Reading The Hunger Games But Still A Zionist?

politics as a contentious issue in bookish spaces

In light of Suzanne Collins’s new release, Sunrise on the Reaping (which I, unfortunately, have not read yet), I wanted to talk about something that has been on my mind and has been popping up on social media recently surrounding this book.

Over the past few months, there has been a reoccurring discussion about politics in BookTok and reading not being political. If you’ve been reading my work, I did touch on this subject before, but I want to bring it up again.

The act of reading is inherently political. Books are political; art is political. Books do not exist separately from the world. Fantasy and dystopian are probably the two most political genres out there, and I would argue that romance is up there as well. Women were not allowed to read for the longest time. They were barred from getting an education, and we still see that today. In Afghanistan, women and girls cannot get secondary education, and in other countries, there is a lack of accessibility to school that disproportionately affects young girls.

If reading wasn’t political, then books wouldn’t be getting banned, and libraries wouldn’t be getting defunded or shut down. Trump wouldn’t be getting rid of the Department of Education. Reading books, fiction or non-fiction, is a source of education and shows people, especially minority groups, that they can fight back against the system and show that they deserve to be treated equally and respectfully.

So, to get on a platform and preach about politics ruining BookTok (or whichever app you are on, even Substack) and how it isn’t a “safe space” for you anymore while simultaneously running out to get Sunrise on the Reaping is ridiculous and embarrassing. It shows that you do not understand the point of the books and what it is showing you. If you were rooting for Katniss and the Districts to overthrow the Capitol, yet you ignore the genocide going on in Palestine or believe that Israel has the right to exist, you’ve got some serious cognitive dissonance going on.

While I am speaking more about bookish influencers, I also want to touch on some celebrities that fall into this category as well. Our beloved Katniss, or who played her, Jennifer Lawrence, is a zionist. Or at least, best friends with one. She defended Amy Schumer’s incredibly racist and Islamophobic comments and her comic presenting Palestinian supporters negatively. Schumer has deleted it, but here is what the post was if you forget/haven’t seen it:

Schumer was shown on Variety’s Power of Women, and this Variety article mentions just how brave and strong Schumer is for being able to still work while people call her a Zionist. Palestinians are being bombed, murdered, starved, etc., but yeah, Schumer is just so resilient.

Jennifer Lawrence said this about her BFF:

“Amy’s choice to use her voice to speak for justice puts her under immense fire. I wouldn’t say she navigates it so much as she throws her middle fingers up and walks away from negative comments like a gas station fire in a Michael Bay movie.”

Speak for justice? I’m sorry? Being a Zionist is not speaking for justice; it is quite the opposite. Do I even have to go into how hypocritical this is, considering she played Katniss Everdeen?

Despite that, she has not once spoken up for Palestine either. All she has done is defend Amy Schumer. This is the same woman who made this heartfelt speech in 2017 at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment event, talking about being outspoken. She says this:

“… but the fact is I’ve been given a platform and I feel if I don’t use it then I don’t deserve it.”

You’re right, Lawrence, you don’t deserve your platform. Where is that woman from 2017 now? Painfully silent on an ongoing genocide happening in Palestine. Her defence of Amy Schumer speaks volumes.

She also quotes part of Elie Wiesal’s acceptance speech from when he got the Nobel Prize. Here is a small part of what she said, because the full quote is quite long:

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.”

With how she is acting currently, she has not fulfilled that promise.

The irony is honestly kind of funny when you see how Donald Sutherland, the man who played President Snow, was an active supporter of Palestine and had been very politically conscious and outspoken. May he rest in peace.

Now, Suzanne Collins herself. This is no hate towards her at all, more of a critique from my perspective. I think her books are great, and she uses her privilege as a famous writer in an amazing way through the messages she puts in her books. However, I think her support should move more off-page.

I am not exactly saying that she has to speak out. Sure, her writing can speak for itself. Still, it gets a little iffy when she bases her entire series on the invasion of Iraq and how the media has desensitized us to horrific humanitarian events yet stays silent in real life.

As far as I know, she has not said anything about Palestine. I don’t know how you can write about systemic violence, overthrowing a regime, resistance, etc., and not say anything about real events happening in the world. As I have written about many times, speaking up is essential. Palestinians have told us throughout the genocide that using our platforms and our voices is one of the best ways to make a difference. Putting out a book is one way, sure, but if you don’t do anything alongside that to show your real, concrete stance, how helpful is it?

Again, I am not hating on Collins for this, and I am not saying she hasn’t done anything; she is an excellent writer, and I have re-watched The Hunger Games films about a million times. However, I have a bit of an issue with how she uses the Middle East as inspiration for her novels, yet she does not say anything about what is happening in real life.

Mostly, I’m side-eyeing influencers and people on social media who have never spoken up for Palestine, Sudan, Congo, or any other crisis going on who talk about Collins’ new release. Same goes for those who say that reading isn’t political, they just want to read to “escape”, and they turn their brains off to read. It’s ignorant.

I’m genuinely wondering how zionists read books like The Hunger Games and praise Katniss. As I’ve written with the amazing

Luciana Cole they/them

about The Politics of the Hunger Games, the parallels between scenes in The Hunger Games and what’s happening in Palestine were mentioned. For example, the bombing of the hospital in District 8 and the bombings of most, if not all, of the hospitals in Gaza. The desensitization of the games to the Capitol and the citizens of the Capitol, and the desensitization of the genocide in Palestine to us through the media.

To expand on that, now Trump is having ICE kidnap and unlawfully detain people who have spoken up about the genocide. Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk were both approached by ICE agents dressed as regular people, and in Ozturk’s case, their faces were hidden. They were arrested and taken to locations that were initially unknown by their respective lawyers.

Khalil was made a notorious figure during the Columbia protests for Palestine. People have completely blown his involvement out of proportion, saying he was destroying property, making antisemitic speeches, calling for the death of America, praising Hamas, etc. The only thing he did was talk about the genocide in Palestine and lead negotiations for the encampment. He did not participate as much in the protests because he didn’t want to get in trouble with the university. Apparently, to Trump, that is a “crime” worth having your rights being violated.

Ozturk co-wrote an op-ed in the student newspaper criticizing Tuft University and calling for it to divest from Israel. Again, that seemed to be enough for her rights to be violated and to be kidnapped by ICE.

In The Hunger Games, protests were heavily suppressed, and people in the districts were even killed for participating. While Trump isn’t killing people directly, he is violating fundamental rights and pledges to continue doing it. People are actively defending it, too, saying that Khalil and Ozturk aren’t American citizens, so it’s fine. The Constitution, as many Americans love to forget, is applied to everyone, even those who are not citizens. Regardless, Khalil has a green card and Ozturk is on a student visa.

It is like having blinders on if people cannot see the parallels between the books and real-life events that are happening now, and to still say “reading isn’t political”.

To avoid reiterating myself over and over, I’ll leave it here. Hopefully, my message was understandable, and I articulated my thoughts clearly.

I’m hoping to get to Sunrise on the Reaping soon. I’m fourth in line in the queue at the library, so yay!

As always, let me know your thoughts and how was Sunrise on the Reaping if any of you have read it?