Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Arab Radio Podcast intro
    • Radio Baladi Detroit
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Subscribe to eNewsletter
  • Toggle search form
  • Comedian Ahmed Ahmed at The Comedy Bar in Chicago June 9 - 11, 2023
    Comedian Ahmed Ahmed performs in Chicago June 9-11, 2023 at The Comedy Bar American Arabs
  • Ma'ale Efrayim an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
    Adalah: Escalating Annexation Measures Led by Netanyahu Government Require Urgent Intervention of International Community and Tribunals Activism
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, unveils a series of multi language videos to help property tax owners recover overpayments. This one is in Arabic
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas releases video in Arabic to help recover property tax overpayments American Arabs
  • Amnesty International ... www.Amnesty.org
    Global: Amnesty International calls for universal social protection, as overlapping crises leave hundreds of millions facing disaster American Arabs
  • Anti-Arab anti-peace U.S. Senator Robert Menendez who has led the fight to censor American who criticize the brutality and human rights violations of Israel
    Menendez and Risch condemn Syria’s re-admission to Arab League American Arabs
  • property tax info event
    Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi hosts property Tax workshop for Arab community Activism
  • US Border Notice. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    AHRC Holds Another “Meet, Greet & Open Conversation” Forum Hosting the US Border Patrol (CBP): Human Rights
  • Ald. Raymond Lopez and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas receive the American Arab Chamber of Commerce 2021 Action Award from Hassan Nijem for their support of the Arab and Muslim American community,
    County Treasurer Maria Pappas celebrates Arab Heritage Month with business and community leaders Activism
  • Congresswoman Debbie Dingell Wikipedia
    Dingell, Tlaib Introduce Resolution Recognizing Eid al-Fitr Christian & Muslim
  • Ziyad Food item
    Essential recipes and ingredients during Ramadan  American Arabs
  • Vote Yes campaign button, Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Low Arab early voting turnout in important Orland Park elections American Arabs
  • Aziz Shihab, long time Arab American journalist and author.
    A memorial to a great Arab American Journalist, Aziz Shihab American Arabs
  • Piotr Hofmanski, president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague
    International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued for Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin Civil Rights
  • Orand First Responders candidates Matthew G. Rafferty and William Bonnar Jr.
    Arab Democrats endorse Rafferty and Bonnar in Orland Fire District race American Arabs
  • Paul Vallas addressing the Arab American Democratic Club on Feb. 12, 2023
    AADC releases its endorsements for the April 4, 2023 non-partisan elections American Arabs

Orlando, Chicago, Palestine: Is murder just politics?

Posted on June 16, 2016September 24, 2018 By rayhanania 3 Comments on Orlando, Chicago, Palestine: Is murder just politics?
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Loading

Orlando, Chicago, Palestine: Is violence and murder just an exercise in politics? Violence in America is defined by the race, religion and politics of the victims, not by the rule of law, principles of morality or journalism ethics

By Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania covering Chicago City Hall (1976-1992)
Ray Hanania
covering Chicago
City Hall
(1976-1992)

Only two weeks ago we were mourning the passing of one of the most famous and inspiring American Muslims of our generation, Muhammad Ali. And this week, we’re excoriating another American Muslim, Omar Mateen, peeling through the brutality of 49 people murdered in Orlando, looking for reasons, explanations and seeking political ramifications.

And while the massacre of 49 people at an Orlando dance club known as a hangout for Gays and the LGBT community has drawn international empathy, equally violent killings in other parts of America and the world seem to go unnoticed.

Is death an exercise in politics?

In Chicago, 216 people, mostly African American, were murdered in gun-related and street-gang related violence on the streets of Chicago. Yet President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and nearly every major elected official in the country hasn’t issued a statement of condolences, shock or demands for justice for the Chicago victims the way they have for the victims in Orlando.

No gasps for the victims when they are Black, Palestinians or Muslim. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

That’s not to minimize the Orlando murders. It was senseless. It was horrific. In addition to the 49 people who were gunned down by Mateen, more than 50 others were seriously injured.

Yet the fact that Mateen is described as an American Muslim of Afghan heritage whose wife, Noor Salman is a Muslim Palestinian, seems to have made this senseless act of carnage of more significance. Although it is doubtful that this massacre was orchestrated by ISIS and terrorists in the Middle East who have killed and have vowed to kill more Americans, Mateen seems to have expressed solidarity for the ISIS terrorists.

