Am I Allowed To Use A Non-Palestinian In A Victim Role, Mr. Director?

By Sylvia Martin, Casting Director

Sir, I know it’s an unusual request, and under normal circumstances I would not even have a question in this regard, but I’ve been going through the characters we have for this production and I’ve been wondering: whenever there’s a victim depicted, would it be possible to use somebody who isn’t a Palestinian?

I realize that’s quite a departure from the world’s understanding of the way things work, but strictly from a casting point of view – I wouldn’t presume to assert a say in your artistic vision for the production at large – my gut says we should try to maybe have some other ethnicity or background as a victim. Especially in a film about the Old West.

No one is saying there should only be non-Palestinian victims in the entire production, of course. It  is axiomatic that wherever there is pain, suffering, oppression, or injustice, the plight of the Palestinians gets pride of place. Ferguson wasn’t about Ferguson, but about how to connect American police racism with the suffering of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation; Nepal earthquake relief wasn’t about Nepal at all, but about Israel cynically using its medical and humanitarian assistance to distract from Palestinian suffering; and terrorist attacks across Europe and Africa only happen because Palestinians are suffering. Far be it from me to suggest that no Palestinians be represented in this film when they are the archetype victims. I just have a feeling we could do something interesting by having one of the people who are killed or wronged be, say, just somebody who has nothing to do with Israel-Palestine.

It could be an East Asian, for example. Some Japanese or Korean woman walking in the street happily, only to be gunned down, robbed, or otherwise abused by the villain. We could use that at an oblique commentary on any number of social issues, such as immigration. Or just as a way of challenging the prevailing thinking about victimhood.

Not that I believe we can find a better victim than Palestinians! I don’t mean that at all. Progressive thinking has hit on the perfect combination of utter lack of volition, of unadulterated virtue, and of romanticized resistance, and need not reconsider its tenets anymore, ever. I’m only asking whether, from an artistic, or perhaps humorous, point of view, we can substitute a non-Palestinian in the role of one of the victims. A minor one, to be sure.

And of course the villain will still have stereotypically negative Jewish characteristics.