For Palestinian Americans and the millions of people who stand with us, these newfound concerns about political violence have come as a surprise. After all, we’ve been watching genocide—perhaps the ultimate expression of political violence—unfolding in Gaza for two years, as Palestinian journalists like Hossam Shabatt are murdered for simply showing the truth. We’ve watched both Democratic and Republican administrations fund and arm this genocide while brutally repressing any and all public opposition to Israel’s crimes.
Many of the same church congregations that mourn Kirk’s death have said nothing as the homes of Palestinian Christians are stolen by Israeli settlers and as our churches are bombed by the Israeli military
If you truly support free speech, protecting the civil liberties of all Americans is paramount. But for all of the conservative outcry about cancel culture, the fastest way to get canceled or fired is to publicily oppose the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Charlie Kirk may have viewed himself as a free speech advocate, but he was a staunch supporter of these repressive measures.
Despite this, Kirk was afforded humanity by many of the very institutions he actively campaigned against. Columbia University, for instance, put its campus flags at half-staff after his death.
When I think about the public response to Kirk’s murder, I cannot help but wonder: Who is allowed the permission to mourn? Who is granted the ability to grieve? Whose death is seen as remarkable? Why is the life of Charlie Kirk more precious and valuable than the life of a child in Gaza? Or the life of Leqaa Korida, who has remained in ICE detention for months, despite losing over 200 family members in Gaza?
The reality is that political violence cannot be separated from our American present or our past. The United States was founded on the enslavement and subjugation of others. The very concept of manifest destiny, a 19th-century belief that settlers had the right to expand across North America, displacing Native Americans indigenous to the land, is a form of domination carried out through of violence.