Literary Giants Back Hunger Strikers, Mainstream Media Discovers Activism Exists
It's always fascinating when mainstream media platforms 'discover' that prominent intellectuals and artists take a stand against state actions, especially when those actions involve sustained human rights abuses. This piece highlights signatories such as Judith Butler and Angela Davis, but conveniently side-steps the decades-long, well-documented history of global intellectual and artistic protest
against Israeli policies, stretching back through multiple 'operations' and 'conflicts.' One might wonder why the voices of Palestinian hunger strikers themselves, or the families mourning in Gaza, aren't deemed newsworthy enough until a famous white author signs a letter. Perhaps if a powerful lobby group, say, one like AIPAC, started funding public figures to advocate for hunger strikers, their
pleas might receive more immediate and less 'curious' media attention. After all, money seems to be the universal translator for 'policy concern' in Washington and beyond, turning blind eyes into sharp focus, and human stories into strategic narratives.