In contrast, street gang murders have gone unsolved as killers continue wot walk the streets of America taking more and more innocent lives in Chicago and in cities across the country.

And because the aspect of the Middle East has been thrown into this blood-filled cauldron, it is fair to note that in the Middle East, hundreds continue to be murdered in Syria and in in Palestine under the brutal military occupation by Israel’s far right wing fanatic government. Call it political exploitation if you are biased towards Israel, and have closed your eyes to Israel’s violent war crimes and terrorism against civilians, but it was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who this week released a video denouncing the Orlando murders and using them to justify his own politically driven agenda of linking those who challenge his governments violence to the same “hatred and extremism” he says drove Mateen.

Is there really a difference?

Just yesterday, June 16, Israeli soldiers entered the occupied city of Qalqiliya in occupied Palestine and  kidnapped one Palestinian because of his political activism and vocal denunciations of Israel’s brutality. In the process, the massive Israeli force injured seven other Palestinians including three children and destroyed portions of family homes.

In the week before that, Netanyahu’s soldiers wounded six Palestinians with gunfire and gun fire shrapnel. And the week before that, Netanyahu’s occupation terrorists in military uniform

Much was made of how four Israelis were murdered in Tel Aviv, but nothing about the Palestinians killed int he weeks before that or the decision by Netanyahu’s government to drop charges against an Israeli settler accused of burning a Palestinian child to death.

According to B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization that Netanyahu’s government has condemned for spotlighting Israeli driven terrorism, has reported that 808 Palestinians have been murdered by Israeli forces of the past eight year period, or about 101 deaths per year, which is 2 deaths per week.

Many of those killed were Palestinians accused of having engaged in violence and although there were disarmed and even seriously injured lying on the street incapacitated and untreated by Israel’s discriminatory Magen David Adom. They were shot point-blank by soldiers and armed Jewish Israeli civilians, killed because they were non-Jews.

Israel rarely prosecutes Jews who commit violence and acts of terrorism against non-Jews. And yet that violence passed with little outrage from the same people who today have made Orlando evidence to change policies on the ownership of guns. The same people who have used Orlando as a basis to persuade people how to vote for President of the United States, between Democrat career politician Hillary Clinton and Republican businessman Donald Trump. The same people who have denounced alleged hate-speech by critics of Israel but have remained silent int he face of hate-speech against advocates peacefully protesting violence by Israel, a foreign country.

Why is one death different than another? Because death in America at the hands of a Muslim can be turned into political fodder to push an agenda while death in Palestine is embarrassing for the same people. And the killing of a White person has more value than the killing of a Black person on the streets of America’s crime-plagued cities.

Driving this imbalance in morality and justice is an American mainstream news media that has been co-opted by corporate financial interests and political considerations. The news media reports the news based on the value placed on the lives of victims.

It’s easier for the media and politicians to condemn the murder of people at a Gay nightclub because that is a one-sided agreement on bullying. But they can’t seem to find the line of morality when the victims are Palestinian and the killers are Israelis. And it’s even less important in places like Chicago, where an African American life has absolutely no value and Black teenagers are slaughtered almost every day not just by armed street gangs carrying automatic weapons but also by people wearing the uniform of the police.

In America today, death is weighted by religion, race, politics, skin color of the victims and by the identify of the perpetrators committing the crimes.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
RAY HANANIA — Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.

Click here to send Ray Hanania email.

Follow RayHanania on Gettr.com, the uncensored Twitter Ray Hanania on Gettr, the new Twitter
rayhanania
Latest posts by rayhanania (see all)
  • Comedian Ahmed Ahmed performs in Chicago June 9-11, 2023 at The Comedy Bar - June 9, 2023
  • Adalah: Escalating Annexation Measures Led by Netanyahu Government Require Urgent Intervention of International Community and Tribunals - June 8, 2023
  • Politics fuels campaign accusing CUNY graduate of “anti-Semitism” - June 5, 2023

