If deliberately attacking civilians on September 11 was terrorism, what should we call the killing, displacement and deprivation of Palestinian civilians?
The legal categories are not identical: 9/11 was a terrorist attack carried out by al-Qaeda, while Israel’s conduct in Gaza is evaluated under international humanitarian and criminal law. But the moral principle should remain consistent. Civilian life does not become less valuable because the victims are Palestinian, Muslim or living under bombardment.
Hamas’s attacks on Israeli civilians were indefensible, and that does not give Israel unlimited permission to punish an entire population. International law prohibits intentionally targeting civilians, collective punishment, hostage-taking, indiscriminate attacks and using starvation as a method of warfare, regardless of which side commits them.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity, while the genocide case against Israel remains before the International Court of Justice. These are allegations requiring legal determination, but they cannot honestly be dismissed as meaningless. If the world mourns innocent Americans while treating Palestinian deaths as unfortunate background noise, that is not universal justice. It is selective humanity, and history will remember the difference.
