Something Is Happening

There has been an indelible cultural shift when it comes to Palestine, and there's probably no going back.

SNL

On Saturday, comedian and actor Ramy Youssef was hosting Saturday Night Live, and he said this during his monologue: “Please stop the suffering, stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine.” And the wildest thing happened: people clapped. Like, a lot. Even the band clapped.

Watching that, I got a feeling I’ve been getting a lot over the past six months: something is happening when it comes to Palestine. Something has indelibly shifted, and there is probably no going back.

SNL is not a place where people take radical stances. It’s not a place that wants to push the political envelope too far. This is the show that had Kate McKinnon sing “Hallelujah” in character as Hillary Clinton after the 2016 election (one of the most cringeworthy things to ever occur in the 4.54-billion-year history of Earth). This is the show whose idea of political humor is “Let’s get Nikki Haley on to do some jokes!”

And on Saturday, this temple of bland centrism featured a Muslim comedian saying “Free Palestine” and getting big applause. (Youssef also called for “all the hostages” to be freed.)

Something is happening.

It was not so long ago that saying “Free Palestine” was a very risky thing to do for a celebrity. Here’s a headline from 2014:

Rihanna, one of the biggest celebrities in the world, tweeted “#FreePalestine” and had to take it down within eight minutes. Her people even told TMZ that tweeting it in the first place was some kind of weird accident: “She didn't even realize it was a tweet until she started hearing from her fans.”

10 years later, you can say “Free Palestine” on live television and get cheered for it. Something is happening!

It’s crucial not to overstate where we are. There is still a ton of political and institutional pressure on people to not say anything about Palestine, including in Hollywood. Much more importantly, this shift towards pro-Palestinian sentiment has not prevented Israel from carrying out genocide, or the U.S. government from supporting that genocide. Just this weekend, we learned that Joe Biden is sending yet more weapons to Israel. And we are seeing absolutely horrifying footage from Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, where the Israeli military appears to have acted with utter barbarity. So I will readily admit that applause on SNL isn’t much in the context of the depravity that is still happening in Gaza.

But, but, but, but, but. It is something. It is a spark of something, a sign that some kind of door has been opened that cannot be closed, an unmistakable signal that the old rules are beginning to crumble away.

Part of the reason that it was so easy for Israel to do what it liked in Palestine for decades is that it was nearly impossible for Palestinians to even be acknowledged as people in the United States. Support for Israeli supremacy was so ingrained that politicians got to be nutjobs about Israel and nobody batted an eye. This was just how things were—and, in many ways, how they still are.

And yet. The tectonic plates are moving. A majority of all Americans now disapprove of Israel’s assault on Gaza. Think about that. Think about the decades of propaganda, of political and cultural and media support, that Israel has had on its side. It’s not enough. Something has filtered down to the average person. The idea that maybe Israel shouldn’t get to wipe out everyone in Palestine is becoming normalized enough that you can talk about it on SNL and get cheers.

It’s hardly anything, but it’s kind of everything at the same time. Something is happening—and it’s something that I’m not quite sure can be made to un-happen. People’s eyes have been opened, and getting them closed again will be very hard to do. What’s more, I think that Israel and its supporters can sense it too, which is why they’ve been seeming so deranged lately.

Is it enough? Of course not. The genocide continues. Nothing is enough until that ends, and even then it won’t be enough. But is it something? Yes. It is something, where once there was almost nothing. And the thing about something is that you can make it into something more. You can build on it. Maybe you can turn it into something that can’t be stopped.