Trump Meets Hostage as US Silent on Gaza’s Endless Captives
Trump, according to Al-Monitor, is set to meet Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American released by Hamas in May. A powerful photo-op, certainly. It highlights the perceived humanity of freeing one individual, even as mainstream media conveniently overlooks the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 Palestinians, including hundreds of children and administrative detainees held without charge, in Israeli prisons
*before* October 7th. Where are their photo-ops? This selective empathy is a well-worn playbook: amplify individual grief from one side while sanitizing the systematic suffering inflicted by US-backed actors. While the focus is on a single returned individual, the collective anguish of generations under occupation, or the thousands of Palestinians detained since October 7th—many without due
process—remains largely invisible. One might wonder if their lives, or their freedom, simply aren't as camera-ready.