By The ethnic cleansing in Gaza, Palestine strikingly resembles Western media’s favorite dystopian trilogy, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. Following the release of the latest movie adaptation in the franchise, “The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (TBSS) TikTok users had quickly drawn connections between the Capitol’s indifference towards dying tributes, and the world’s lack of concern for dying Palestinian children in Gaza.
While one is clearly real and infinitely more severe than the other, I dare say the comparison is necessary. Films and movies allow fans to create meaningful relationships with their characters. Throughout the story, we learn about the character’s upbringing, flaws, hopes, and struggles. In many ways, we “root” for them — upset if they don’t end up with their love interest and devastated if they die in the film. As people begin to decipher Israel’s war crimes against Palestine through the lens of their favorite dystopian trilogy, people begin noticing the power disparities between the two countries.
To refresh our minds, we know the Hunger Games exists in an imaginary nation called Panem where 12 districts, all specialized in different skills such as fishing, mining, textiles, etc., are forced to participate in the annual Hunger Games. 75 years before the final Hunger Games, poorer districts revolted against the Capitol in a failed attempt at a revolution. A form of collective punishment was established to maintain power over the nation which included the Capitol to reap two children from each district to fight to the death. We later learn in TBSS that the Hunger Games was created in a drunken conversation with President Snow’s father who took credit for Cascia Highbottom’s idea.
The 75 years of Israeli occupation in Palestine strikingly resembles the 75 years of the Hunger Games.
Katniss Everdeen, the Mockingjay, is thrust into a position of authority after she volunteers in place of her twelve-year-old sister who is reaped. Katniss wants a quiet life, away from the sounds of bombs and dying children. Her resilience and empathy volunteering for her sister, and in the arena with other tributes, quickly makes her the Mockingjay in the eyes of the districts. Over the course of three books and four movies, she frees Panem from the Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games franchise is a commentary on the power struggles of race, wealth, and war. It blatantly questions and criticizes those in positions of power, while reprimanding the desensitization associated with watching innocent civilians die. To undermine the series as purely fictional and question the validity of its commentary on real life is to disregard Suzanne Collins’ origins of the story.
“I was very tired . . . and I was flipping through images on reality television where these young people were competing for a million dollars or whatever, then I was seeing footage from the Iraq war, and these two things began to fuse together in a very unsettling way, and that is the moment where I got the idea for Katniss’s story,” says Collins in a video interview done with “Scholastic.”
Here are a few similarities between the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the Hunger Games:
Children as spectacles of war
Before each Hunger Games, tributes are mentored by past victors of the games. In TBSS, we see that the mentors are children themselves who are students at the Academy — the Capitol’s richest and most intelligent students. Casca Highbottom tells the tenth annual Hunger Games mentors that their “role is to turn these children into spectacles, not survivors. [They must] persuade them to perform for the camera.”
U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. After intense pressure from millions of protestors worldwide, Israel agreed to a temporary four-day “pause” to exchange hostages with Hamas. The truce lasted a week but as soon as it finished, terror returned to Gaza. Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad shared on her Instagram story that attacks from Israel worsened after the temporary ceasefire.
It becomes increasingly clear that Israel has no intention of allowing Palestinians to live peacefully in Gaza. They have no desire for a ceasefire. They wish to humiliate them, degrade them, and demoralize them. Recent photos show blindfolded Palestinian men stripped to their underwear while Israeli soldiers surround them. The IOF states that these men are Hamas fighters but in reality, the hostages have been identified as innocent civilians, including journalist Diaa Kahlout.
The images and videos coming out of Gaza, perpetrated by Israel’s war crimes, have led to Gazans desperately posting their dead families and friends as pleas for a ceasefire. The people of Palestine have become spectacles of war that we watch every day. Like the Capitol, millions of people are seeing these children on their screens, only to switch the channel to their favorite reality TV show. The Capitol sits and watches children interviewed wearing fancy garments, and excited grins for the show to come. Their desensitization to children dying is chilling.
