Everyone has been lining up to accuse Israel of causing an intentional, imminent famine for months. While the war has certainly caused hardships for Palestinians, there was never any evidence to support a famine.
Not only that, but the content Gazans have been posting doesn’t support this reality.
"Honest Reporting" is a watchdog with no responsibility to journalistic integrity. It has no motivation to seek opposing POVs. It should be shared with caution, despite the cute name.
Food insecurity varies in intensity in all regional analysis, explaining how an abundance of readily accessible videos of starvation sit alongside food shots & why Israelis have had to push back on local extremists (even Knesset) blocking aid. Life is always more complicated than any watchdog will admit.
Just sharing this because I know you're very robust when it comes to tackling mis- and disinformation in many fields.
I know this one hits close to home, because you are fighting for Israel's future, but I hope it's still clear that using a source like that one as *the* definitive statement on this situation will undermine the credibility of your assertions.
Watchdogs and advocacy groups are best used in a more comprehensive data assessment environment.
@MLClark actually I don't have a dog in the fight
And I take your point about honest reporting
That said they aren't the only source for the famine being false reporting
report issued quietly earlier this month by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s Famine Review Committee
https://counter.social/@ecksmc/112668238144135281
we now know there is no famine in Gaza.
@MLClark @ecksmc I spent over a decade w/information literacy in my portfolio at the college level. I truly don't know what to do about this issue. The ancient adage that lies are easier/faster than truth holds. Is it based on something biological? Does the brain readily accept new information out of glucose economy? Can we hand out energy drinks is what I'm wondering.
I've mentioned this a few times, but truth is not owed to anyone in war. Key actors in conflict will *always* put mission goals first, and those who want to support them will take up the cause. This isn't a shock-value statement: it's pragmatic.
Some people also genuinely feel that lying now *is* for the better good. When the war is won, everything will be better! Ergo, the sooner it's won, the better for everyone! You can't beat that mentality with data. It's humanity, baby!
This is the link, if interested:
https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1157065/
To use another situation as an analogy, if we'd magically done enough to stop climate change, many would be able to use the absence of worsening temperatures as "proof" that there was never any problem to begin with.
All through this war, calling attention to humanitarian aid has put pressure on all parties to do more about it.
So if we can look back and say "see? no *technical* famine was ever reached!" -- great! That's not a mark against raising the concern; it's a win condition.
@MLClark there is a difference between raising concern for something and outright manipulation
And manipulation is what the media are going for by using "famine" when there is no actual famine - areas are getting aid and Hama's mostly are in control of that aid and charging people for it that's what media should focus on more - instead of misleading people into believing little aid is getting through and a famine is happening
Food aid is fascinatingly manipulated in war.
For months, the world community has been calling for the region to be "flooded with aid", precisely to avoid those hoarding scenarios that happen when only a little is coming through (and sometimes dumped in strategically remote areas).
So yes! Hamas hoards. And also, Biden and other leaders have long been at loggerheads with Netanyahu for his gov't's failure to protect aid (Smotrich plays a huge role there) or to allow others to do more.
This is where the "spin" can blow things out of proportion. Legacy media articles predominantly talk about the *risk* of famine and the hunger crisis.
This Wed, there was an overt famine call in CNN, and in May Cindy McCain of the World Food Programme said that there was a "full-blown famine" in parts of Gaza. But most reporting has hedged.
And to dismiss the existence of dead children from malnutrition, including premies and miscarriages, is just as much "spin" as those statements.
@MLClark oh yeah I'm not saying areas aren't seeing hardships, off course there are food shortages and some areas are worse than others, but media saying outright there is famine is false & what I'm getting at
Children dieing of malnutrition sadly happens in wars that alone does not mean there is an out and out famine though the way media report it
Why no focus by media about Sudan
https://counter.social/@ecksmc/112574966897143158
That's mainly the point also
Btw I have read the report also
Oh, the media definitely focuses on Sudan, too.
The difference, though, is that there's more that Western citizens can *do* on a political level in Gaza. Every time Biden has put pressure on Netanyahu to do more to make aid available, it's because he's responding to local pressure--because the US has influence.
But who in the West is directly involved in Sudan? There is an *active ethnic cleansing* in process, and almost no one has access to push for change.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/09/middleeast/gaza-famine-un-report-intl-latam/index.html
@MLClark UAE is fuelling Sudan’s war and UK and US sell arms to UAE yet there is no protests on our streets about our government's stopping that like we see with protests to stop our government's doing business with Israel
So in a way UK and US is helping that happen
Same as it was in Yeman UAE were killing hundreds of thousands there using weapons from UK mainly
https://counter.social/@ecksmc/101240347996114932
and US mercenaries were used to kill individuals on a kill list
Oh, Canadians know all about that! We protested Harper's arms deal with UAE while it was attacking Yemen, and Trudeau was voted in in part because people thought he'd tear up that contract. He didn't.
Right now, Israel is a main talking point in Congress and the RNC. It's *everywhere* in US culture, so it makes a lot of sense that average citizens would feel invested in the humanitarian aspects of this war.
The UAE, Wagner, and all others involved in Sudan are serious issues, too.
Man, the world is just so fucked up in so many ways, it's hard to keep track, eh?
That's why I'm super glad not to be going at it alone. Data clarity and precision requires a whole freaking team of people sharing what they're seeing. CoSo's fantastic for this. 👍
@MLClark ain't that the truth and only truth 😆 jk
👍
Yup always glad for CoSo for getting new info on stuff
Seriously, man, thank you for EVERYTHING you do. I've learned so freaking much from you about data security issues over the last two years. And you're also one of the folks here who calls attention to other clusterfucks the world over, for which I am *sorely* appreciative.
Have a great day, you!
@MLClark *curtsey* 😊 ideal world they clusterfucks wouldn't need attention drawn towards them - but here we are
Always like our wee back and forth's - learn for each other is what its about
Back atchya have a good one
@ecksmc
The report I screencapped in the above images is from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification's Famine Review Committee, released June 25. As they illustrate, different zones have different levels of crisis.
I always prefer to look at the original data, and look at how it's being spun by different sources. The article you linked is "spin" as well. There are children dying of malnutrition. Not 2-4 per 100,000 per day yet, but enough that people want to avoid it getting worse.