How to tell if you are 'pro-human'

For many years, an artist who lived in Providence created posters in support of Palestinians. In December 2023 he wrote, “I’m a pacifist. I believe in solutions to disagreements that avoid violence. I stand with countless others demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. We are an intelligent species capable of cooperation and solving problems without violence.”

Calling himself “pro-human,” the artist, along with too many others, has a selective concept of humanity that somehow never seems to include Jews.

One of the posters he created depicted a Palestinian boy crying. However, we should look beyond the surface.

What does the Palestinian boy cry out for?

He cries out for a world that understands that ceasefires with terrorists do not bring an enduring peace, nor do they bring freedom to the oppressed people who are governed by the terrorists.

He cries out for the chance to attend a school that does not teach him to kill people because they are of a different faith.

He cries out for all the Palestinian children Hamas used as human shields.

He cries out for the Palestinians to build a country of their own instead of trying to tear down what Israel has built.

He cries out for countries to take in Palestinian refugees, as they opened their doors for millions of Syrian and Ukrainian refugees.

He cries out for Arab countries to grant citizenship to Palestinians. No Arab state, other than Jordan, has ever granted full citizenship to Palestinians.

He cries for the food that Hamas stole. After Israel was widely accused of causing a famine in Gaza, the U.N. recently acknowledged that 90% of the food that Israel provided was stolen.

He cries for his fellow Muslims who are citizens of Muslim countries, yet do not have the immense freedom and opportunities that Muslim citizens have in Israel.

How can you tell if you are pro-human?

If you perpetually post memes about racism but at a time when antisemitism is soaring, you never mention it, you are not pro-human.

If a Black student was harassed and told to go back to Africa, you would be outraged, but when Jewish students were harassed and told to go back to Poland, you shrugged it off, then you are not pro-human.

If you have heard the never-ending calls of “From the River to the Sea” and have no concern where 10 million Israelis (Jews, Muslims, Christians and people of other faiths) will go, then you are not pro-human.

If you think that Israel, a country continually under attack from rockets, does not have a right to defend itself, you are not pro-human.

If you create multiple posters supporting Palestinians, but after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, you could not bring yourself to create even one poster depicting the suffering of Israelis, you are most certainly not pro-human.

Many who, under the guise of humanity, championed the Palestinians knowingly contributed to the drastic rise in antisemitism.

Moreover, they contributed to an increased number of Palestinian deaths. In fact, had the Western world overwhelmingly and steadfastly stood with Israel, Hamas likely would not have prevented civilians from taking cover in tunnels, nor would they have fought from schools, hospitals, and civilian homes. Ironically, the people who supported the Palestinians ended up being their worst enemy.

The people who condemn Israel’s actions in wars started by Hamas and Hezbollah fail to recognize the tragedy that after two millennia of persecution, the Jewish people are still all too often under attack. The pogroms and genocide perpetrated by Christians and Muslims against Jews for thousands of years is the biggest stain on world history and the biggest injustice by far.

It is easy to be generous when it’s not on your dime. It is easy to claim virtue while expecting others to make sacrifices and take risks. It is easy to call for a ceasefire from the security of an elite university or from an artist’s studio 5,500 miles away.

However, if you lived just a few miles from terrorists who, with machine guns and machetes, might come into your house and drag you into a tunnel where you would be endlessly starved, tortured and raped, your concept of humanity would change.

Whether you call yourself pro-human or not, whether you tear down posters or create them, when all is said and done, you would want your government to do whatever it takes to protect you, too.

MARJORIE DAVIS lives in Providence. She graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in Computer Science and is a senior database specialist in a large, international technology company. She is a frequent writer on antisemitism and Israel. Another version of this essay was published in Times of Israel.