In Catching Fire, the second installment of the trilogy, as Peeta is being interviewed by Caesar Flickerman, he lies and says Katniss is pregnant with his baby in order to generate outrage from the citizens of the Capitol before entering the arena. It is only in those moments do we see the Capitol protest against the games.
Without a ceasefire, there will be no survivors, just photographs later studied in history classes as new generations wonder, “How did they get away with this?”
Violations of International Humanitarian Law
“The Capitol has just bombed a hospital full of unarmed men, women, and children. There will be no survivors . . . I want to tell people that if you think for one second the Capitol will treat us fairly if there’s a ceasefire, you’re deluding yourself. Because you know who they are and what they do,” says Katniss after President Snow’s army bombs a hospital in District 8.
On Oct. 17, Israel bombed al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, where unarmed children, men, and women were seeking refuge. The hospital which housed hospital staff, injured civilians, and families became a gravesite for hundreds of people. According to International Humanitarian Law, the bombing of hospitals is entirely prohibited. Interestingly, the quote by Katniss shows the power struggle between the oppressed and the oppressor. While a ceasefire is absolutely necessary, Palestine will continue to be under occupation by Israeli forces. A ceasefire will not stop the kidnappings, bombings, and rape perpetrated by the IOF, because these people know no justice.
How is it that everyone devotedly supported a form of resistance in a fictional work and yet still finds it complicated to understand a very similar plight happening to innocent Palestinians?
Another chilling parallel is that the bombing of the hospital in the trilogy takes place in District 8 which is the textiles district. Gazans are known to be skilled weavers — known for their fabrics, keffiyehs, and the invention of medical gauze. The textile industry is the second-largest employer in Gaza and the West Bank. The resemblance is uncanny.
Collective punishment for 75 years
The Hunger Games continued for 75 years as a means to re-establish narratives utilizing power disparities to control civilian activity. It was created as a form of collective punishment to serve as a reminder and threat that the Capitol has power and controls all activity in the districts. The failed revolution of those 75 years ago would continue to haunt new generations with each Hunger Games.
Similarly, Israel’s war crimes since Oct. 7 have been labeled as “collective punishment” against Hamas’ attack. Israeli sources claim the attack killed 1200 innocent Israeli citizens, and in return, Israel has killed over 17,000 Palestinians, through bombings of schools, refugee camps, and hospitals, as well as centuries-old churches and mosques. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asserts that the collective punishment of Palestinians is not justifiable by any Hamas actions.
Parallels between Katniss Everdeen and Palestinian journalists
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One” showed Katniss Everdeen arriving in District 13 — the military district long destroyed by President Snow’s army. There she finds President Coin, who is the leader of the rebellion. Katniss eventually agrees to be the face of the rebellion, in which District 13 films her standing in rubble following the Capitol’s attacks.
Prior to Oct. 7, Motaz Azaiza, Bisan Owda, and Plestia Alaqad were all creatives in their respective fields. After Israel showered white phosphorus and bombs on their homes, they began to wear bright blue security vests with the word “press” printed on the chest. The weight of the vest felt heavy — literally and figuratively. The profound pressure placed on these young journalists forced them into becoming the face of the intifada (revolution). Just as a young Katniss did not want this life, these young Palestinians did not want it either.
It is highly unlikely, at this point, that someone has not seen or heard of what Israel is doing to Palestine. There is no denying we have seen the blood, the severed limbs, and the dead bodies covered under blankets and carpets on social media and the news. Yet, so many are still unaware of the severity of the crimes committed against Palestinians. The 75 years of Israeli occupation in Palestine strikingly resembles the 75 years of the Hunger Games. The terrifying similarities between the two are chilling, revealing that our world is not far from the dystopian societies in our books and movies.
The whole status quo that we are currently witnessing before our eyes begs the question: How is it that everyone devotedly supported a form of resistance in a fictional work and yet still finds it complicated to understand a very similar plight happening to innocent Palestinians?
Follow Muslim Girl on social media platforms to keep yourself in the loop on what’s currently happening around the world.