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
American Arabs, Bloggers, Commentary, Editors Picks, Israel, News, Palestine & Jordan, Politics, Ray Hanania, Terrorism Tags:African Americans, Avigdor Lieberman, Benjamin Netanyahu, Chicago, Gays, ISIS, Israel, Israeli terrorism, LGBT, Muhammad Ali, occupation, Omar Mateen, Orlando, Palestine, street gangs, terrorism

Post navigation

Previous Post: Orlando’s PULSE and a Global Response
Next Post: 2nd International Yoga Day and 2nd Coming of Christ

Related Posts

  • Rafic Hariri statue in front of the St. George Hotel in Beirut Lebanon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
    Lebanon on a failure track for the near future American Arabs
  • Actor Edward James Olmos headlines Detroit diversity conference April 10 in Dearborn American Arabs
  • Sami Yusuf to perform in the Washington DC area Activism
  • Brian Hook Special Adviser on Iran US Dept of State Photo
    Special Adviser on Iran spells out war crimes of Qassem Suleimani and Iran Arab World
  • Construction workers in the West Bank settlement of Ariel. Such Israeli settlements have expanded in recent years. Photo: Annie Slemrod/IRIN. Courtesy of the United Nations
    Amnesty International Condemns Trump Embassy move Arab World
  • Shallal says door not closed to another political run for office American Arabs

More Related Articles

Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Trump withdraws from imbalanced Iran deal Arab World
Piotr Hofmanski, president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued for Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin Civil Rights
Belgian official reviews Gaza humanitarian crisis Arab World
Anti-Semitism and the USS Liberty Arab World
Congresswoman Betty McCollum of Minnesota Congresswoman McCollum stands out as principled voice on human rights American Arabs
Effective PR would easily flip American public opinion on Palestine American Arabs

Comments (3) on “Orlando, Chicago, Palestine: Is murder just politics?”

  1. Nikos Retsos says:
    June 17, 2016 at 11:52 am

    You are correct Ray. Politics nowadays are not like the politics, and/or wars, of the previous millennia when matters ended and settled in the battlefield. Today the whole globe is a battlefield, and the super-battlefield weapons are supplemented by a super-fast global media barrage that assigns guilt
    by race, religion, and association. Palestinians, American Indians, and blacks in South Chicago – as well as across the Sub-Saharan Africa, are the leftovers of civilization because stronger interests
    prevailed and have a chock-hold on the global clout, its resources, and in the definition of who is a rebel, who is a terrorist, or who is a freedom fighter. With American politics being “Who gets what and how, there is also a parallel label making of “Who gets what and how labels” either of one being either a rebel, a freedom fighter, or a terrorist -depending on their association with what state. I consider the Orlando, Florida, massacre a burnout from a cinder blown out of the Middle East’s simmering political volcano! I bet it won’t be the last! Nikos Retsos, retired professor

    Log in to Reply
    1. rayhanania says:
      June 19, 2016 at 6:24 am

      Good analogy Nikos … the Orlando, Florida massacre is a burnout from a cinder blown out of the Middle East’s simmering volcano. It won’t be the last, I think because the United States plays politics with morality, the rule of law, ethics and principle. We no longer have a measure for those virtues and fundamentals of human rights and Democracy. It’s whatever suits us at the moment, driven not by what we love and believe in but rather by what we as Americans, hate. And hate is the biggest power in this country today.

      Log in to Reply
    2. Ray Hanania says:
      June 19, 2016 at 6:26 am

      Good analogy Nikos … the Orlando, Florida massacre is a burnout from a cinder blown out of the Middle East’s simmering volcano. It won’t be the last, I think because the United States plays politics with morality, the rule of law, ethics and principle. We no longer have a measure for those virtues and fundamentals of human rights and Democracy. It’s whatever suits us at the moment, driven not by what we love and believe in but rather by what we as Americans, hate. And hate is the biggest power in this country today.

      Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • City University of New York's (CUNY) 2023 graduation class speaker, Fatima Musa Mohammed on May 12, 2023
    Politics fuels campaign accusing CUNY graduate of “anti-Semitism”
    June 5, 2023
  • Ghassan Rubeiz
    Lebanese parliament afraid to vote for next president
    June 1, 2023
  • Hezbollah billboards in Lebanon celebrate Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah and the righteous war against Israeli extremism and fanaticism. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    Who will choose the next Lebanese President?
    May 12, 2023
  • The term Arab will be meaningless if we don’t stand behind it and choose “MENA” instead
    April 29, 2023
  • 300x300-ZIYAD02.jpg
  • 300x300-ZIYAD01.jpg
  • NEWS
  • Comedian Ahmed Ahmed at The Comedy Bar in Chicago June 9 - 11, 2023
    Comedian Ahmed Ahmed performs in Chicago June 9-11, 2023 at The Comedy Bar
    June 9, 2023
  • Ma'ale Efrayim an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied West Bank of Palestine  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
    Adalah: Escalating Annexation Measures Led by Netanyahu Government Require Urgent Intervention of International Community and Tribunals
    June 8, 2023
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, unveils a series of multi language videos to help property tax owners recover overpayments. This one is in Arabic
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas releases video in Arabic to help recover property tax overpayments
    May 18, 2023
  • Amnesty International ... www.Amnesty.org
    Global: Amnesty International calls for universal social protection, as overlapping crises leave hundreds of millions facing disaster
    May 10, 2023
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Anti-Arab anti-peace U.S. Senator Robert Menendez who has led the fight to censor American who criticize the brutality and human rights violations of Israel
    Menendez and Risch condemn Syria’s re-admission to Arab League
    May 10, 2023
  • US Border Notice. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
    AHRC Holds Another “Meet, Greet & Open Conversation” Forum Hosting the US Border Patrol (CBP):
    May 2, 2023
  • Ald. Raymond Lopez and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas receive the American Arab Chamber of Commerce 2021 Action Award from Hassan Nijem for their support of the Arab and Muslim American community,
    County Treasurer Maria Pappas celebrates Arab Heritage Month with business and community leaders
    April 27, 2023
  • Ziyad Food item
    Essential recipes and ingredients during Ramadan 
    April 4, 2023

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

POPULAR POSTS

  • Who will choose the next Lebanese President? Who will choose the next Lebanese President? By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz Since September of last year the Lebanese parliament has ... posted on May 12, 2023
  • Lebanese parliament afraid to vote for next president Lebanese parliament afraid to vote for next president By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz When will Lebanon’s political leaders agree to vote ... posted on June 1, 2023
  • Politics fuels campaign accusing CUNY graduate of “anti-Semitism” Politics fuels campaign accusing CUNY graduate of "anti-Semitism" A CUNY graduate student delivered a speech on May 12, 2023 urging ... posted on June 5, 2023
  • Arab-American influencers Furrha Family share secrets of their success Arab-American influencers Furrha Family share secrets of their success Salem Furrha and his eight children @theFurrhaFamily on TikTok and Instagram represent ... posted on February 6, 2021
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas releases video in Arabic to help recover property tax overpayments Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas releases video in Arabic to help recover property tax overpayments Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas ... posted on May 18, 2023
  • Karshat, stuffed lamb intestines recipe Karshat, stuffed lamb intestines recipe Stuffed lamb intestines and tripe are popular Mediterranean food recipes. Here is a simple recipe ... posted on August 10, 2017

Recent Posts

  • Comedian Ahmed Ahmed performs in Chicago June 9-11, 2023 at The Comedy Bar
  • Adalah: Escalating Annexation Measures Led by Netanyahu Government Require Urgent Intervention of International Community and Tribunals
  • Politics fuels campaign accusing CUNY graduate of “anti-Semitism”
  • Lebanese parliament afraid to vote for next president
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas releases video in Arabic to help recover property tax overpayments
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Glory to God int he Lowest by Author Rev. Donald Wagner
    Book Review: Glory to God in the Lowest: journeys to an unholy land
    February 18, 2023
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Comedian Ahmed Ahmed at The Comedy Bar in Chicago June 9 - 11, 2023
    Comedian Ahmed Ahmed performs in Chicago June 9-11, 2023 at The Comedy Bar
    June 9, 2023
  • Ziyad Food item
    Essential recipes and ingredients during Ramadan 
    April 4, 2023
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast
    December 15, 2022
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Comedian Ramy Youssef courtesy of his Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ramysfaceboo/
    “Ramy” cable series melds Arab world reality with every day American life
    October 22, 2022
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2023 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme