Despite the latest Gaza war having apparently reached a ceasefire, the linguistic battle is running amok on X (formerly known as Twitter). Mia Khalifa, never afraid of stirring controversy, launched a tweet that has since taken over timelines:
“keeping a veryyyy close eye on who calls them prisoners vs hostages”
It responded to an Variety interview with the actress Natalie Portman in which she talked emotionally about the cease fire and the prisoner release on both sides.
“I am born in Jerusalem. So today is a very, very emotional day,” Portman explained to the outlet. “To see the end of the war today and the release and the swap of the prisoners and the hostages is really a momentous day, and it feels almost crazy to be talking about anything else except celebrating, hopefully, peace.”
Such juxtapositions between terms like “prisoners” and “hostages” have now sparked extensive internet discussion.
Twitter Descends into War Zone over Semantics
Soon after Khalifa’s tweet, Twitter erupted in a frenzy of responses, laying bare how charged these two words have become.
One person wrote, “Language is the propaganda war’s favorite weapon. One side gets sympathy, the other gets statistics. And the media loads the gun every damn time.”
Another responded bluntly, “Yeah Natalie Portman we’re looking at you.
Some emphasized the legal and moral difference: “Reality is there is huge difference between two prisoners and hostage. Prisoners are law offenders while hostages are innocent people.”
Some accused Western media outlets of double standards since Palestinian prisoners are called “prisoners,” but Israelis are called “hostage.” “And it’s hilarious how the hostage narrative distorts reality. Israeli soldiers by definition POWs, Palestinians held civilians. They just turn reality upside down like always,” one Twitter user vented.
The Larger Political Stage
The online row is not occurring in isolation. It comes after a historic prisoner exchange in which Israel freed some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for Hamas releasing the 20 surviving Israeli prisoners it held and the remains of four others.
Out of the men released by Israel, 154 were sent into exile in Egypt, and many reported harsh treatment within Ofer Prison, with one prisoner describing it as a “slaughterhouse.”
At the same time that the truce was being hailed, the armed forces of Israel murdered five Palestinians in the Shujayea area of Gaza City. The appalling cost of the war continues to be nearly inconceivable: at least 67,913 Palestinians killed and 170,134 wounded since October 2023, compared with 1,139 Israelis killed in the October 7 bombardments that gave rise to the conflict.
US President Donald Trump, in conjunction with the leaders of Qatar, Egypt, and Turkiye, who brokered the truce, called the deal the start of “lasting peace in the Middle East.” But based on the venom on the internet, peace is the word least on people’s minds in digital discourse.
