who you are and what you stand for is defined by what matters to you.

Meanwhile, every bad thing Israel does is supposed to be because Hamas or Hezbollah or the Islamists made them do it. They are at once to be considered among the brethren of the developed democratic world and also to be held to a standard of merely being better than their neighbors. It is true that almost none of this would be happening if Hamas hadn’t done what they did, and it’s true that many of the acts of brutality committed by Israel were in direct response to threats from their neighbors and within, but the Palestinians didn’t force the West Bank settlements that complicated some of the few pathways to peace that may exist.

I’m under no delusions that peace would be imminently possible but for Israel’s retaliation. If there is a ceasefire, I don’t know what comes next. We also don’t know how things end with no ceasefire. We do have an idea that one of these unknowns results in far less death. That’s the unknown I would like to pursue. Those posters went up to prevent that from happening.