Legal expert warns of systemic violence against Palestinian children as part of broader structural dehumanization
Original framing: “Reasonable to believe targeted killing of children part of larger plan for genocide of the Palestinian people, Justice Muralidhar says” — The Hindu
The labeling of children as terrorists echoes historical patterns of dehumanization used to justify colonial violence, such as the British labeling of Indian rebels as 'terrorists' during the anti-colonial struggle. These narratives are not new but are recycled to maintain control and suppress resistance.
The targeting of Palestinian children is not an isolated act of violence but a systemic mechanism of dehumanization rooted in colonial legal frameworks and reinforced by international inaction.
Indigenous legal traditions and historical parallels reveal the broader pattern of settler colonial violence, while scientific and psychological evidence confirms the role of dehumanizing rhetoric in enabling mass violence. Cross-cultural perspectives emphasize the universal sanctity of children, which is violated by the current legal and political system. To address this, a multi-pronged approach is needed: international legal accountability, grassroots legal defense, cultural resistance, and media reform. Only through this systemic lens can we begin to dismantle the structures that enable such violence and restore justice for Palestinian children.