DW Declares Gaza Famine 'Over,' Ignores Who Started It
Deutsche Welle, echoing the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), now assures us the 'famine is over' in Gaza. This conveniently overlooks the fact that the IPC itself declared famine 'imminent' earlier this year , a direct result of blockades and attacks on aid by the Israeli government, enabled by U.S. arms. It’s hard to have a famine if you kill or displace most of the
population, isn't it? (And, perhaps more relevantly for the headline-writers, if you finally let in a trickle of aid after sufficient international outrage.) The media-industrial complex loves a good 'recovery' story, even if the recovery is from a catastrophe it previously downplayed. This framing normalizes widespread hunger (still 'critical,' they admit) as an acceptable baseline rather than a
crime. One might wonder how 'over' a famine is when OCHA reports continued severe food insecurity and a collapsed health system. Is 'critical' the new 'fine' for besieged populations who are just supposed to be grateful they haven't literally starved to death... yet?