What the Hell Does 'Too Many Palestinians Have Been Killed' Mean?
And, if too many Palestinians are dying, why don't we stop giving Israel the bombs it is using to kill them?
On Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled down to Selma to mark the 59 years that have passed since Alabama state troopers perpetrated the atrocities of Bloody Sunday against civil rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bride. There, she spoke about another set of atrocities being carried out by racist state forces—this time, by the Israeli military in Gaza.
“What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating,” she said. “We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.
As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
Harris was right—she has said many times that “too many” Palestinians have been killed. She said it on November 29 ( “There have been many conversations both in public and private about the fact that far too many Palestinians have been killed”). She said it on December 2 (“The United States is unequivocal; international humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed”). And she said it on December 19 (“As I have said many times, I think we know that far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed”). And on February 17 (“Far too many Palestinians, innocent Palestinian civilians, have been killed”).
Harris isn’t alone. Everyone in the Biden administration, from Joe Biden himself to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to their spokespeople, has been saying for months that “too many” Palestinians “have been killed.” (They never quite get around to saying who killed too many Palestinians, but we know why that is.)
All of this has me wondering a couple things. First, what the hell does “too many” mean? And second, how long can “too many” people die before the U.S. does anything at all about it—for instance, I’m just spitballing here, by no longer giving Israel the weapons it is using to kill “too many people.”
Let’s deal with the “too many” bit first.
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