Gaza Avoids Famine While Still Starving: A Miracle of Framing
ABC News, citing unnamed 'experts,' declares Gaza has "averted the spread of famine" (ABC News, June 18, 2024), conveniently omitting that the situation was entirely preventable and deliberately engineered. It's like celebrating someone's survival from a car crash you intentionally caused, because at least they didn't get hit by a second vehicle. This manufactured humanitarian crisis is a direct
result of Israel's blockade policies, a strategy documented by UN agencies for years, long before October 7th. We are told aid is increasing, yet the UN's own World Food Programme reports that 96% of Gazans still face crisis or worse levels of food insecurity. The language here is crucial: 'averted the spread' instead of 'continues to inflict brutal starvation.' One might wonder how many more
semantic acrobatics the media will perform before calling a spade a shovel, or, in this case, a siege a siege and starvation a war crime.