GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War Day 661

Heartless Liars

Despicable Reporting

Hamas is really wanting everyone to believe that Israel is starving people in Gaza. The truth is that there is a lot of aid sitting waiting for the UN to deliver it, but they say it’s not safe to do so. Does anyone actually know why that is? It’s because Hamas steals it and threatens anyone who gets in their way. And now, the threats are making for great psychological warfare so they don’t want the aid trucks to be released. But that’s not what the lamestream media want you to think. There is one child and his mother whose pictures are making the rounds yet again to tear at your hearts strings as a report on the situation from Honest Reporting:

It’s an image that’s been seen around the world. On front pages, in headlines, and across major news networks.

Taken on July 22 by a photographer from Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, the photo shows a skeletal child, Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, cradled in his mother’s arms. At first glance, it looks like a gut-wrenching snapshot of starvation in Gaza.

Lost in the horrendous image and the loving mother is that the whole story isn’t being told. And the lamestream media is intentionally leaving out key information because it advances their narrative:

And that’s exactly how the international media treated it. The photo was immediately framed as visual proof of a humanitarian catastrophe. More than that, as proof that Israel is deliberately starving the people of Gaza.

One news source framed it this way:

The Daily Express called it:

“A horrifying image encapsulating the ‘maelstrom of human misery’ gripping Gaza.”

It went on to report:

Muhammad, one, …weighs the same as a three-month-old baby, as famine slowly snuffs out life… Hunger and suffering has now reached a level never seen before with at least 12 children dying from malnutrition in the past 48 hours alone.”

Using this picture and others like it showing this same child, more news outlets are piling on with the starvation claims:

Similar versions of this claim appeared in NBC News, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Daily Mail, and even BBC News, which went so far as to interview the photographer, Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim al-Arini, who suggested the image showed the starvation now afflicting the Strip.

This unbalanced story is being extended to the whole area. The child is obviously needing treatment and no one will dispute that, but his condition is just from a simple lack of food.

Something’s Wrong Here

With just a little digging we can see that the situation isn’t as it appears:

HonestReporting was the first to highlight inconsistencies in the image set. In one of the photos, another child, reportedly Muhammad’s older brother, can be seen standing in the background. He appears well-nourished and perfectly healthy. That alone raised serious questions.

How is the mother not starving and her other son not showing signs of severe starvation? That’s something the journalistic sleuths aren’t bothering to tell us:

Still, media outlets continued to push the image as symbolic of a famine allegedly caused by Israel.

In a rare instance of real journalism CNN actually gave us the real story:

Then came the facts. In a CNN report published on Saturday, the boy’s mother explained that Muhammad suffers from a muscle disorder. It’s a medical condition that requires ongoing physical therapy and specialized nutrition.

The mom admitted that when proper medical care was given to the child things are different:

When he had access to these, she said, he was “happy” and “could sit upright.”

So this child has a rare medical condition that is treatable not a destitute one who only needs food as noted in another article posted on the Honest Reporting’s Instagram page:

UPDATE: it’s now been confirmed that the boy in this photo has a serious medical disorder. CNN called it a degenerative muscle disease, while investigative journalist David Collier said it was “cerebral palsy, hypoxemia, and was born with a serious genetic disorder.” Though his condition has worsened since the start of the war, his malnutrition is a result of needing specialized treatment and nutrition.

The lamestream media showed the cropped photo to leave out the healthy brother. Yes the child is sickly and his condition is tragic, but it’s not because of Israel. The original article continues:

In other words, Muhammad is not simply a victim of starvation. His condition stems from a health disorder, not from a lack of food caused by Israel. He is a sick child in need of medical care and specialized nutrition. Care that was once available, and could be again.

I believe that Israel would gladly supply this child with the care he needs if allowed to do it. And as for the overall humanitarian condition two culprits need to be held accountable:

Yes, there is suffering in Gaza. But the blame lies squarely with Hamas. It started the war and continues to prolong it by refusing to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire. It has looted aid meant for civilians. The UN also bears responsibility. Despite hundreds of aid trucks lined up at the border, the UN has repeatedly failed to distribute the supplies. It cites “security concerns” while continuing to blame Israel.

And then there is the other culprit: The media. Why is no one exposing their deception? They need to have their feet held to the fire:

Time and again, they have run with unverified images and unchecked claims. No due diligence. No questions asked. Because these stories fit the narrative they want to tell – that Israel is waging a war against a helpless civilian population. This latest failure is part of a pattern.

One photo can encapsulate a story, but this one isn’t it. In Gaza the truth is hard to pin down because of sloppy journalism and actually intentionally sloppy journalism. The real people being hurt here are the mom and her son. He can get the medical care he needs if only Hamas would do the right thing and let Israel help. Hamas would rather let this poor child suffer to further their cause. In this article deceased Hams leader Yahya Sinwar said this:

A report in The Wall Street Journal cites messages it says have been sent by Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar throughout the war expressing the necessity of civilian bloodshed. One such message, said to be sent to Hamas leaders in Doha, says mass civilian losses, similar to those seen in the Algerian War of Independence, “are necessary sacrifices.”