Why Don’t Jewish Lives Matter?

The International Hypocrisy that Values Some Children’s Lives and Erases Others.

Children die in wars all over the world. In Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the death tolls are staggering, including tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of children. But the only time the world stops, the only time people pour into the streets, boycott products, deface national monuments and scream genocide, is when the country involved is Israel, and no one is caring about their children being killed. 

Here are estimated child death figures from recent conflicts, based on data from humanitarian and conflict reports. Yemen has seen around 377,000 total deaths, with 30,000 to 60,000 estimated child deaths. Sudan has around 150,000 deaths, with 15,000 to 30,000 children. South Sudan has around 400,000 total deaths, with 40,000 to 80,000 children. Syria has about 500,000 deaths, with 40,000 to 100,000 children. Afghanistan, around 200,000 to 250,000 deaths, with 20,000 to 40,000 children. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 5 million deaths with an estimated 400,000 to 1 million children. In the Central African Republic, 30,000 to 50,000 deaths and 3,000 to 10,000 children. Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict alone accounts for 100,000 deaths with 10,000 to 20,000 children.

There were no worldwide protests. No building projections. No brand boycotts. No students camping on university lawns. Because Israel wasn’t involved. Because Jews weren’t pulling the trigger. The world simply does not care unless it can blame the Jewish state.

There’s a carefully protected myth that Palestinians never kill children. That they’re always the victims. That they suffer without agency or responsibility. This is a deliberate distortion. Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad have murdered Israeli children in bombings, shootings, stabbings and rocket attacks. Hamas operatives filmed themselves gunning down entire families on October 7th. Some Israeli children were burned alive. Others were executed. Others taken hostage. Yet the world’s reaction was either silence or justification. Within days, attention turned to Gaza and the usual chant of genocide.

Supporters separate Palestinian people from their actions by calling everything “Hamas.” Hamas did this. Hamas are terrorists. Hamas are the problem. But Hamas are Palestinians. They were elected in Gaza. They are protected by civilians. They are funded by the society they control. You cannot pretend they are some foreign parasite imposed on an unwilling population. If Israel is collectively blamed for its government, then Palestinians cannot be collectively excused from theirs.

Palestinian children are trained in military camps. Taught to glorify death. Dressed in uniforms, holding rifles, taught to become martyrs. They are used as shields. Hamas has admitted to putting civilians on rooftops to deter Israeli airstrikes. They fire rockets from schoolyards and hospitals. They store weapons in mosques. When those children die, they hold up their corpses to the cameras and scream genocide. And the world believes it. Because it wants to.

Meanwhile, Israeli children are not recruited. They are protected. They hide in shelters while rockets rain down. Their schools are reinforced. Their playgrounds closed during air raids. And when they are murdered, the world shrugs. Because their lives do not serve the preferred narrative.

This double standard extends far beyond war. Pakistan was created as an Islamic religious state in 1947. It was born through genocide and mass expulsion. Millions of Hindus and Sikhs were slaughtered or displaced. Yet nobody questions Pakistan’s right to exist. Nobody demands a right of return. Nobody calls it apartheid.

Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974. They expelled Greek Cypriots and still occupy northern Cyprus. There are no calls to boycott Turkey. No protests. No global outcry. Because Muslims did it, not Jews.

In the United Kingdom, Muslim grooming gangs raped and abused thousands of girls. Police and councils covered it up for years to avoid being called racist. When victims spoke out, they were ignored. But if you criticise Muhammad marrying a child, you’re accused of Islamophobia. Muslims can say Jesus was a Muslim. They can rewrite history. They can deny Jewish and Christian heritage. But question Islamic tradition and you’re either censored or face hostile aggression.

When Russia bombs schools and hospitals in Ukraine and thousands of children die, there is no cry of genocide. No call to dismantle the Russian state. No global hate campaign against Russian citizens. Because it isn’t Israel. The rules are different when Jews defend themselves.

Every child death is tragic. But pretending only Palestinian children die, and only Jews are to blame, is not just dishonest, it is dangerous. It fuels a cycle where Palestinian violence is ignored and Israeli self-defence is criminalised. Where murder is called resistance and defence is called apartheid. Where mass rape and child execution are denied or downplayed. And where the Jewish people, once again, are made into the global scapegoat.

This is not about human rights. It is not about justice. It is about who the world is allowed to hate. And it is long past time we named it for what it is.

Antisemitism.