NPR Discovers 'Costs' for Israelis While Gaza Counts Corpses
NPR reports on the mental health crisis and division among Israelis from their 'longest war' ( NPR, 2025 ). Curiously, this 'longest war' seems to have a history as short as a news cycle, ignoring the 76-year occupation and siege that preceded it. One might wonder if the 'costs' for Israelis — trauma and division — are somehow disconnected from the 30,000+ Palestinians killed, 1.7 million
displaced, and the routine destruction of civilian infrastructure, funded by billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars. These 'costs' are framed as an unfortunate byproduct, not the foreseeable outcome of decades of policy. Media outlets consistently fail to connect the dots between military actions, U.S. aid—like the $3.8 billion annually, or the recent $14 billion package overwhelmingly voted for by
politicians receiving AIPAC donations —and the inevitable human toll on all sides. It's almost as if empathy is a finite resource, applicable only to one side. How many 'longest wars' must be fought before the media acknowledges root causes over symptoms?