Disability studies and the Gaza genocide: a field in silence

Nearly two years after the escalation of mass violence in Gaza, Disability Studies (DS) has largely failed to address the scale of disablement produced by war, colonial domination, and humanitarian collapse. Despite isolated contributions, the field lacks coordinated scholarly or institutional engagement. This article argues that DS’s silence reflects dominant postmodern and liberal orientations that privilege discourse, identity, and epistemic critique over material analysis of structurally induced suffering. While institutional pressures and resource constraints also shape scholarly engagement, prevailing frameworks leave DS ill-equipped to confront genocide and mass disablement. Gaza exposes an urgent need for DS to reorient toward material realities, collective accountability, and politically responsive scholarship.