Selective Humanity in Gaza: When Values Are Buried Beneath the Rubble

By Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid 

- 

Israel continues to use the bodies of its prisoners in Gaza as a pretext to justify its ongoing assault, siege, and starvation of over two million people. This is a classic colonial tactic—racist, cruel, and deeply rooted in the Zionist movement’s myth of Jewish racial superiority. The tragedy is compounded when victims of such supremacist ideologies begin to internalize and repeat them.

This dynamic reflects four dangerous patterns:

• Selective humanity: valuing some lives over others
• Selective morality: applying ethical standards unevenly
• Social Darwinism: justifying domination through “survival of the fittest”
• Internalized inferiority: when oppressed communities adopt the logic of their oppressors

Each of these patterns has historically paved the way for atrocities and genocide. Today, they are playing out in Gaza.

Despite a ceasefire agreement—under which Palestinian factions returned 20 Israeli prisoners alive and the remains of 20 others out of 28—Israel continues to punish Gaza. Many of the remaining bodies were buried under rubble by Israeli airstrikes. The Palestinians are actively trying to recover them but face immense challenges: Israel has flattened much of Gaza and killed many of the captors. These facts are confirmed not only by Palestinian sources but also by international organizations like the Red Cross, global experts, and even some families of the Israeli prisoners.

Yet Israel presses on, using these bodies as justification for further violence. The truth is, it was Israel’s own bombardment that killed many of its prisoners. What’s more disturbing is the global response: international teams have entered Gaza with heavy equipment to recover Israeli remains while ignoring the thousands of Palestinian civilians buried in the same rubble.

The United States, in particular, has shown a stark double standard—humanizing Israeli victims while dehumanizing Palestinians. American officials, including President Donald Trump, meet with Israeli families and threaten Palestinians if all prisoners aren’t returned. Meanwhile, American media paints Israeli prisoners as sympathetic figures while ignoring the suffering of over 11,000 Palestinian prisoners and more than 10,000 civilians killed in Gaza—many with American weapons and diplomatic support.

This is what selective humanity looks like: a worldview that sees some lives as more valuable than others, based on race, religion, or nationality.

This mindset is rooted in social Darwinism—the belief that stronger groups are naturally entitled to dominate weaker ones. Historically, this theory has been used to justify racism, colonialism, and genocide. It claims that human societies, like animals, evolve through competition—where the “fittest” survive and the weak are discarded.

Closely tied to this is selective morality, which allows people to bend ethical standards for political convenience. This approach—known as “moral pragmatism”—suggests that values are not fixed but should be adjusted based on what’s useful. Ironically, this philosophy originated in the U.S. in the late 19th century through thinkers like John Dewey and William James.

Perhaps most troubling is the internalized inferiority seen in some Arab and even Palestinian circles. These voices echo Israeli and American claims that Palestinian factions are hiding Israeli bodies. Such repetition of colonial narratives helps justify the violence against Palestinians. When oppressed people adopt the logic of their oppressors, they become complicit in their own dehumanization.

Those who internalize this inferiority are not just victims—they enable the crimes committed against their own communities. That is the deepest betrayal of all.