PALESTINIANS are victims of most gruesome physical violence and are first-hand witnesses of death and destruction. Israel has illegally occupied their land and听claimed it as its own. The Zionist state has been forcibly expelling indigenous Palestinians and threatening those who stay put with brutality and mass expulsion.
In the ongoing, livestreamed genocide that started in early October 2023, Israel has been killing on average 50 to 100 Palestinians daily in addition to destroying their houses and critical infrastructures. It has taken tens of thousands of casualties that include healthcare and aid workers and media people in addition to ordinary Palestinian children, women and men.
Israel restricts journalists from reporting from the site of genocide in order to silence independent journalism and to keep the world in the dark听about its crimes, especially those committed in Gaza. Aiming to maximise the number of casualties, it targets schools, hospitals, refugee centres and other areas of human concentration. What is more, sometimes it lures desperately hungry Palestinians to food distribution centres only to kill them. 听听
These and other forms of cruelty to Palestinians (who are in a frantic scramble for survival) are unbearable. They generate mass terror and panic, and multiply conscientious people鈥檚 pent-up dislike for the Israeli government and its backers.
But there is another form of violence against Palestinians of which ordinary people are unaware. Though rife, insidious and vicious, this violence is not sufficiently discussed in public spheres.
It is called听epistemic violence.
Columbia University professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is known to have coined the term. It first appeared in her 1988 essay 鈥楥an the Subaltern Speak?鈥� Even though the term is of recent origin, the practice is centuries-old.
Epistemic violence is violence perpetrated through knowledge production and information dissemination. Wrought under a thin veneer of scholarship and sophistication, this violence is more pernicious and sinister than physical attacks. Therefore, it is hard for people to see it and even harder for them to challenge it. 听听
Individuals who commit epistemic violence do not carry guns or knives. Nor do they throw missiles at people or bomb houses. But they facilitate and justify such gross human rights violations. They characterise the perpetrators of atrocities as innocent and the victims as offenders and threats to security. They distort information to protect wrongdoers from public exposure and accountability and to paint them in a positive light.
滨苍听Journey to Makkah听(1998), the late German diplomat Murad Wilfried Hofmann regards actors of epistemic violence as 鈥榬emote 鈥� masterminds of mischief, potential perpetrators with pen and paper who hide behind their desks鈥� and play with fire.
滨苍听Decolonising the Mind听(1986), the recently deceased Kenyan writer Ng农g末 wa Thiong鈥檕 exposes the perpetrators of epistemic violence in the following way:
鈥楤ut the night of the sword and the bullet [is] followed by the morning of the chalk and the blackboard. The physical violence of the battlefield [is] followed by the psychological violence of the classroom. But where the former [is] visibly brutal, the latter [is] visibly gentle.鈥�
In the BBC Reith Lectures of 1993, Edward Said decried elitist intellectuals who 鈥榮pew out propaganda鈥� and commit epistemic violence. In 鈥楾he Challenge of Palestine鈥� (1989), Said discusses 鈥榣ong decades of Zionist propaganda鈥� and 鈥榣ong decades of hypocrisy and misrepresentation by intellectual鈥� supporters of Israel鈥�.
There is an enormous pool of information resources and a wide network of writers, editors and publishers who promote Israeli propaganda and interests, and work against Palestinians. Some of them are known and considered mainstream, while others are cloaked in a fa莽ade of neutrality. Israel exploits all its sophisticated media machines to its own advantage.
The following example of epistemic violence against Palestinians may shock readers.
Dhaka University student leader Umama Fatema was active in the Students Against Discriminations movement that spearheaded the July 2024 Revolution which ended Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 15-and-a-half-year-long mafia-style autocratic rule. Honouring the fearless leadership of Umama and other SAD women activists, on March 28, 2025 the US Department of State selected them for the 2025 Madeleine Albright Honorary Group IWOC Award 鈥� an initiative under the Department鈥檚 International Women of Courage Award.
Umama and other female leaders rejected this award citing US complicity in the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians. In a March 30, 2025 report, the听Daily Star听(Dhaka) quoted Umama as stating:
鈥楾he collective recognition of women activists is highly honorable for us. However, this award has been used to directly endorse Israel鈥檚 brutal attack on Palestine in October 2023鈥�. While the Palestinian people continue to be deprived of their fundamental human rights, including land rights, I am personally rejecting this award as a mark of respect for the Palestinian struggle for freedom.鈥�
A report of another Dhaka-based newspaper reads, 鈥楽AD leader Umama rejects US award honouring women of July Uprising over ties to attack on Palestine鈥� (The Business Standard, March 30, 2025). Accordingly, on 10 April 2025, the Palestinian ambassador to Bangladesh hosted a dinner to honour the courage of Umama and her friends who rejected the 鈥楿S award in protest against Washington鈥檚 support for Israel鈥檚 ongoing assault on Gaza鈥� (Dhaka Tribune, Apr 12, 2025). 听
Now, let鈥檚 see how Wikipedia blurs the actual reason why Umama rejected the US award. In its entry on her, the frequently-used popular website says: 听
鈥業n early 2025, Fatema was reportedly selected to receive the Madeleine Albright Honorary Group Award, a U.S.-sponsored recognition. However, she declined the award, citing concerns over the perception of foreign influence in domestic student movements. The decision drew both praise and criticism, with some viewing it as a statement on political autonomy鈥�.
Evidently, as regards Umama鈥檚 rejection of the US award, the online free-access encyclopaedia avoids mentioning US-abetted Israeli atrocities in Palestine or the Palestinian struggle for justice and human dignity.
As its source of information about Umama鈥檚 rejection of the US award, Wikipedia uses the听Daily Sun鈥檚 30 March 2025 report titled 鈥楿mama Fatema personally rejects US award鈥� which states:
鈥楿mama Fatema acknowledged that the collective recognition of female activists was deeply honourable. However, she stated that the award had been used to directly endorse Israel鈥檚 brutal attacks on Palestine in October 2023. By justifying these attacks while disregarding the Palestinian struggle for independence, the award鈥檚 neutrality was compromised鈥�.
Obviously, while Wikipedia cites the听Daily Sun, it deliberately ignores the gist of its report.
If a Wikipedia entry on a contemporary issue can contain distorted information to such an extent, what about events that took place decades and centuries ago? If a platform like Wikipedia 鈥� presumed to be mainstream and impartial 鈥� can create such systematic information distortion against Palestinians, what about outlets that are widely perceived as pro-Israeli?
The above discussion exposes the viciousness of epistemic violence against Palestinians. It also suggests that responsibilities of pro-justice activists cannot be limited to taking to the streets, waving banners and chanting slogans. They must invest sufficient intellectual effort to counter the information war against Palestinians, which can be done through knowledge production and correct information dissemination. 听
Note: This essay is based on a plenary address I delivered at the 5thn International conference: Language, culture and crises (June 26-27, 2025) at Independent University, Bangladesh.
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Dr Md Mahmudul Hasan is professor in the department of English Language and Literature, International Islamic University Malaysia.
